In the build-up to 2012, we are encouraging everyone to put British food at the heart of their Olympic celebrations. We are inviting shops, pubs and restaurants to plan special British food promotions during the Games; and communities and households to feast on British food as they cheer our medal hopes to the winning line!

Here are some fun ideas for you to start planning now:

• Plan an opening ceremony British feast: Invite friends round to watch the opening ceremony on television and serve a feast of British delights: new season British lamb chops (easy to eat in fingers while watching telly!), regional sausages (every area of Britain has a particular speciality), Coronation Chicken (invented for the Queen’s Coronation lunch in 1953 and still the quintessentially British summer celebratory dish), Eton Mess (the simplest pudding to do for lots of people: thick cream, crushed meringue and as many summer berries as you can find) and finishing with one of the 700 cheeses produced in Britain (yes, we produce more than in France!).
  
  Opening Ceremony commences on Friday 27^th July 2012


• Have a BBQ party with an Olympic theme! Invite friends and their children for an Olympic BQQ.  Organise fun sporty games for the children in the garden (shot put, javelin, 30 metre dash, long jump, relay and perhaps some silly games like apple bobbing or a sack race!).  Celebrate with a delicious British BBQ: one of the 400 different types of regional sausages produced in Britain, many of which are named after the places they were originally made; honey-glazed British chicken wings and legs; marinated leg of British lamb; British beef burgers with spicy tomato relish; vegetable kebabs with courgettes, aubergines, tomatoes and peppers; roasted fennel and a salad of lettuce with new season peas, broad beans and green beans.  And for pudding, that British classic – Summer Pudding filled with a rough n’tumble mix of summer berries and a large jug of double cream (ideally from a local dairy!).


• Score a goal! The 2012 Olympic Games seem like a long way away but use this time to set a goal. You may want to learn how to buy with the seasons, learn how to cook, improve your diet.  

For a guide to what’s in season during the Olympics click here.

To make your Olympic shopping list see our Want to Buy British service to help you find British food in your local farm shop or supermarket. Click here.

For advice on buying different British foods, please use the following links:
Beef - click here
Lamb and Mutton - click here
Chicken and Eggs - click here
Pork, Bacon and Ham - click here
Dairy - click here
Fruit & Vegetables - click here

And remember to decorate your house with Union Jack bunting!

To find out more information about the 2012 London Olympics click here.

To find out more about the London Organising Committee's Food Vision for the Olympics click here.