Successful 'Good Food For All Feastival' event inspires people to eat well

The event was organised by Chichester District using money it secured from the UK Government, in partnership with the Goodwood Estate and local charity, UKHarvest, which aims to increase access to good quality and nutritious food and reduce food waste.

The day featured several cooking demonstrations by Goodwood chefs Mike Watts and Harry Cartwright. They cooked up several nourishing recipes from UKHarvest, showing people how to use up ingredients that are often overlooked or left to go to waste in the kitchen cupboard.

The mouthwatering menu included aubergine curry and rice; store cupboard fish cakes; chilli stuffed pumpkin and rice; and re-purpose cheesy veggie stale bread pudding.  The idea was to show some quick and easy family 'dinner winners' that are also healthy and can be cooked by households on any budget.

In between the demos there was a series of talks and question and answer sessions hosted UKHarvest, covering issues such as food waste recycling; the impact of charities on helping reduce food waste and ensuring people have access to healthy and cheap food, while Chichester and Arun Food Partnership discussed future plans for food support. Goodwood's Estate Managing Director, Lloyd McNeill also gave a talk about why sustainable and organic farming is so important.

The final demonstration of the day featured celebrity chef Jameson Stocks, a district resident who also runs Just Street Food at 'The Ghost at The Feast' in North Street, Chichester. His aim was to show people a slightly higher budget dish and chose to cook smoked pork belly with Selsey lobster, served with white beans.

As well as enjoying the demos and talks, thousands of people could also chow down on delicious food from a variety of street food vendors and buy products from a number of our local producers. To round the day off, there was live music from the guitar and singing duo 'Charlotte and Chris' who performed a range of feel-good covers for people of all ages.

As well as enjoying the demos and talks, thousands of people could also chow down on delicious food from a variety of street food vendors and buy products from a number of our local producers. To round the day off, guitar and singing duo 'Charlotte and Chris' performed a range of feel-good covers for people of all ages.

"For our first event of this kind it was a hugely successful day and brought such a positive and energetic buzz to the city centre - the combination of beautiful sunshine and a busy Saturday ahead of Mother's Day made for a fantastic atmosphere," says Councillor Adrian Moss, Leader of Chichester District Council. "I know the local producers and traders that attended did very well from the day, and everyone was very engaged with the demonstrations and the fantastic recipe ideas from UKHarvest - people certainly enjoyed the free tasters at the end of the cooking sessions! We hope people were inspired by the event and learnt some useful tips and ideas to take back home to use in their own kitchens.

"We were also very pleased to work with Goodwood Estate and it was wonderful to that the Duke and Duchess of Richmond came along in person to help show their support. The estate is an important economic asset to our district and supports a range of sectors including farming, food and tourism, and helps provide many jobs in the area, and so it was great that they played such a key role in the event.

"Our 'feastival' is a further example of how Chichester District Council is fulfilling its events strategy by bringing another free event to the district, and catering for different audiences to help support our local economy and communities.

"We hope that people of all budgets and tastes found something to enjoy, and also took away some of the serious messages that UKHarvest shared around the issue of food waste and helping more people to access good quality, healthy food."

Sarah Mayhead, Goodwood Estate Charity and Community Co-ordinator, says: "Goodwood was thrilled to support the 'Good Food for All Feastival' in Chichester, an event that beautifully matched our passion for sustainable, organic farming and promoting wellbeing through good food. Our Group Executive Chef, Mike Watts, and Harry Cartwright, the Head Chef from the new Goodwood Art Foundation gave informative and inspiring cookery demos throughout the day, showing how to transform store cupboard ingredients into something truly special. Meanwhile, our Farm Shop team was busy sharing samples of our award-winning cheese - a real crowd-pleaser! We're so proud to be part of this fantastic local event, and we congratulate Chichester District Council and UK Harvest for creating such a vibrant celebration of food, sustainability, and community."

Yvonne Thomson, CEO and Founder of UKHarvest said: "What an inspiring and engaging event! UKHarvest were thrilled to be at the 'Good Food for All Feastival' last Saturday. There was a real sense of excitement from the Chichester community. Through our on-stage Q&A, we had a significant platform to share how we help to create food security across West Sussex and ensure that good food is available to everyone, no matter what the budget. Thanks to the extraordinary cooking demonstrations from the Goodwood chefs, Mike Watts and Harry Cartwright who showcased some outstanding cooking skills using UKHarvest donated ingredient; celebrating our message that great meals can come from everyday ingredients. We look forward to working closely with CDC and Goodwood again soon, on more projects that support our community to reduce food waste and increase food security."

People are invited to share their thoughts about the event by filling in our short Good Food For All feedback survey (opens new window) which will help shape future council-led events in the district - the survey is open until 5pm on 28 April 2025.

People are also invited to keep up-to-date with future council events by signing up to receive the council's email newsletter, Initiatives+.

Date of release: 1 April 2025

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