We often forget that the land that most allotments are on is
owned not by the Society, or its plot holders, or in fact by the local
authority, but by the community. It may be the local parish council, a local
council, or a metropolitan borough whose name is on the freehold, but it
remains community land and open space.
So how do allotments integrate and work with the community?
In this short series of articles, we look at some of those communities and
opportunities. There is no right or wrong approach, just opportunities.
3 Sharing from plot to pot
‘We all grew up in communities with grandmothers who
cooked two or three vegetables that you had to eat. There were no ifs, ands or
buts about it. But that’s because many of our grandparents, they had community
gardens; there was a vegetable man that came around. There were many other
resources that allowed them to have access. So it’s not that people don’t
know or don’t want to do the right thing: they just have to have access to the
foods that they know will make their families healthier’. - Michelle Obama
We may not have grown up in the same community as Michelle
Obama but the words ring true of all communities.
We today all have gluts of produce from our allotments which
we seek advice on how to preserve, freeze, pickle and make into cordials, wine
or spirits. The allotment statute prohibits the sale or commercial gain from
the produce we grow. So how much can we produce and how much do we give away to
friends, family and neighbours?
Unfortunately collecting excess produce and giving it to
needy causes is not easy. First the vegetables must be those wanted or that can
be used. It’s little use giving a food bank Patti pans or romesco cauliflowers
or even more exotic and ethnic produce - they want basics and things people
know how to cook. Equally they need a constant flow of produce and not one week
feast the next famine. Finally, the want produce that still has a chance of
making it to the plate before it has to be thrown. The logistics of collecting,
consolidating, and distributing fresh food is a lot harder than tins and
packets but can be far more nutritious.
Our site has a very diverse ethnic mix which reflects the
community in which we live. Other sites have a different diversity which
reflects their area. The food grown by these diverse groups can be very
different and knowing what to do with it or even naming some of it can be
challenging. I can safely say that those traditional allotment staples of spuds,
beans, carrots leeks cabbage etc are only grown on probably half our plots.
So maybe there are two challenges in sharing excess with the
community. Firstly, that of the right produce to the right people at the right
time. Secondly educating people about the produce they have probably never seen
let alone cooked or consumed. This second opportunity is about plot to pot.
‘We estimate city-wide allotment production of >1200 t of fruit and vegetables and 200 t of potatoes per annum, equivalent to feeding >8500 people. If the 13% of plots that are completely uncultivated were used this could increase production to >1400 t per annum, feeding ~10,000 people, however this production may not be located in areas where there is greatest need for increased access to fresh fruits and vegetables.’ Feb 2020: Feeding a city – Leicester as a case study of the importance of allotments for horticultural production in the UK published by Elsevier Science.‘
Imagine not only providing the excess produce but teaching
groups how to cook it and then serving it up to the homeless, the needy and the
community. There are initiatives to do this but they need the produce, and they
themselves may need to understand how to prepare and cook it and it has to be
served either in a kitchen or taken to folk on wheels.
It would be amazing if sites worked together across a
borough or even across a whole city to collect the produce and then with a body,
or charity, who could distribute it to the needy. By working together sites
could ensure a more consistent flow of fresh produce in sufficient quantities.
It would be amazing if the young unemployed could learn to
cook using the excess produce along with other foodstuffs and providing the
resultant meals to where they are needed.
When you next put that extra pumpkin, squash, courgette,
beans into the compost bins, or you look at the green tomatoes on the window
sill, or you look at the freezer crammed with frozen vegetables from the plot
ask, if they could be used in the community and how that could happen.
‘There is enough on this planet for everyone’s needs but
not for everyone’s greed.’ Mohandas Gandhi.
