I had a weekend at Lamer Tree Festival, courtesy of Lucy who was performing her poetry there. We had a very enjoyable time.
I met Mace again who will be helping to organise the Bodgers Ball next year, in Devon. At last a Ball that I do not have to drive for hours to get to.
One of the finest eateries there, was a African Arabic food stall. They served cakes up on these lovely wooden disposable plates, made from a softwood veneer about 0.5mm thick. Great to see more people using wooden cutlery these days. I do like the simple but very effective design of the bowls, made from a rectangular sheet of veneer with 4 spots of glue to hold it together.
Got me thinking: disposable, even of the more sustainable utensils, is something to be avoided. It really is criminal that after 5 to 25 minutes use, that these are then just landfill. We should have to bring our own eating utensils. All vending stalls as a matter of course should encourage the serving of food and drink onto the customers own plates, bowls and cups. Or you could purchase a bowl, spoon or mug from a local green woodworker – you can usually find at least one at such events.
When I used to go mountain bike racing with my son, we always patronised Wilf's veggie Cafe. He did a great deal – if you bought one of his plastic (ugh) lidded insulated cups, which had his logo on, you get free refills for life! Said cup is now in Brooklyn like – no chances of Wilf being run out of business by us!
I adore those bowls. The carry your own cutlery idea was the norm until 18th century so our current system of keeping a house full of cutlery just in case is a tiny fraction of our recent history.
I personally have found that visitors to take away stalls at festivals and the like who come with their own wooden dish tend to get much larger portions. ;0)