Photo: BBC News.
Rooted in Hull, a nonprofit that teaches people how to grow produce in urban areas, flourishes in the industrial heartland of Hull, UK.
Here’s a city in the UK that is essentially giving residents permission to save the planet in those small ways that can add up. It’s about growing healthful food where polluting industry once held sway.
Kevin Shoesmith writes at BBC News, “Hull looks set to become the first UK city to give people the ‘right to grow’ food on disused council land.
“Council bosses say the move would bring communities together, reduce antisocial behavior and make places look better, as well as put quality food on dinner plates. As campaigners call for the idea to be adopted nationally, BBC News visited one Hull-based community group that is ahead of the curve, growing healthy food in the shadows of factories. …
“In multiple raised beds on a graveled patch of land off St Peter’s Street, plants flourish, irrigated using a system which collects and stores rainwater from the roof of the Royal Mail’s sorting office next door.
“Stopping to inspect an apple tree as an HGV rattles by, Martin King, manager of Rooted in Hull, a not-for-profit community organization, said staff and volunteers have proven food can be grown almost anywhere.
” ‘You don’t need a lot at all,’ he says, grinning. ‘Joinery students at Hull College made the raised beds for us.’
“The organization acquired the land in 2015, with Mr King explaining it was once a basin used to hold ships delivering timber to a nearby dock. A stipulation of the lease, he told me, is that no foundations must be dug, hence the presence of containers, a compost toilet and even a reed bed that filters dirty dishwater. …
“[King is] supportive of Hull councillors who recently unanimously passed a ‘right to grow’ motion. If approved by the city council’s scrutiny committee, a map would eventually be produced showing suitable land it owns that could be used by those who want to grow their own fresh food.
“Hull would become the first city in the UK to give people a right to grow on unused council land. …
“Inside a grocery box before us is an abundance of autumnal vegetables destined for the dinner plates of volunteers. Glancing over the road towards the muddy banks of the River Hull, [King] says: ‘Let’s wash away the idea that Hull is some rundown backwater.’
“Incredible Edible, a network of more than 150 community growing groups, is pressing for more councils to do the same. The group insists unused land could ‘with a little TLC be turned into oases for food and wildlife.’ …
” ‘Land already earmarked for building in the future could be temporarily used to grow food,’ [Councillor Gill Kennett] says. ‘Years pass before the foundations are laid and fruit and vegetables could be grown over several seasons.’
“Councillor Mark Ieronimo, the council’s infrastructure portfolio holder, says the city is ‘blessed with green areas,’ adding there are also spaces that are no longer used, such as former car parks. … ‘This will bring people together and it’ll improve mental health and reduce food waste.’
“Back at Rooted in Hull, two volunteers beaver away, weeding and removing the remains of wilted, summer crops. Kale and butternut squash are in plentiful supply.
“Mr King agrees community gardening projects such as this one can help boost mental wellbeing. He says the group works with many vulnerable members of society, including Hull All Nations Alliance (HANA), which helps refugees.
” ‘We had a group of kids from HANA come down,’ he points out. ‘They made chips and pizzas using produce grown here. We help tackle social isolation.’
“At the back of the yard, there are three beehives. ‘A man serving a sentence at HMP Hull used his graphic skills to design labels for the honey,’ Mr King informs me.
“Mr King is content but conscious that more spaces, not just in Hull, could be used in a similar way for food production.”
More at BBC News, here.
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