Space to Grow

How the Right to Grow could help your community reap the benefits of locally produced food. 

The UK imports around 40% of its food overall, but this figure jumps substantially when it comes to fruit and veg. The latest figures put vegetable imports at just under 50%, and fruit at a whopping 80%.  

The reasons behind this are complex, but whatever the cause, this reliance on foreign food puts us all at a far greater risk of shortages than a more self-sufficient nation. 

If not farmers, then who? 

The majority of people in the UK live in towns and cities. Whilst some have access to a garden or outdoor space, many live in flats and apartments and have no space to grow food. 

Enter Incredible Edible. The movement, founded in Todmorden, Yorkshire, has now spread all over the world, and focuses on encouraging people to grow their own fresh fruit and veg anywhere where there is free space. Over the last few years, Incredible Edible has led the campaign for places around the UK to implement a community Right to Grow. 

This policy, so far adopted by Hull, Cumberland, St Albans, Southwark and several other councils, creates a simple mechanism by which the public is able to use available council land for planting and growing produce. 

Often, a local food partnership is involved with setting up the policy – working directly with the local council and food-related organisations to put the application process and mechanisms in place.  

Read more about food partnerships on our action page here. 

The purpose of bringing in this policy is manyfold. Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, a community Right to Grow means more food available locally and less reliance on imports. Additionally, there is a benefit to the local authority, which will save maintenance costs for whatever land is assigned to growers. There is a wider societal and cultural benefit too: more people learning where their food comes from, learning new skills in horticulture and growing, and improved wellbeing through new connections with each other and with the natural world.

Growing ahead 

There are many projects that have taken advantage of disused space for food growing, without an “official” community Right to Grow. 

In London, Global Generation has been creating urban gardens on disused land since 2004. Working in particular with children and families, the charity is helping to improve access to fresh food, as well as teaching cooking and food preparation skills and supporting the confidence and mental health of participants. 

Manchester Urban Diggers are helping refugees and asylum seekers connect with new people and share their heritage through food, with the Stronger Roots project, hosted at an urban garden on a former bowling green. 

In Cornwall, Chyan is a community farm and permaculture project, which uses a formerly overgrown and unloved field to run growing projects including Roots and Seeds, a volunteer gardening group; and a Nature Playgroup, for families with young children. 

Whilst these are all fantastic examples, and clearly making a significant impact, the fact is they rely on a good deal of grit and determination from those leading the projects. With a community Right to Grow in place, the process of gaining permission to start utilising land for planting and growing is far simpler: usually an online form hosted by the local authority or food partnership, and a clear timeline from initial enquiry to implementation. 

Germinating the idea 

Carbon Copy is hosting a Community-to-Community Workshop where you can learn directly from those who have successfully implemented this kind of initiative. Hull Food Partnership was instrumental in establishing the community Right to Grow in Hull – the first place in the UK to implement this policy.

If you are involved with a food partnership, or a local group that would benefit from access to land for food growing, then this free online session on October 6, might be for you!  

Find out more and sign up.