So you’re wondering what happens at a food swap? Read on for the basic set up and requirements to participate. If you are curious about canning but don’t have any items to swap – don’t hesitate to attend! Come and check out what a food swap is all about, make some friends and join us for the next one… there just might be some goodies for you to sample.
The Basic Swap:
Bring 6-8 Items – Items can include your best preserves, pickles, jams, jellies, relishes, vinegars, spice blends or whatever you have from your latest canning experiment.
Make a Tag – Include your name, the name of the food, a list of ingredients or label your jar gluten free/vegan/etc. You can make a sign or individual tags for jars – this is just to inform people about what is in your item in case of allergies. There will be some fill-in-the-blank signs available, so don’t sweat if you forget.
Display your jars – There will be table provided so you have a space to display your goods.
Swap time – The first hour will be devoted to browsing the goods, talking to our fellow preservers, and deciding on your wish list for the swap. We will start the swap the second hour. We will use a number system in which swappers pick a random number and we will move forward and backwards down the number line so everyone gets a fair pick. You will get to pick the same number of times as items you brought. So… if you come with 6 items, you go home with 6 items.
Extras:
Share your recipe – bring some recipe cards if you want to share recipes. Depending on the amount of swappers that attend, you may not get a jar of everything on your wish list. If you are willing to share you recipes, you could go home with much more than just your six jars of new goods.
Bring a sample jar – you will have enough table space to put out a sample of your item or a recipe idea using your item. For example: If I bring my Sheep Lane Summer Peach Jam… I could serve it one my favorite ways – spread on crackers with goat cheese and thyme.
That’s it! Come ready to meet new people and have a good time!
The date and time of each food swap will be announced through the Lancaster Preservation Society’s Facebook page and you can join the event to see any updates or announcements that take place leading up to the swap. Another event system may be used in the future if our food swap attendee numbers grow!
If you have any questions, leave a comment below or a post on the Facebook event page.
Lancaster Preservation Society 