Standing at Todmorden's quiet Fielden Wharf just off the road to Rochdale, you wouldn't believe this could be the heart of a revolution in the way we get food onto our plates - but that's exactly what it is. The idea is simple: to get as many people as possible to grow food for themselves and others right here in this Pennine market town. For such a radical move, it actually sounds quite old-fashioned really but Pam Warhurst, one of the people behind what's called 'Incredible Edible Todmorden' says this 'back to basics' approach to food is vital: "We're saying that if a kid can see that a carrot doesn't grow at the supermarket then that'll make our day! If you only buy your carrots from the supermarket, they're immaculate, clean and cold. Who'd ever know they come from the mucky ground? Kids don't know that...We're concerned that we've become detached from looking after ourselves and our families and feeding them."
Mary spots some 'guerilla gardening'
With the aim of reconnecting families to the food they eat, Incredible Edible Todmorden's supporters are encouraging everyone to get down and dirty and grow their own - getting them back to their roots, perhaps? Whether it's vegetables or herbs, rhubarb or raspberries, there are signs across the town that this new-but-old idea is being wholeheartedly embraced. In fact, every spare bit of land in Todmorden is being eyed-up as possible mini-allotments - even the big stainless steel flower pots at Fielden Wharf. Mary Clear, another of Incredible Edible Todmorden's growing band of supporters, explains that nowhere is ignored: "Fielden Wharf is a lovely pull-in for canal boats and we've got what we call our 'washing machines' - great big steel containers that used to be full of petunias and begonias. But now, we've got blackcurrants, raspberries, peas, beans, swiss chard, lettuces and globe artichokes. We keep a salad crop in here all year so, rather than the boaters getting out and going to a supermarket and buying a bag of salad, they can just cut it from here. The win-win magic of this is that we need water so in exchange we ask all the boaters to put buckets of water on our planters. It just works fantastically...We know people talk about it: 'Cor, go to Todmorden and you don't have to buy salad, you can just pick it.'"
Just round the corner from Fielden Wharf, Mary points out another location where various crops are now peeking out from among the flowers: "Here's a little piece of car park, a little bit of Council garden and what have we got? We've got thyme, dill, fennel, celery, sage, apple, rhubarb, swiss chard, gooseberries, mint...and beautiful leeks. We've got all this and it's not hurting anybody." Mary calls this 'guerilla gardening', but doesn't want anyone to get the wrong impression from that description: "It's about an unloved, neglected, dirty place. Someone can come along and pick up the drink cans, broken glass and think, 'How can I make this a greener, cleaner, safer space?' It might sound sexy and deviant, but it's a really good thing. All sorts of people have been doing it, lots of people in the town going out and planting things."
Flowers, herbs and veg together in Tod
But with all this still on a relatively small scale, is it really possible that Todmorden could eventually become self-sufficient in vegetables - as Incredible Edible's stalwarts are aiming for? Pam Warhurst says these small areas of land dotted around the town - 'Propaganda Gardens' as they're known - are symbolic of a much bigger plan: "We've done a calculation. Somebody came to us and said that for 15,000 individuals you need 250 acres of vegetable growing. We've got 41,000 acres around Todmorden - a lot of it vertical, but a lot of it not! What we need to do is use our brains. We need some of it in existing valley bottoms; some of it in polytunnels on the hillside; some of it in people's back gardens. We need some farmers to give their land over. All these things are quite possible because that's what makes a community buzz...People say there's not enough land, well, there's plenty of land. You just need to have the will to do it and to show people by these propaganda gardens that you can grow stuff in the South Pennines. This is April [pointing at the blooming vegetable patch by the car park] so imagine what it's going to be like in June, July or August. We just challenge people who say they can't do it. You can!"
And while Pam says Incredible Edible is proving 'totally phenomenal' in Todmorden so far, she says this has to be just the start: "The bottom line is that it mustn't stop in Todmorden...What we're doing with all this 'propaganda gardening' is shifting our culture into people being interested in what they can eat that's local. 'Local' is defined as 20 to 30 miles. What we like to say is that you should grow what you can in your own town, then move to the fringe of the town and then move beyond that. Stop at 30 miles. Everyone can feed themselves within 30 miles. We might have to rethink avocados and various things we can't grow here, but the vast majority of what we eat in this country can be grown locally. There are huge opportunities within the parks in Leeds and other major cities. There are huge opportunities for these cities to reconnect with those farmers who farm right up to the city edge." And with places like Manchester and Birmingham showing an interest in what's going on in Todmorden, Pam says: "Suddenly, Pandora's Box will be open and the possibilities are endless."
Pam: Passionate about Incredible Edible
With everything from rhubarb to leeks growing on street corners and in small, previously-ignored plots of land across Todmorden, Incredible Edible has so far attracted 'hundreds and hundreds of supporters', according to Pam. Whether it can really translate into a 21st century version of the famous World War Two 'Dig For Victory' campaign - which turned flower beds and gardens across the nation into allotments - remains to be seen. But in these times of recession and fears over global warming, Pam Warhurst says what's going on in Todmorden has to be taken seriously: "There's no Plan 'B' and we need to look after ourselves. And then, can you imagine, instead of flying beans from Kenya wouldn't it be great if Kenyans could eat their own beans? The time's come to put a bit of common sense back."
And Mary Clear believes it's just a matter of time before everyone in Todmorden and beyond will want to grow their own. She says that, if nothing else, it reminds people that we're all in this together: "It doesn't matter what culture you're from, it doesn't matter what age you are, there's something about being outside and growing and eating that touches everybody...It's a brilliant way to bring people together!"
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