Words by Smiley Team
Avid gardener, Adam Skelton, is the founder of Food Communities, a mass collaborative movement which ensures that as many people as possible can have access to the freshest, healthiest local food and save money.
“The vast majority of people in the UK rarely eat locally grown food and the vast majority of home gardens are not used for growing food”, comments Adam. “As a society we urgently need to tackle food poverty and reduce food miles and plastic packaging and we can do this if we prioritise local food and better manage our time and resources. We have the skills, materials and the space to do it. But more of us need to get stuck in if eating truly local food is going to become the norm again. Food Communities can provide the support and infrastructure to facilitate this”.
Food Communities provides free support to groups of any size to begin growing and using their own food via their website and a network of Facebook groups and community gardens. Members share food, seeds, plants, tools, materials, knowledge and skills and are encouraged to work as a team to maximise the potential of local gardens, allotments and waste land, to help more people start growing, and to get more fresh food to local people in need.
The first Food Community group started in Adam’s home town of Peebles, in the Scottish Borders, in 2017. Since then Peebles Food Community has created three community gardens on shared members’ land, planted around five hundred fruit and nut trees, grown many new edible trees and bushes from seeds and cuttings, organised produce and seed swap events, hosted workshops and talks, created food drop-off points around the town, supplied produce to local greengrocers, and been regularly swapping and sharing.
“Through working in community gardens and with other community groups my eyes have been opened to the countless positive things going on in our communities every day and the abundance of proficient amateur food growers. What is missing is the mainstream collaboration that Food Communities is aiming to ignite and facilitate”.
Adam recognises that not everyone has the time or the knowledge to grow their own food but believes that with a compassionate and coordinated system based around neighbours working together we can all be enjoying local food.
“When you know what you are doing it is not difficult or expensive to grow your own food. But it does require organisation and time. We encourage Food Community members to help neighbours who are new to food growing and to seek out new spaces in their community that can be shared to grow”.
The organisation has not received any funding and is completely run by volunteers. Every local Food Community group needs at least one person to coordinate and help promote the group. If you fancy helping administer your local group, you should get in touch by email or Facebook message.
“Food Communities are completely free. You have nothing to lose and lots to gain,” comments Adam. Everyone is urged to join the main Food Communities Facebook group, visit www.foodcommunities.org to find their local Food Community group and to email [email protected] for any further details. “If you would like a Food Community group in your local area, please get in touch and we will look to setting one up for you”.
By Ellen Jones
