Urban Food Week and Big Dig come to town
by
Rocky Park
If you like your legumes local and your herbs hand-picked, don’t miss the huge celebration of urban food growing taking place across the country next week.
In London, restaurants and bars will be serving dishes and drinks made with fruit, vegetables and honey from nearby urban farms throughout the week and at the weekend, more than 100 community food-growing spaces in four cities across the UK will throw open their gates to the public.
The Big Dig Edible Open Gardens event, which is being held in Brighton, London, Manchester and Sheffield, is the largest event of its kind to take place in the UK.
The Big Dig’s Clare Horrell said: “The Edible Open Gardens events will be the first time many of these gardens have been opened to the public. We want people to come and visit, taste what is growing and be inspired to get involved so that growing food becomes part of every community.”
Railway stations, barges, museums and churches are just some of the more unusual places visitors can explore plots, full details of all the gardens involved can be found on the Big Dig website.
Some of the community gardens opening in London will also be sending their produce to local restaurants to be turned into super-fresh feasts for Urban Food Week.
Kelly Parsons of the Ethical Eats restaurant network, which is promoting Urban Food Week, said: “There is an amazing range of international foods to choose from in London, but it’s just as important to celebrate our carrots from Battersea, lettuce from King’s Cross, and honey from Old Street.”
More than 20 restaurants, including Platterform at the Skyroom and The Duke of Cambridge, are taking part and there will even be a pop-up dining room in a community food garden near London Bridge.
Urban Food Week runs from Monday 10th – Sunday 16th September. More information on participating restaurants, events and activities can be found at www.ethicaleats.org
The Big Dig Edible Open Gardens event is on from Friday 14th September to Sunday 16th September. Visit www.bigdig.org.uk to find opening dates and times for your local growing spaces.
The Big Dig and Urban Food Week are both organised by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.