Green Gold : Community Gardens, School Farms & More. Interview: Alan Gordon, Edible Estates

Green spaces can be utilised in a variety of ways. Edible Estates is an example of a partnership of several organisations which mobilises proactive community growing projects in Edinburgh. GreenBurgh spoke to Alan Gordon, Community Engagement Officer about the projects and how green spaces are utilised in Edinburgh.

Edible Estates works across a variety of communities but their approach has been developed to suit to social housing estates in particular. They aim to implement food growing as a tool for urban regeneration, promoting individual health and wellbeing and community cohesion.

The organisation runs a variety of projects around the city including; neighbourhood gardens, school farm growing projects, community food initiatives and back green growing around the city.

Edible Estates have taken on many unloved green spaces in Edinburgh and many projects have been successful. The organisation started working with food banks earlier this year supplying them fresh produce and community meals.

Alan told us:

“Three of our projects have food banks pretty much right on their doorsteps, Craigmillar Home Farm, Broomhouse Growers, Murrayburn & Hailesland & Canal View Primary school farm”.

"We experimented with making some fresh produce, typically staple items and nothing too exotic available on an adhoc basis which seems to have worked okay in Craigmillar. We also began monthly community meals there where folk can grow, harvest, prep, cook and eat together. We’ll be ramping this up going into the new growing season”.

Above: Craigmillar Home Farm

The organisation have developed a variety of formerly undeveloped green spaces into proactive projects. GreenBurgh asked Alan if he thinks enough is being done to utilise Edinburgh's green spaces for community growing projects.

"My personal opinion is not enough. There is a saturation point I suppose for the more traditional ‘community garden’ however there are vast amounts of empty unloved green spaces around Edinburgh, particularly in the outer lying housing schemes".

"There is a gap between a traditional community garden and the volume of produce harvested, usually for personal use and being able to make a serious effort to grow and supply food locally as a response to food poverty and challenging the existing procurement practices and supply chains".

"This is where I think a more communal food growing project i.e. home farm can look at developing a network of growing areas, worked communally, taking a fare share and ploughing excess back into the community."

Above: Murrayburn and Hailesland Community Garden

Community is of course central to all of the projects and community food growing projects prove effective at empowering and bringing communities together. Alan explained why this is the case.

“A lot of the housing schemes we work in are devoid of what we term community assets. Many community centres have been removed or may not be open during the weekend. Often this means there is nowhere for people to come together or to deliver workshops, support folk or just hang out”.

“They act as great platforms for people to come together who may have had nothing in common previously."

"This initiates many conversations and we encourage and support the development of community associations to really try to empower folk to run the community gardens themselves but also to spark that activist streak where they can come together and think about what other things they would like to see improve in their communities”.

All images used with permission from Alan Gordon.