Londoners Get Aid to Plant 2,012 Gardens by 2012 Olympics
Image source: Capital Growth
Monday we reported on a project in San Francisco to increase backyard gardens and locally produced food. Today we have yet another local gardening project to report on, as reported in The Guardian, this time in London. The Capital Growth project encourages area residents to plant gardens on their empty, flat roofs, well and frankly just about any available space in London, to increase the amount of locally grown food. In fact, local officials are hoping they can get 2,012 new gardens prior to the Olympics in 2012 in order to grow enough local food to be able to feed at least some of the athletes. Flat rooftops on residences and commercial buildings are one option for gardens, as well as schools, nursing homes. Capital Growth wants area residents to look around, get creative and roll up their sleeves. Even "spare pieces of land can be found on canal banks, banks of reservoirs, and disused railway yards" says Rosie Boycott, appointed Chair of London Food.
The Capital Growth website organizes and matches up folks with available plots with folks who are able and willing to garden the site. Interested workers will even be given tools and compost in order to get the projects going. Other expected benefits are reduction of fuel in food transport and a reconnection of people with the land and where their food comes from. "Linking up currently unloved patches of land with people who want to discover the wonders of growing their own food....will make London a greener, more pleasant place to live while providing healthy and affordable food," says Boris Johnson, Mayor of London.
Capital Growth and their first 50 plots will be organized and funded by London Food Initiative, part of Sustain. :Capital Growth::The GuardianMore on Local Gardens100 Mile Diet Launches WebsiteThe Federation of City Farms and Community GardensSolar Panels and Wind Turbines Power NYC Community GardenNew Neighborhood, New Community GardenBook Review: Food Not LawnsHow to Cook That Backyard ProduceTH Forums: Edible YardsFrugal Green Living: Find Your Dinner at the Farmers MarketStrawberry Fields Forever: 5 Reasons Why Preserving Your Own Food is Green
