The pandemic has raised the profile for a healthier
lifestyle and wellbeing, be it physical and mental exercise or better nutrition,
diet and good ‘fresh’ food. Even the fast food outlets have realised that we
need more fresh food and that we can’t live on carbs, processed food and heavily
sweetened and salted food alone. Consumers have been increasingly wary of sugar
and salt levels and supermarkets that have all but destroyed seasonality and
wonky food and are now realising that ‘shrinkwrapped and perfect’ 365 x 24 may
not be the solution sought by all.
I can still remember my childhood and those bountiful and
colourful harvest festivals. Each autumn school halls and church halls were decorated,
and everyone brought in their own grown produce of all shapes and sizes to celebrate
and share the harvest. We still have Harvest festivals, but we now have less space,
and many people have lost or never learnt the skills or had the confidence to
grow their own.
Our waiting list, like many others, has exploded over the
lockdown period and continues to grow with people wanting to grow, enjoy fresh
food and improve their health and wellbeing. There are no quick fixes to
meeting this demand, and understanding the true latent demand is an interesting
challenge especially in the urban and inner cities.
Allotments today can often produce more than the plot holder’s
families can consume. Allotments are not allowed to sell produce to the public
and when all the pickling, jam, chutney, freezing and wine opportunities have
been exhausted, we often find there are still excesses.
Last week there was a wonderful picture on Social Media of a
fantastic harvest of food a plot holder had donated to their local food bank.
This is to be commended and it was not for commercial gain. Also last week I discussed
opportunities to donate on a site, or even borough basis, with a local church
whose parish together with other dominations run a food bank and who this year have
been supplying food boxes to those needing direct assistance. Throughout the
country, allotments and plot holders have programmes to donate their excess
produce to many worthy initiatives and long may this continue and be encouraged.
The question is, can we do it better?
Last year we contributed our site excess plus produce grown
at our Canary Wharf allotment to a local kitchen. It’s was not always easy to
collect, very unpredictable and obviously has to be delivered ‘fresh’ at the right
time. We also had talks about linking the kitchen to another charity that could
train youngsters how to prepare and cook the produce.
One challenge we have is that we have such an ethnic mix of
cultures that there is often more exotic food than traditional and donating non-traditional
food to the wrong audience can be a wasted exercise and visa versa. We spoke to
some charities who ran kitchens and they declined food on the basis we could
not guarantee supply and more importantly they really wanted was tinned, dry
goods more than fresh. This was what both the cooks and clients expected. It is
no good presenting someone who desperately needs food with a plate of patti
pans, yellow courgettes, mangetout and black potatoes.
So the answers are not simple: there are no one size fits
all, and often its also down to the logistics of getting the right produce to
the right place, right people and at the right time. Real ‘fresh’ and organic produce
often doesn’t have that supermarket extended shelf life.
Perhaps it’s the perfect time for council allotment sites to
actively involve local charities and health bodies in their allotments and extend
their appreciation of health and wellbeing. After all, allotment benefits are
far greater than Parks and Open Space.
The balance of benefits from keeping any initiative local,
against extending it to cover a borough or even larger community is an interesting
one. Dealing with different ethnic and cultural tastes is another. However we
should be cognisant that our allotments are community land and we are privileged
to have it and work it, and finding ways to share the harvest with those less
fortunate should always be on the agenda.
