Whether preparing food on a dig, during other fieldwork activities, or at home, chopped and dressed vegetables are a flexible dish, simple to make, easy to store in tubs, and they tick all the boxes for all eating requirements - vegan, gluten-free and low-carb. Importantly, the acetic acid in the vinegar can help to avoid blood glucose 'spikes' in people with, for example, Type 2 diabetes; and the vegetables that are used are easy to store in boxes in the shade till needed by the fieldwork kitchen. Use as a side dish, as a replacement for something else (eg potatoes), a starter, or a snack.
Read moreA Week of Fieldwork Recipes - Vegan, Gluten-Free And Type2-Friendly
Polenta with fruit
This blog piece is part of a series that explores the relationship between food, well-being and inclusion in the field. It focuses on 7 actual main meals that can be cooked in basic field conditions, as well as sides dishes and desserts. The key thing about these meals is that they are all vegan and gluten-free and Type2-friendly, and can be cooked in challenging conditions such as on a Dig. In other words, the Dig Cook doesn't have to be cooking lots of separate meals. It's a broad brush overview of what can be achieved, on a budget, to make sure that something that every participant in fieldwork has to do several times a day - eat - is not only physically sustaining them but also supporting their sense of well-being and belonging. It's also about making a rainbow of inclusive food that looks like you want to eat it and will be satisfied by it in a fieldwork setting.
Read moreDig Food Series: It's Vegan, Gluten-free & Type2-friendly - Prep & Store Cupboard
Gram flour loaf with black olives, toasted with tomatoes, mushrooms, vegan cheese - olive oil and parsley optional
So the pre-Dig registration questionnaires are back. Someone in the supervisory team is collating the 'dietary needs' section. They've gone quiet; finally they mutter, 'So we've got thirty meats, five vegetarians, four vegans, three gluten-frees, someone's diabetic, and Alice on Small Finds says if we ever feed her beetroot again she won't be responsible for her actions'. The Dig Cook's thinking 'We're gonna need a bigger kitchen'. The Director's thinking, 'We just can't cater for that range of needs'. The bigger kitchen is rarely possible; and the latter is really sad, and it really happens.
But it is actually possible to perform a neat trick and to make decent meals on a dig or in a fieldwork setting that are vegetarian and vegan and gluten-free and compatible with eating plans recommended for people with Type 2 diabetes. And I think it is increasingly worth knowing how do this, as an inclusive response to that pre-Dig gathering of information through the registration process. In fact, it's food that everyone can enjoy and benefit from.
Read moreArchaeological Dig Food - Vegan Special
Marrow stuffed with vegan bolognese
I've never yet been on a dig where there wasn't at least one vegetarian or vegan. And there's always been a tedious ass-hat trying to wind them up - and that really needs to bite the dust. Volunteers and staff members on excavations are increasingly requesting vegetarian food, or vegan food, or - for medical reasons - food that is gluten-free, or lactose-free, or low in sugar. And good on them. People who choose to try to care for the planet in this way and look after their own health should be welcomed in my book, not excluded or derided.
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