I’ve just been nominated for Eat Out DStv Food Network Produce Awards award in the category of “Best Local Food Blog”, in my capacity as an individual, Matt Allison.

Now I feel I owe you an explanation, or at least a disclaimer. This blog is NOT directly a food blog, you see while I’m a food lover, my passion is in the produce, not the final product, though I feel they are intricately linked.

I’m NOT a food stylist, I’m NOT even a qualified chef, what I am is a Father who cooks fresh, homegrown, home-cooked meals, almost daily, to feed his growing family.

And to that end I’m 100% behind my nomination, this blog, along with my social media streams of Twitter & Instagram show my daily movements in local food, from growing the actual produce through to the final plated dish.

I field daily questions via Twitter and e-mail from avid readers and followers, all inspired to grow their own, local, seasonal food.

I’ve been privileged to give workshops at places like the Earth Fair Market and Spier’s Secret Festival, all in aid of encouraging participants to think local, to grow their own, or at least support small scale farmers and artisans.

I’ve been blessed to featured in countless print and on-line articles on my movements in urban and peri-urban agriculture and even privileged enough to attend René Redzepi inaugural MAD FoodCamp in Denmark.

If you’ve not already seen it, please watch this short video below to catch a glimpse of my daily involvement with our local food movement.

Carrots Don’t Always Grow Straight! from Ian Henderson on Vimeo.

Outside of all this I’m also a facilitator, I’ve been honoured to be able to communicate with local chefs about local produce, providing advice and insight into seasonal produce and connecting them with local artisanal suppliers, celebrated in our Chef’s Harvest.

That in my mind is what the Eat Out DStv Food Network Produce Awards is about, promoting local small business, raising awareness and celebrating our local food economy.

Yes, I don’t post daily recipes, my pictures are ‘shoot from the hip’ collections of my day to day movements in food. There are BETTER “Foodie” type blogs out there, but there are also other awards that cater for them. I feel I’m kind of a square peg fitting a very round hole, and so to me the Eat Out DStv Food Network Produce Awards is really the only awards ceremony that I’m tooled for, excuse the pun.

So with my plea out of the way, I’m asking for your vote. If you’re a follower on either Twitter or Instagram, or casual/avid reader of this blog, I need your vote.

All you have to do is click on this link and take a minute out of your day to vote for me, I know your time is valuable, and know that it is appreciated.

Thank you for your constant and continued support and encouragement, award or not, I will continue to fight the good (food) fight by encouraging others to think local, support small business and above all grow your own.

In my last post I mentioned that I’d be contributing to Nix Davies’s HARVEST installation, which opens this week.

We celebrated its launch last night with a banquet made predominately of food I’d been growing over at our Urban Farm, the remainder of which was left in the space to provide a visual connection with the thought of “Giving in Abundance”.

While predominately vegetarian in nature, the meat that was served was sourced through Simply Wholesome from small scale farmers, tracing its origin from farm to fork.

50+ guests arrived to enjoy homegrown, wholesome food over drinks, the beautiful setting provided by Nix and her creative collaborator, Amy Ellenbogen at her LET THERE BE LIGHT studio over in Sidestreet Studios in Woodstock.

Sadly my photos tell only half the story as I spent much of my time in the kitchen preparing dishes for our guests, but none-the-less they give insight into what was an incredible evening.

HARVEST opens on Thursday, 24th January 2013 at the LET THERE BE LIGHT studio, Sidestreet Studios, 48 Albert Rd, Woodstock.

Monday – Five spice beef stirfry with eggy rice

Tuesday – Thai green curry

Wednesday- Butternut, lemongrass & chilli soup topped with deep-fried sage and Parmesan encrusted crostini

Thursday – Seared Tune with grilled courgettes, chili, rocket and garlic bean topped with oregano flowers.

Friday – Beetroot risotto with chevin, walnuts and fresh thyme leaves.

I’ve been rather lax on the subject of food here, I guess in part because some of you may already know that my last blog was a food blog. I blogged recipes and thoughts on food almost everyday, was considered a local foodie celeb (not a fan of either of those terms) and after time it wore me out.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made and continue to foster relationships with several respected food bloggers, we are friends both on and off-line, but my fascination with food was never the food itself, or the latest and trendiest restaurants, but the provenance of the ingredients and the respect they should be shown in home cooking.

Acceptance by the mainstream with regards to “Growing Your Own” is now widespread, just this month Ideas Magazine, Good Housekeeping & SA Garden & Home have all run Q&A features with me on the mater and Mango Juice have run an article on Budget Meal Planning, something I intend to share more about in a later post.

I grow up to 70% of the fruit and vegetables we eat, so I take my cue for meal planning from my own garden, if you follow me on Instagram, you’d have seen these already, but the pics above are an average week in family meal planning.

Several of you have asked for the recipes and I plan to get a few of them up in time, maybe a weekly recipe? It does take time to write it up, something I’m willing to do, but really only if I feel there is a need from my readers to do so. Would you like simple recipe ideas around fresh, seasonal food?

The beetroot risotto recipe will be published in next months issue of Gourmet Magazine, so it’s a start.

I’ve also posted several recipes over at Curbly.com as part of their weekly, Foodie Fridays series.

Tomorrow sees the launch of Nix Davies’s HARVEST installation, which I’m SUPER excited about. I’ve provided much of the fresh produce for the banquet launch as well as plant matter and advice for the collaborative installation.

If you’re in Cape Town, pop in to her Let The Be Light Studio in Sidestreet Studios in Woodstock.