THE third celebration of Manx Food Week was held at Noble’s Hospital's staff restaurant last week.
The event showcased the support that Noble’s Hospital’s catering department gives to Manx farmers and producers.
A variety of Manx products from suppliers such as Greeba Mushrooms, The Manx Honey Bee Federation, Green Mann Water, Robinsons, Isle of Man Creameries and Harrison and Garrett Meats were on display.
This year the event was extended to the patients of the hospital in Braddan as a way to raise awareness of Manx produce and how it is used within recipes in the patient menu system.
Each patient received a special menu with an explanation of what local products are used by the hospital. A picture of the Manx Flag was placed next to the description of the dish and the patients were given the opportunity to sample the local produce.
The event has also been used to raise funds for Help for Heroes. Kathy Irwin, from Greeba Farms kindly donated her living display of mushrooms as a fund raising prize on the final day and Robinsons and Isle of Man Creamery also donated its displays of produce.
Health Minister David Anderson MHK said: "A lot of hard work and effort has gone in to the preparation and organisation for this event.
"I think promoting Manx produce in this kind of way is outstanding.
"The public may assume that Noble’s Hospital imports much of its fresh produce and uses ready-made products.
"Thanks to the hard work and dedication from both the catering staff and the suppliers I hope that people realise that Noble’s and the Department for Health are firm supporters of local produce."
Derek Peters, Noble’s catering service manager, said: "Noble’s is a Manx hospital and we use this high profile event to show that the Department of Health is committed to buying and promoting Manx produce, it is also a useful exercise to show staff and patients just what Manx produce has to offer the Island."
Organiser, provisions manager Andy Pennington, added: "I first thought of this event a couple of years ago as a challenge, I wanted to show the people of the Island that Noble’s doesn’t import meat, dairy or vegetables; it is all sourced locally and prepared within the hospital.
"I also wanted to show that we have a very low carbon footprint with products being sourced within a 30 mile radius and our efforts towards local sustainability."
Last Wednesday a number of guests were invited to take part in a tasting session courtesy of Greeba Mushrooms, Ellerslie Farm, the Manx Honey Bee Federation and Green Mann Spring Water.
During the week the catering staff offered a number of ideas to promote Manx produce which included wearing Manx tshirts, selling Manx mugs and bags as well as displaying nutrition information and statistics about how much the hospital supports Manx producers.
