Bucks Food Revolution: Growing in the community

Tending your garden provides the added benefits of physical exercise and mental relaxation: with the added bonus of eating fresh, seasonal and healthy food.
However, not everyone has the available space, confidence and resources to have their own garden. This is where the demand for community gardens and growing projects have risen over the last 6 months, with more people realising the inadequacies of the UK food system and the passion to become more self- sustainable.
Community gardening can bring a wide range of benefits- from connecting people with each other, to growing fresh food to enjoy. There are many schemes and projects across Bucks that welcome new visitors and Growing in the Community hopes to highlight key place that offer people a place to relax, a way to engage with nature, meet others and get active outdoors.
Presenters & Contributions :
Justine Hamer / In response to the COVID 19 outbreak Justine started ‘Grow To Give’ to help support other people with their fresh food needs at this difficult time. This very local scheme is part of a UK drive we are promoting to donate some self-grown produce. Often fresh fruit and veg are in short supply at food banks, where nutritional need is high. If we all just grow a bit more in each of our gardens and allotments, together this make a real difference. Lots of us are planting our seeds at the moment, grow a few more and let's see what we can do to help.
Bucksum / David and Tracey rent 16 acres of the 100 acre Shabbington Field Farm, from this land roughly 4 acres are cropped each year. By using traditional crop rotation, soil fertility and biodiversity is increased; while reducing pest and disease problems. They also run the Bucksum Field Kitchen, which is all about showing their customers how to make the most of their seasonal produce.
Shanthi Wartmann / Shanthi is one of the founder members of Women’s Cultural Arena CIC, who strive to bring together women from diverse cultures and different ethnic backgrounds for mutual recognition, support and celebration through events, artistic creativity, and education. They also run the Community Fridge in High Wycombe, two community allotments and are currently promoting their Christmas Box Initiative 2020.
Karl Gayle / Karl is lead on the Aylesbury Youth Allotment Project for Community Youth Ventures CIC. Started in 2020 the youth allotment held its first youth session in October to start the exciting journey of giving young people the chance to experience being outdoors, growing their own seasonal food, learning about horticulture and living more sustainably. They also get the chance to eat what they produce trying new types of vegetables and fruit, even the odd hedgerow herb.
We shall also be showing a pre-recorded short film by local mental health charity Lidengate.
This workshop forms part of the collection of sessions for the Bucks Food Revolution! online event which took place on the 21st & 22nd November 2020. A program of exciting and unusual events exploring our relationship with food, from foraging berries in the outdoors, to waste-saving tips and recipes, to a deep dive into how we can work together to protect nature and our planet. We will be hearing from local experts and enthusiasts on growing food, understanding how what you eat affects your health and well-being; as well as discussing the pitfalls of food waste and how to avoid them at home
We are grateful to all those helping Feedback Global's Food Citizens project to deliver this event.