The ‘just in time’ food supply chain we rely upon is fragile. When everything works, it can guarantee a year round supply of fresh vegetables and fruit amongst other foodstuffs. This incredibly complex operation, developed and refined over decades, has consigned the practice of seasonal eating that was familiar to those of us growing up in the 60s and 70s to the dustbin of history. However, it doesn’t take much to disrupt a ‘just in time’ food supply chain. Living in increasingly uncertain times, there’s growing potential for disruption from a number of nefarious actors.
We’ve had a number of conversations with people about the need for us to be able to grow more of our own food. Many people cite the security of food supply as a major motivation. Being able to grow as much of the food we need as possible is great for food security. However, there’s a lot more to think about. The more control we have over our food supply and the more of it we can grow for ourselves means we become less dependent on a toxic, dehumanised, technocratic system for our needs. The point to bear in mind is that only taking a few steps on the journey is a start in getting a degree of independence from the system. It may be that just taking a few steps gives you the self confidence and inspiration to go further along the road. If this is being done collectively as part of a neighbourhood project, then the buzz of people bouncing ideas off and learning from each other can really drive things forwards.
The thing is making a start. Obviously with the first few steps, you’re still dependent on outside inputs such as seeds, compost, etc. and by definition, still plugged into the system. Don’t worry, we all have to start somewhere! The thing is, as you learn and gain experience, there’s more you can take control over such as producing your own compost, saving and preserving seeds to use in the next growing season – the list goes on. The aim is to end up with pretty much a closed loop system with little or nothing in the way of external inputs.
Don’t let people tell you that in a supposedly crowded island, there isn’t enough room to enable us to achieve a much greater degree of food self sufficiency. Take a close look around your neighbourhood and it will start to become apparent how much land is underutilised. Be creative about how you secure that land to grow some food. In the small complex of flats we live in, we’ve found a strip of land that we’ve filled with tubs growing a variety of vegetables – effectively, we’ve guerilla gardened it:)
Sometimes, simply asking permission from the landowner may be enough. If the landowner can’t be tracked down or bothered to respond, a bit of guerilla gardening may be in order. On the other hand, with a bit of negotiation, land can be secured from a sympathetic local council to establish a community vegetable plot. This is what happened with the Keynsham Community Veg Plot In The Park. What’s good about our location is that it’s in a very public place right by the park cafe and a lot of people walking past can see what we’re doing at the plot. This has led to a number of useful and interesting conversations:)
We’ve been thinking how good it would be to have a community vegetable plot in every park. Depending on the type of neighbourhood the plot would be in, the focus of what it’s trying to achieve would vary. Needless to say, it has to be something the community genuinely wants as opposed to activists parachuting into a neighbourhood with grand ideas for turning everyone into an organic gardener. There are neighbourhoods where there is a real need for healthy, affordable food. Sure, you can buy fresh produce that’s good for your health at a farmers market but, it does not come cheap! We need to get away from the notion that fresh vegetables are the preserve of the middle class when they should be available to everyone at a price they can afford. This is where community vegetable plots come into play.
Vandalism? There’s always going to be a risk. However, the answer to that lies in the word ‘community’. If a vegetable plot in the local park is something that the neighbours want and work together on, it will create a situation where any attack on the plot will be seen as an attack on the community. The perpetrators will have to face the disapproval of the community. That will hopefully be enough of a deterrent.
Let’s see the plots spread far and wide:)
