Please see below our Guidelines for a Shared Meal Policy

Eating together is one of the most beautiful ways that we can come together as a community. So many of our memories of festivals and celebrations are centred around sharing food and there is much joy in re-creating and sharing family favourite recipes.

We want to ensure that everyone who comes to our table feels comfortable both to contribute to the meals and to feel safe to eat with enjoyment without compromising Kashrut or dietary needs. We hope the following guidelines reflect our values of inclusion, our respect for Kashrut, our adherence to health and safety and of course our love of food.

Guidelines:

· We are not able to bring home cooked food to the SHEMA Edgware building

· We can bring shared food to events at people’s homes or our hired spaces in Borehamwood

· All food contributions need to be vegetarian or pescatarian and be labelled accordingly

Kashrut:

· Please ensure that all shop bought food is kosher bought from a Kosher shop or validated by this website or app:  https://isitkosher.uk/

· If you have a kosher home where you eat only kosher meat and keep milk and meat separate, it is fine for you to cook a dish and bring it to the meal location

· If you do not have a fully kosher home but would like to cook a dish, please ensure all ingredients are kosher and use clean glass bowls and foil baking dishes only.

· Please thoroughly rinse any cutlery you use in boiling water.

· Please ensure that cheese has a hechsher or is bought in a Kosher shop

· Please ensure wine, grape juice and any product that contains grape juice has a hechsher.

Allergies/Intolerances:

· Nuts are not permitted at all as some of our members may have an anaphylactic event from the being in the room where nuts are.

· If you are preparing a dish please make a list of all the ingredients and have it on display next to your dish even if it has a tiny amount in. Please remember that the list of allergies/intolerances is growing so we cannot provide a conclusive list but some of the most common are soya, dairy, sesame, eggs, wheat, barley, celery, kiwi etc

· If you have any dietary requirements, please let the event organisers know ahead of time

Health and Safety:

Please cook with the highest hygiene standards to protect all our members The 4 C’s advocated by food safety standards are:

• cleaning – hands, surfaces and equipment are clean before, during and after cooking
• cooking – food is cooked throughout to kill harmful bacteria
• chilling – foods are stored at the correct temperature to prevent growth of harmful      bacteria
• cross-contamination – prevent the spread of bacteria to surfaces and ready to eat food (wrap up your food when it is ready)

Environment:

Food ethics are important for our community and personal values.

· Try and buy Fairtrade where possible, or products which minimise air miles

· Try and keep the waste from packaging at a minimum.

· Try and minimise single use plastic

Thank you for your consideration and thank you also coming to our community events and contributing your food and your time.