Students bring College life to St Albans Food Festival

Teams from Oaklands College packed up a little of their world to share with the general public last weekend, as they headed into St Albans to meet thousands of visitors for the city’s 10th St Albans Food & Drink Festival. 

Teams from the College’s Agriculture and Hospitality and Catering departments based at St Albans Campus attended the events ‘Feastival’ on Sunday 1st October which saw stallholders, businesses and local food lovers influx the city centre for a day of good food, music and entertainment. 

Oaklands Agriculture department rounded up some of the College’s livestock for a ‘Pop Up Farm’, housing our rare Teeswater sheep, goats and young piglets born just five weeks ago on campus. Agriculture students also manned the College tractor, which drew the attention of the younger crowd and as they climbed aboard for a quick photo. 

‘Showing the upmost respect to the meat we use’ was the theme of the Butchery Demonstration led by College Master Butcher Kev Speed, who held two sessions to show members of the public about consuming resourcefully and dispel some common myths surrounding more unusual cuts of meat. After the demonstration, the meat was packed and sealed for sale for visitors to enjoy at home. 

The event encouraged some great conversations with visitors surrounding the care and welfare of animals and allowed the teams to share their expertise in their designated field. 

Master Butcher Kev Speed said: “It was a great to see the first row in the demonstration packed out with younger faces in the crowd. They asked some great questions about meat and how it is used, and education is really what sessions like these are all about. 

“We can all make a difference by making better educated choices about the meat we buy and how we use it. It’s great that we can speak to local people with a passion for food and spark that conversation at the St Albans Food & Drink Festival.”