Mayor launches Capital Growth to boost locally grown food in London

Capital Growth – the first initiative delivered by Rosie Boycott in her capacity as Chair of London Food – aims to identify suitable patches of land around London and offer financial and practical support to groups of enthusiastic gardeners or organisations who want to grow food for themselves and for the local community. It is expected that a range of organisations will open up land to the scheme including borough councils, schools, hospitals, housing estates, utilities companies and parks. There are already community groups growing food on land across London - Capital Growth will help to expand these organisations whilst encouraging new ones.

The Mayor today announced the first organisations to pledge land to Capital Growth, these are:

Blenheim Gardens housing estate in Brixton, to be run by social housing residents;
A large privately owned residential garden in Morden, where local volunteers will grow and share the harvest;
Latchmere House resettlement prison in Richmond, which will grow food for the canteen and run horticulture and catering training with prisoners to improve skills and employment prospects.

Boosting the amount of locally grown food in London makes economic sense at a time of rising food prices, and it also has a range of health and environmental benefits, such as improving access to nutritious food in urban areas and helping to increase flood protection. There is rising interest in self-grown food and inner London boroughs have waiting lists for allotments that can be decades long.

Boris Johnson said: "Linking up currently unloved patches of land with people who want to discover the wonders of growing their own food, delivers massive benefits. It will help to make London a greener, more pleasant place to live whilst providing healthy and affordable food. This will aid people to reconnect with where their fruit and veg comes from and cut the congestion and carbon emissions associated with the transportation of food from miles away. Capital Growth is a win-win scheme - good for our communities and good for our environment."

Rosie Boycott said: "London has a good deal of green spaces – some derelict or underused - but not being used as well as they could be. We also have a veritable host of enthusiastic gardeners who are well equipped to turning derelict or underused spaces into thriving oases offering healthy food and a fantastic focus for the community. Capital Growth will identify spaces across the capital – often in surprising places such as roof gardens – and help London’s communities grow their own food."

Monty Don, gardening expert and TV presenter, said: "Growing your own is the most direct route to delicious, healthy food. It is also immensely satisfying. Anyone can do it, anywhere, and if we all grow a little then together we can make a huge difference to our food supply."

Capital Growth will be run by London Food Link, part of the charity Sustain who are working for better food and farming to enhance people’s health and welfare and the environment. The pilot stage of the scheme running until March 2009 will identify and support the first 50 spaces, and is being funded by the London Development Agency. Beyond this, Sustain will be seeking future funding for Capital Growth, with the support of London Food.

Ben Reynolds, coordinator of London Food Link, said: "We are delighted to be working with the Mayor of London to transform our city with 2,012 new food growing spaces. People from all over London are already contacting us, keen to be involved in Capital Growth."

Bonnie Hewson, a housing estate resident from Blenheim Gardens in Brixton, the first new food growing space in the Capital Growth initiative, said: "Residents on my estate are very excited about Capital Growth – everyone from children to older people will be growing more of their own fresh food. Being part of Capital Growth will help to raise the profile of our work and get more people involved."

For more information on Capital Growth, visit: http://www.capitalgrowth.org/

Ends

Notes to editors:

[1] Further details of the first three Capital Growth spaces:

Blenheim Gardens is a residential estate in Brixton with 440 mixed tenure properties, with lots of potential for food growing, in gardens, on flat roofs and balconies, and on communal land. Bonnie Hewson, an estate resident, aims to link experienced growers with beginners, match keen growers with unused gardens, and turn several communal garden spaces and unused borders into food growing spaces. Bonnie presented her ideas at a recent residents meeting and everyone supported the plans. Food growing activities will also be supported by the local Youth Centre, which hopes to grow food on its roof.
In Morden, local resident Ian Solomon-Kawall plans to turn his large garden in to a vegetable growing space. It will be run by local volunteers, and the harvest will be divided between those who have given their time, energy and expertise to the garden. Ian is a hip-hop teacher who promotes social cohesion through music, and he is keen to involve local people in food growing, particularly young people, young mothers and people on low incomes.
Latchmere House is a resettlement prison in Richmond which will grow food for the canteen and run accredited horticulture and catering training with prisoners to improve skills and employment prospects. The prison has a large area of grass which it plans to transform into a food growing space with a polytunnel and raised beds. Produce will supply the canteen and a food trading scheme, and kitchen waste will be composted for the garden. Food growing and training will be supported by the Good Food Training for London project run by Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency and Sustain.

[2] London Development Agency is funding the pilot of Capital Growth at a cost of £87,000 until March 2009.

[3] Capital Growth is coordinated by London Food Link (http://www.londonfoodlink.org/), which runs a network of organisations and individuals promoting a more sustainable food system for the capital. Network members are as diverse as farmers and food writers, caterers and community food projects. London Food Link is part of Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming. (http://www.sustainweb.org/). Sustain will be seeking future funding for Capital Growth, with the support of London Food.

[4] London Food, the food board for London chaired by Rosie Boycott, works to develop activities and policies, which support a sustainable food system in the capital. This includes:

Reducing the environmental impact of London's food chain
Supporting a vibrant food economy, especially through education and skills development and enhancing the status of food workers
Improving Londoners' health via the food they eat and reducing health inequalities
Improving access to food (particularly through planning and regeneration) and celebrating London's culinary cultural and ethnic diversity
Developing London's food security

London Food was set up in November 2003 to help improve the health of Londoners and look at ways of making London's food more sustainable.

For media enquiries please call:

Hilary Merrett at the Mayor’s Press Office on 020 7983 4755. For out of hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000.
Ben Reynolds of London Food Link (part of Sustain) on 020 7837 1228. Mobile 07939 202711.
For general enquiries about Capital Growth, contact project officer Seb Mayfield: seb@sustainweb.org or Kate Swatridge: kate@sustainweb.org