Local Food and Foraging
Local Food and Foraging
10•09•2009There has been an enormous increase in the number of people wanting to grow their own food in recent months. Demand for allotments has soared and groups are being set up all over the country to promote growing and sharing local food. Two network member groups are featured below but there are many other examples in Swindon and Wiltshire and we would be delighted to pass on your achievements if you get in touch.
Hungerford Environmental Action Team has put together a foraging map of the Hungerford area. They chart the position of places where you can legally forage for wild foods. If you've seen unused fruit or nuts going to waste and would like to share this information on the foraging map, contact the group or see the paper version in the Hungerford bookshop and add your notes.
HEAT would also like to hear from anyone with surplus fruit in their garden to give away or anyone who could volunteer to be a harvester. Fruit will be distributed to organisations caring for the elderly in Hungerford.
For inspiration from outside the area see the work being done in Todmorden and Sheffield. Projects like these help reduce the reliance on food brought in from a distance but they also help to recreate local community cohesion.
A small group in Marlborough that originally got together as part of the ecocell scheme have decided to continue to meet and recently began a discussion around the concept of permaculture. If, like me, you've always had a vague interest in the topic without really knowing much about it, a good book to start with is 'Permaculture in a Nutshell' by Patrick Whitefield. This has the advantage of being written from a British perspective and is also short so not too daunting for newcomers. The Permaculture Association (Britain) can help you get started and there is lots of information on Wikipedia. Incidentally, you can still see the film 'A Farm for the Future' featured on BBC last year on the Permaculture Association website. Short course are available to help you get started. Try contacting the Ruth O'Brien website for more information.
Most of the Marlborough group are already keen gardeners and some are members of Marlborough Climate Pledge who are keen to promote locally produced food and who are supporting a community allotment.
