Rochdale community group shortlisted for award

The Community Foundation’s Forever Manchester campaign logo

Rochdale’s Earth Café has gone head to head in an online vote against four other groups from across Greater Manchester to see who will be crowned the ‘Forever Manchester Foodie’ of the year.

The Community Foundation’s Forever Manchester campaign has teamed up with Manchester Food and Drink Festival to present this prestigious award which will commemorate the effective use of food within a community group or project.

"We are delighted with this piece of good news for our town, this nomination along with recent funding from Community Foundation for Manchester Funding means our dream of a sustainable Earth Cafe and Environment Centre in our town is one small step closer to becoming a reality. It’s great news for us personally and those many people in the Borough who care passionately about the Environment," said Helen McCarthy speaking on behalf of the Earth Cafe Green Team.

The Earth Café aims to provide locally sourced produce crafted into seasonally enticing meals and snacks wherever possible, they hope to encourage local suppliers and allotment holders to provide supplies that they can create a simple, tasty menu from.

They endeavor to travel no more than a twenty mile radius from Rochdale Borough so that they also reduce the environmental impact of food miles, utilising public transport where practicable.

The shortlist for this award was announced last week alongside the other ten categories for the festivals 2010 awards.

It is now down to the public to decide who wins and they have until the end of September to cast their votes to see who should be honoured the community Foodie crown.

The winners will be announced at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Gala Dinner in October at the Hilton Hotel Manchester.

The other community groups who made the short list are the Incredible Edibles, Diggle Lane Allotments, Mustard Tree and Nexus Café which are situated across the boroughs of Greater Manchester.

To vote for your favourite visit www.foodanddrinkfestival.com