02 Apr Urban Farms, Growing Vegetables and Community.
Fruit and vegetables aren’t the only things growing in the UK’s urban farms and gardens. In amongst the strawberries and the beans, community is flourishing.
If you were to visit your nearest community farm or garden next time it’s open, you’d almost certainly be welcomed with open arms and a cup of tea. After the tea and a friendly chat, you’d have the chance to take a look around, walking the narrow paths between each raised bed. On your right you might see carrots growing; to your left, pumpkins bound for a big pot of curry that will be shared at a future meeting. Perhaps you’d see a flower plot ahead of you, a nice area to relax and enjoy the aroma. There will be a lot growing, all around, planted with love and attention by a dedicated volunteer.
But there is something far bigger going on. Pause, take a step back and you will see that at the heart of the farm is a flourishing sense of community, the reach of which extends far beyond the fence of the farm itself.
Community farms are now more important than ever. Life in one of the UKs cities can be daunting. People can be left feeling isolated, despite being surrounded by people. The sense of community found in a small town or village can be harder to find. Multiculturalism, despite its many benefits, can cause division. Poverty and poorly funded services can lead to crime, or a feeling that one has been forgotten. This is where community projects and the hard work of volunteers come in.
Cranbrook Community Food Garden, located at the heart of the Cranbrook Estate in Tower Hamlets, one of London’s most impoverished boroughs, is a perfect example of how these farms and gardens can provide the cure for modern life’s problems. Having started in 2009 as a community effort to clear a piece of disused park land, it has quickly blossomed into the garden that it is today.
Janet Burns, one of the gardens very first members, has seen both the estate and garden change over the years. Like many council estates, many of the properties are now in private ownership, and the makeup of the community has changed significantly. Community gardens provide an inclusive place for residents both new and old to meet each other.
Janet said: “It’s a mixed community. Council flats have been sold off and some bedrooms have been rented out too. Sometimes its students sharing. Lots have been sold on. The makeup is new and not what it used to be.
“We get a lot of people from the leaseholds. We might have a pensioner come and have a cup of tea, or we might get a disabled tenant come to get out of the house and see people. We have disabled access.”
Not only is this a sign of inclusivity in a diverse and everchanging city dynamic, it raises another point about the importance of community farms. In 2016 research from Age UK found that over 1.2million older people in the UK identified as being chronically lonely, with half a million of them not seeing or speaking to anyone for at least five days of the week. Additionally, research from Sense found that over 50% of those with disabilities will feel lonely at any given time.
While community farms are not set up to provide a constant support network, or with the intention of ending this loneliness crisis, the community aspect of the farms is of massive benefits to its members, especially those who are older, live on their own, or have disabilities.
“People come for a cup of tea and talk about what they’re doing. It’s not always about doing the garden. Its about the companionship in the garden.” Said Janet.
The food from urban farms can help to bring the community together too. More often than not it is the members who get to eat the produce, with food often being prepared for group meals to be shared at the farm. This is a chance to celebrate the diversity often found at a community farm, with different cuisines being cooked, and cultural learning taking place as a result. In a multicultural country community farms are proving to be an excellent way to bring people together regardless of nationality.
Janet said: “There’s various nationalities that come to the garden. A nice Bengali girl might bring a pumpkin and prawn curry. We grow food and we learn what to do with each bed. There’s lots of multinational foods.”
This opportunity to share and learn about the different cultures in a community does not come easily, and the sharing of knowledge, and especially food, can help to break down barriers which may otherwise stop people, who see themselves as being very different, from ever meeting.
Community farms also look outwards in their mission to build community. Many farm members attend events such as markets in order to promote their work and sell goods made from their produce. This is not only an opportunity to secure vital funds to ensure that their work is sustainable, but also an opportunity to reach further out into the community and build relationships outside of the farm. Many farms even have their own cafes, giving other members of the larger community a chance to share a meal and not feel alone.
“We make jams and things to make an income for the garden. We go to events to sell things and go to open days at other farms too – we don’t get money from anywhere else unless we apply for grants.” Explains Janet.
There is also a community growing between different community farms and gardens, helping to connect people from across the country. Many farms open their doors to members from elsewhere, enabling them to meet new people, see what other farms are doing and to share expertise and knowledge. For instance, Social Farms & Gardens is an organisation connecting hundreds of community farms across the UK. It runs activities to ensure that there is constant communication between farms and celebrates the work farms do in their communities. They also run conferences, training and networking events, again helping each community farm to reach out and develop as part of a much larger movement.
Janet cited these kinds of opportunities as an important aspect of the farms development, and a good opportunity to see what other farms are doing: “We are part of an environmental network. Different people from different community gardens come together four times a year to discuss growing crops for fuel and things like that. It’s quite educational as well.
“There are lots of community gardens in London. We do ring each other up and talk about what we’re doing.”
Community farms clearly provide a range of inclusive and healthy activities for individuals throughout society, bringing people of different nationality and background together to build friendships and to learn from each other. They are an ideal place for people to meet, even if just to get out of the house and have a conversation and reduce feelings of loneliness. But their reach is much larger than the boundaries of the plot of land on which vegetables and flowers grow – their roots spread out across cities, and their branches reach well across the country, connecting people across the country with a common goal of growing, learning, and building friendships.
