Mayor welcomes 99,000 Londoners growing food in the city

Growing Success [1], a new report out today reveals the huge and positive impact of the Capital Growth programme over the last four years. The programme, funded by the Mayor of London and the Big Lottery, and run by London Food Link has helped get around 99,000 people growing on 2,012 new community food gardens, with 82% in the more deprived parts of London.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who wrote a foreword for the report, said:
'Capital Growth has proven to be an astonishing success which has unlocked a primal love of gardening in city dwellers. The scheme has been especially successful not just in the leafy suburbs, but in the more deprived inner London areas where gardening has brought people into contact with neighbours often for the very first time. London is now an acknowledged world leader in urban agriculture with Capital Growth showing that bringing people together to make a physical investment in the soil, reaps environmental, social, educational and even economic dividends.'

Rosie Boycott, Chair of London Food, said: 'Capital Growth is a proven recipe for success, unleashing Londoners' rediscovered love of grow your own, binding communities together in a way we scarcely hoped possible. We hope that our experiences and lessons learned will help other urban areas do likewise.'

The report, which is being launched at the Edible Urban event [2] in London’s City Hall, also calls for food growing spaces to be provided in all public spaces, all new residential development and in all schools.

Sarah Williams of Capital Growth, explains, ‘This programme has shown that not only do people have an appetite for food growing, but there are also huge benefits such as improving how a community looks, and feels about itself. We want to see Government and landowners give support, as a matter of routine, to more food growing areas in new developments, and also weave them into existing communities.”

The report captures a flavour of the thousands of stories where gardens have helped individuals and their local communities. Some 71% of people have made a new friend with someone in their neighbourhood as a result of getting involved. Also, 38% of those involved felt safer in their neighbourhood because of the food growing project.

The report Growing Success: The impact of Capital Growth on community food growing in London can be downloaded from www.sustainweb.org/publications

For press copies and other media enquiries please contact Sarah Williams on 0203 5596 777 or sarah@sustainweb.org

 

Notes

1. Key statistics from the Growing Success report

• 2,012 new community food gardens have been set up in the capital since the end of 2008.
• 99,000 people are growing on the 2,012 new community food gardens supported by the Capital Growth programme.
• 82% of these food growing spaces are in the more deprived parts of London.
• 66% of Capital Growth projects are on previously unused, derelict or inaccessible land.
• 71% of people have made a new friend with someone in their neighbourhood as a result of getting involved.
• 38% of those involved felt safer in their neighbourhood because of the food growing project.
• The total area covered by Capital Growth food growing spaces is close to 500,000 square metres or 124 acres. That is the equivalent of 69 Wembley football pitches.
• Two thirds of London’s boroughs signed up to support of Capital Growth, i.e. 22 out of 33.

2. Edible Urban event, 30th January, City Hall
The report is launched today at a conference called Edible Urban: Cultivating the Capital Growth Experience.  It draws together speakers from local councils, social housing and community gardens, as well as speakers from other similar projects around the country. The presentations from the event will be made available at www.capitalgrowth.org.

3. Capital Growth was launched in 2008 to provide practical and financial help to Londoners wanting to set up or expand food growing spaces. The scheme was funded from 2008 – 2012 by the Mayor of London and by the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food programme, a £59.8 million funding programme that has funded hundreds of projects like Capital Growth. In 2013 Capital Growth will continue supporting its 2,012 members thanks to funding from The Social Action Fund, The Mayor of London and the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food programme. The Mayor’s funding will help growing spaces that have potential to develop as social enterprises, selling their produce to local people. For more information go to www.capitalgrowth.org.