Swapping supper

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/02/2018 (3055 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tired of looking at the same ol’ same ol’ in your pantry? Are you wishing that, as good a cook as you are, there was something different to eat, that didn’t come from the drive-thru?

A food swap might be the answer.

If, when you hear the phrase “food swap,” the first thing that pops into your head is a Christmas cookie exchange — where a group of home bakers gets together and trades cookies so everybody gets a variety of goodies for the dainty tray, you’d be really close to the mark. A food swap is the same idea on a larger scale — with a much greater variety of food. It is a community event based on barter and trading (no money changes hands) and the celebration of homegrown, home-cooked ingenuity. The idea is to get a variety of homemade items into the participants’ pantries so everyone can expand their menus at home.

A food swap takes research and planning. Go to the Food Swap Network (foodswapnetwork.com) and read through the checklists and suggestions. See Emily Paster’s website (www.chicagofoodswap.com) as well.

Emily Paster is also the author of Food Swap (Storey Publishing, $26.65), a how-to manual that draws from the experiences of seasoned swappers and organizers. She’s got swap-ready recipes and the book even includes tear-out labels to attach to your packaging. This book gives you detailed guidelines on starting a food swap — with just a few friends, a church or small community, or even a much larger group — something more akin to the style of a small-scale farmers market.

Paster got started after spending a summer on an obsessive fruit and vegetable canning project — producing more than her family could ever eat — and then reading about a Philadelphia food swappers event. She organized and started one of her own, the Chicago Food Swap, and, as these things do, it grew, inspiring others to pop up in other communities.

The food swap turned into a second career for her, and she now teaches canning classes, writes on food and entertaining and has developed recipes for an online grocery delivery service.

If you want to take the plunge, the first thing you should do is find a like-minded partner with complementary strengths to share the organizing tasks. It’s also a good idea to do a small-scale road test. Survey a few friends, start small and give it a go. You can scale your expansion for subsequent events.

Here are a some pointers from Emily Paster’s Food Swap.

● No money changes hands. It’s about trading not buying. Adding cash to the transaction may invite unwanted and unwelcome legal considerations.

● All items must be made or grown by the traders. The offerings can vary wildly from soups to nuts to desserts to canned goods or even hand-milled flours (if you’re into that). You can also choose a theme, like a soup swap, a jam swap, or an hors d’ouevre swap. The best choices are portable, distinctive, not-too-perishable and delicious. They should also be packaged nicely with clear instructions if needed.

● All events are different. A small swap among friends might just need phone calls. A large community event is going to require communications and networking, registration, a community-based location, and tables and chairs.

● Swaps are negotiated. Swap cards, filled out by traders, outline the offering with space for other traders to make offers. These are not binding but help to start negotiations. The first part of the swap is spent mingling and sampling so everyone can make a fair and educated offer on presented items. The host designates the time for trading and individuals begin to barter and trade amongst themselves.

● Once trading is complete, traders pack up and take their goodies home. Social media for the event allows participants to share photos of their hauls and talk about the event, compliment each other’s cooking and ask questions.

Twitter: @WendyKinginWpg