Capital Growth welcomes British Waterways on board to grow food on London’s canals

14 groups now signed up to grow their own grub around the capital 

19 February 2009

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and Rosie Boycott, chair of London Food, have today welcomed British Waterways as a major new sign-up to the Capital Growth project to find 2,012 new food growing spaces in London by 2012.

British Waterways is working with Capital Growth experts to identify a range of suitable spaces for growing food, including land alongside canals and turning retired workboats into floating vegetable plots.

The first will be a stretch of land along the Hertford Union Canal in Hackney Wick. This area will be planted and tended by Growing Concerns, a community-based gardening and landscaping team dedicated to improving the environment for those living and working in London’s East End. The land will be used to develop a community composting scheme and food planting plot.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: ‘I am thrilled that British Waterways has signed up to Capital Growth. Using currently underused stretches of land along London’s canals and even the boats on them, to grow fruit and veg will not only provide local communities with top notch healthy grub but also help make our waterways even more vibrant, exciting and colourful places to enjoy.’

Rosie Boycott, said: ‘The response we have had to Capital Growth has been really amazing. We are now working with a wide range of groups and organisations who are enthused by the prospect of growing their own in London to the benefit of our local communities.’

British Waterways' Chairman, Tony Hales said: ‘British Waterways is very excited to be part of the Capital Growth project. The 100-miles of canals and rivers we care for in London provide a green corridor through the city, offering an escape from the hustle and bustle of the streets.  We are working with Capital Growth to identify any suitable pockets of land along London's waterways that we or others might not be using, and matching them up with local groups and schools looking to grow their own food. 

‘We are also looking into more creative options, such as giving a new lease of life to some of our retired workboats, saving them from the breaker's yard and converting them into floating vegetable gardens, moveable feasts that could provide growing opportunities in even the most built-up of areas. 

‘If these schemes are successful then there is no reason why we couldn't repeat them elsewhere in the UK along the 2,000 miles of canals and rivers in our care as part of a wider initiative to encourage communities to make greater use of their waterways. Our network already attracts 11 million visitors each year and hopefully this scheme will encourage even more people to get a taste for the canals.’

A total of 14 groups have now signed up to the Capital Growth pilot scheme to date, which was launched by the Mayor and Rosie Boycott in November 2008. The Capital Growth team hope to announce more participants in coming weeks.

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.

ENDS

• British Waterways cares for and manages 100 miles of canals and rivers and 110 acres of docks in London.  As a not-for-dividend public corporation it works with a broad range of public, private and voluntary sector partners to unlock the potential of the inland waterways for the benefit of the millions who visit and care for them.  www.britishwaterways.co.uk/london
• British Waterways is leasing the canal-side plot of land for community gardening use to Growing Concerns for free.
• Capital Growth – delivered by Rosie Boycott in her capacity as Chair of London Food – identifies suitable patches of land around London and offers financial and practical support to groups of enthusiastic gardeners or organisations who want to grow food for themselves and for the local community. A range of organisations are being targeted to 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.
• Capital Growth is 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.
• The organisations who have pledged land to Capital Growth to date, include:
•  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;
• 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
• The Good Food Society from the School of Oriental and African Studies is working to turn a plot of land in King’s Cross behind their student halls into a thriving edible garden.
• Hancock Nunn House Gardening Club, Camden – a large plot of land will be cleared to be used by residents members of the Hancock Nunn Gardening Club
• Carrara Wharf, Fulham – land bordering the Thames will be tended by Carrara Wharf residents for benefit of the local community and passers by
• Charlton Manor Primary School, Greenwich – children and parents will transform unused land on the school gardens
• Maria Fidelis Lower School, Camden – inner-city school that has never grown food before, will be supported by Global Generation to build a school-ground rooftop food growing space.
• The Close Tenants Association, Lambeth – plot to be used by tenants gardening club to grow food especially keen to involve younger tenants.
• Somerstown Community Association – a flat roof near a children’s nursery at St Christopher’s House will be converted into a food growing space by a team of volunteers to include parents and children.
• Metropolitan Housing – 3 plots have been identified on housing estate land for residents to grow food.
• The London Development Agency is funding the pilot of Capital Growth at a cost of £87,000 until March 2009.
• 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. www.sustainweb.org/. Sustain will be seeking future funding for Capital Growth, with the support of London Food.
• London Food 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
• 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. 

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