Unpackaged

Our wonderful friend John from Forage London will take a small group on a foraging exploration of Victoria Park.

You’ll learn how to spot edible plants – some you’ll know, others will be a revelation.You’ll be able to pick and eat (sustainably of course) various plants and enjoy a fascinating discussion on numerous topics including nutrition, medicine, herbalism, botany, cookery, horticulture & history.

The walk will start at 10am at Unpackaged and go on a leisurely round trip, ending up back at Unpackaged for lunch.

Ticket’s cost £30 which include the walk, a drink on your return and sharing lunch inspired by the wild foods you’ll have seen on your travels.

We only have 12 spots available so please call the shop to book on 020 8986 7933.

I first heard about LSA mix from an Unpackaged Amwell Street customer who used to buy linseed (flax), sunflower seeds and almonds in very precise quantities. He explained that he used to buy a product called LSA mix in Australia and swore by its health benefits.

I started researching it and since then have been regularly making it and I eat it almost every day for breakfast and I really do believe him. I’m not one for faddy superfoods or supplements but I do believe we’ve forgotten that so much of our food is so good for our health and well being – a few simple additions to our daily diet and we can feel so much better.

About LSA

It was originally developed by Dr Sandra Cabot in her book “Love Your Liver” to aid detoxing. The mix of linseed, sunflower seeds and almonds is high in proteins, fiber and Omega-3 fats. The benefit of cleansing your liver means that it can lower your cholesterol too.

It’s also the packaging free way of adding extra vitamins to LSA contains a fantastic mix of calcium, zinc, magnesium, potassium, slenium and vitamins A, B, E, D.

Our bronze and gold linseed comes from Flax Farm in Sussex, grown organically by the wonderful Clare. Her website www.flaxfarm.co.uk is a valuable source of information on the benefits of linseed and well worth a read – it really is a wonderful foodstuff, great for the skin, digestion and balancing hormones. Our sunflower seeds and almonds are organic – from our favourite bulk wholefoods supplier in Brighton, Infinity Foods.

How to eat it

LSA mix is best used raw, i.e. without cooking as the heating will destroy some health benefits. Try sprinkling it on your museli, porridge or in a smoothie. Or I eat chopped fruit with a dollop of Unpackaged organic greek yoghurt and 2 tablespoons of LSA mix sprinkled on the top.

How to make it

There are various recipes for how to make it but I follow a nice man called Craig’s recipe of 1 cup linseed (I mix half gold and half bronze linseed for variety) + 2/3 cup of sunflower seed + 1/3 cup of almonds. Given that almonds are the most expensive, it makes it more affordable to have linseed as the bulk. Mix in a bowl and grind together in small batches so the grinder doesn’t don’t overheat (it will go oily). It’s best done in small batches so it doesn’t go off and kept in the fridge whilst you use it.

So, you can either come to us and buy the ingredients seperately (we can mix it all together), or buy the mix pre ground, we’re selling it at £1.99/ 100g.

***As Craig says on his disclaimer – I’m not a doctor so please see this as a healthy addition to a varied diet rather than a medical presciption, please always consult a doctor!

(Posted by Cath Unpackaged)

19/04/2013

I think sometimes we forget how our global food supply is intimately connected with price and supply fluctuations caused by a myriad of factors – both natural and man made, some controllable, some unexpected. The (perhaps originally noble?) mission of supermarkets to standardise quality, supply and price have disconnected shoppers from the reality of commodity price fluctuations which remain very real across the globe.

We get regular market reports from our suppliers which are fascinating and we thought we’d share them with you.

April/ May Global Market Report

• There has been an alarmingly steep price hike in the almond market, fuelled largely by increased demand from the East.
• Argentina has dramatically cut the acreage devoted to cannellini beans to plant more profitable chia seeds.
• A poor Indian crop of red lentils has made India a net importer so watch out for prices edging upwards.
• And high rainfall in China means the red kidney bean crop needs drying out prior to shipping, with the inevitable inflationary consequences.

Closer to home we get a weekly update from some of our growers – a missive from the greenhouse which reminds us all of the backbreaking work that goes into cultivating the foodstuffs we take for granted, and how organic growers have such a wonderfully holistic approach to our environment, for which we should all be grateful. Here’s what’s happening as of this week:

“A warm wind, what a delight. With some more sun forecast and some settled weather to come we will make great strides these coming weeks. There is an immediate response in the Glass and it is comforting to be able to enter the main planting period with more hope than trepidation.

We have even seen the odd Butterfly and a couple of overwintered caterpillar and a few ladybirds including a Harlequin, but no Aphid even on nettles, so we may get the clean start always promised by a harsh and protracted winter. As witnessed by watching our garden Daffodils open and bloom over this weekend nature will hasten into activity and the pests will accompany but low levels of overwintered pests is a great bonus for us if not for other wildlife. But we will soon need Bees to pollinate the emerging Strawberry flowers so we may need to assist pollination. In the past we have had resident ground Bees but I think they got flooded in the Autumn deluge.

Generally it is felt we have lost 3 weeks growth for field crops so harvest schedules will be delayed. Glasshouse plants are around 10 days delayed so with fortune these will not be too far out for new season crops and we should enjoy some busy growth on overwintered Chards and Spinach but Lettuce is minimal until new plantings take off.”

10/04/2013

Unpackaged has a long running collaboration with design agency Multistorey who have worked with us since our inception – on our branding, original market stall, the Old Dairy and now our new Hackney shop, café & bar.

Rhonda & Harry have a really open approach to the design process; they have always listened to what Unpackaged is trying to express, worked to eco principals and within very tight, sometiems non existent budgets – a tall order at times!

In our move from islington to Hackney, they had to guide us in the move from a very traditional building to a totally new and quite industrial space. The challenge was not only keeping the essense of the Unpackaged retail experience but growing to encompass a new model of shop, café & bar; as well as creating a multifunctional space that could change throughout the day and night as it was used for different purposes. Given that a lot of our customers moved with us, we wanted a space that felt familiar (black and white floor, reclaimed marble counter) but was new and exciting to represent our growth.

With those crazy expectations, we think they did a fabulous job as our space looks and feels exactly how we envisioned it. They’ve just put out this press release about how they approached the project, well worth a read!