Twitterers celebrating Winter Solstice

This week we're talking to a Telford twitterer who's been using the social networking site to organise a fundraising event for a local charity.

Talfryn Bowen from Wrockwardine has run antipasti food company @Fareground for four years, and is a passionate supporter of local produce and slow food.

"We've got a very good food culture in this country now and we're going back to authentic foods," he says.

"Shropshire has been fairly key to that trend, particularly with the prominence of the Slow Food Movement in Ludlow providing an antidote to fast food and the commercial factory farming approach."

Talfryn supplies Mediterranean antipasti foods like olives, stuffed peppers and pesto, and uses local ingredients like honey, herbs and vinegar to make his marinades.

He also works with fellow artisans like Sheila Tuskan Sager from @ShrewsburyBread, taking her award-winning breads to food festivals and farmers markets, and has recently started making his own oatcakes and pikelets, which he hopes to produce more of next year.

"I'm really getting into the local artisan food scene and I'm very interested in the sustainability issues around producing quality food and reconnecting people with where their food comes from," he says.

Talfryn is hoping to highlight some of Shropshire's top producers by bringing them together to help raise funds for local charity Severn Hospice.

"A few of us foodie types on Twitter were chatting about having a 'tweet-up' for Christmas, and very quickly we formed the idea of putting on an evening of great local food and drink to raise money for a good cause.

"We decided to have a Winter Solstice Ceilidh, which will be held on the eve of the winter solstice on Monday, December 21."

The event will take place at Little Wenlock Village Hall from 7pm until 11pm, and, along with fellow organisers, Talfryn has used Twitter to put together a fabulous family evening of food and entertainment.

"There'll be antipasti foods from me, goats cheese from @BrockhallFarm, meats from @PigsInCloverUK, breads from @ShrewsburyBakehouse and @PricesTheBakers and chocolates from Toot Sweets.

"We've also got a paid bar with real ale from The Waen Brewery in Powys, cider from Mahorall Farm in Shropshire and liqueurs from Monkhide in Herefordshire."

Talfryn has also helped to organise a fun-packed program of entertainment, with BBC Radio Shropshire's Jim Hawkins acting as Master of Ceremonies and music from Telford band Ceilidhography.

Tickets are priced £15 for adults and £8 for children aged 14 and under (family ticket for two adults and two children priced £40).

Pick up a ticket application form from Shrewsbury Bakehouse at Castle Gates, Toot Sweets on Butcher Row or any office of Lanyon Bowdler solicitors, or download it www.fareground.co.uk.

By Lara Page