BuddhaField
BUDDHAFIELD CAFE
Buddhafield Cafe wins Silver "Green Traders Award" at Glastonbury 2008
For further information about the Buddhafield Cafe or to discuss booking us for your event please contact The Cafe Manager.
WHO WE ARE
The Buddhafield Café is part of the Buddhafield collective which includes FWBO Buddhafield, a registered charity which exists to teach meditation and buddhist practice outdoors in beautiful places, mainly on camping retreats. We have some land of our own and aim to buy more, to create sacred landscape, woodland sanctuaries and to conserve natural wildlife habitats. We are linked to the FWBO, the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order and some of the people involved are ordained into the Order. The Café began as a fundraising venture to cover the cost of a small group teaching meditation at Glastonbury festival back in the early nineties. It has now grown into one of the largest festival cafés on the circuit feeding hundreds of people a day on delicious freshly cooked organic vegan food, and providing a welcoming haven of warmth and friendliness.
We have a strong ethical/environmental policy, and are passionate about recycling, fairtrade, organic food and supporting our local growers. Those who run the café and some of the volunteers are practising buddhists and create a wonderfully friendly and harmonious atmosphere. Volunteers come back again and again for the experience of working in such conditions even though it is hard and demanding work and our standards are high! We start with only raw fresh organic ingredients, which necessitates a lot of washing and preparation, there are no short-cuts! We also use real china plates, cups and bowls and real cutlery in order to cut down on waste paper and deforestation. This entails using a large washing up team and provides opportunities for people at a festival to volunteer for an hour or two in return for a meal. Most of the crockery and cutlery have come from our local recycling depot which makes for a wide variety of colours and patterns to enjoy. We take good care of our old vans which all run on Bio-diesel, which is 90% recycled vegetable oils, (chip fat), and are committed to planting new forest trees whenever/wherever we can. Power for music and lights comes from our solar panels.
OUR TENTS
Our main tent is a large open space, 25m x 8.5m with the busy open plan kitchen completely on view behind a colourful and inviting counter. The eating area is light and airy with low level seating at beautifully painted tables on colourful rugs beneath a ceiling canopy of billowing sail-like faric in oranges golds and pinks, creating a warm and cosy yet spacious feeling. We have made the tent, the tables, the seats and the canopies ourselves, as well as the adjustable-height stainless steel tables we use in the kitchen area. All canvas and hangings are fully treated to be fire retardant. The outside is decorated with prayer flags, colourful banners and bunting and some new large shimmering flags on bamboo flagpoles.
We also have a smaller tent which we run as a take-away cafe for use at smaller events or one-day events. This is more versatile, quick and easy to erect and does not require a large team. We can serve simple breakfasts, a wide range of crepes, (sweet and savoury), baked potatoes with various fillings, salads, cakes and snacks. We use bio-degradeable plates and cups, recycled paper napkins and wooden spoons and forks.
WHAT WE COOK
We are well-known for our cooked vegan breakfasts, satisfying soups and the Buddhafield coconut curry full of delicious vegetables, tasty spices and nutritious beans served with brown rice, a traditional nourishing wholefood favourite at a reasonable price. However we have also branched out in recent years into more adventurous areas thanks to the brilliantly creative cooks who have joined us. The menu changes daily and depends on what we have and what we feel like cooking. So it might be baked marinated tofu with a bulghar wheat pilaff, or Indonesian stew with Satay sauce. We always have a delicious variety of salads using rocket and other salad leaves grown by our friend Sandy, and are generous with toasted seeds, olives and tasty dressings etc. Our soups are also interestingly different each day and there is usually fresh homemade soya yoghurt to go with fruit salad and organic muesli as a breakfast alternative. There is a sample menu attached. Sometimes we have time to make a few vegan cakes, our favourites are lemon drizzle and gooey chocolate, there might also be delights such as bread and butter pudding or a crumble.We ensure there are always wheatfree options available and can give assurances on other ingredients such as yeast or nuts where relevant. We order a wide range of organic vegatables, salads, herbs and fruit, as much as possible from our local organic growers and friends, and the rest through a growers Coop, to make sure there is always an exciting selection for the cooks to choose from. Wholefoods, other cooking ingredients and our biodegradeable cleaning products come from a workers coop in Bristol, are GMO free and organic whenever possible.
INSURANCE, HEALTH AND SAFETY
All food is washed and prepared on site following strict food hygiene guidelines and we operate a thorough food, health and safety policy. We are registered with our local authority and have full public and employment liability insurance. All the relevant documentation is available on request.
For further information about the cafe or to discuss booking us for your event please contact The Cafe Manager.
To volunteer to work with the Buddhafield Cafe at any of the events this summer tell us a bit about yourself.