We’re used to Jamie Oliver waxing lyrical about his passion for food, but his latest campaign digs deeper. Oliver will be backing a project by green charity Trees for Cities to encourage school gardening initiatives that will get kids growing and eating their own food.
Described as an 'edible playground' project, the scheme will give school children the opportunity to connect the food they eat with where it comes from. “This is a great way for children to learn about plants, especially fruit and vegetables and herbs and how good food grows," said Oliver, also a patron of the charity.
"For kids, it’s fascinating to get involved with sowing the seeds, watering them, watching them grow, and then harvesting them and finally enjoying a few fruit and veg fresh from the ground. We should start educating kids at the very start about where our food comes from.”
Rotherfield School is to be the flagship site of the campaign. Located in the heart of Islington, this is truly an inner city project, and combines many elements of urban landscaping, design and health.
Katie Roberts, the charity's projects director, is leading the work at Rotherfield. She explained:“The school approached us with the idea of transforming their open space. They had a limited play area with tarmac down and no grass for the children to play on. We did a full survey looked at physical aspects light and soil and how the area was used and consulted with stakeholders to find out from teachers and kids what they want to see.
“There’s so much potential for designing spaces with food plants. Designers need to be open to that and not be afraid of getting local people involved.”
Speaking on behalf of the Landscape Design Trust was board member Mathew Frith, landscape regeneration manager of the Peabody Trust. "The green space sector should be welcoming this trend for grow-your-own with open arms," he said. "There are many who have the skills to help people have some real contact with the natural world. By helping to get people’s fingers dirty, we can start them on a journey of appreciating the world of plants and green spaces. Parks managers can encourage new audiences into their sites, landscape architects can advocate the inclusion of ‘spaces to grow’ in projects."
Nevertheless Frith said the trend for using public space to grow food does present challenges for landscape professionals. "A few raised beds can quickly mean a few thousand pounds. I suspect some green space managers are reluctant to invest heavily in creating food-growing infrastructure in case they create future management problems. Food needs care and attention, as do the plots in which it is located. Green space managers may need to be the voice of experience to ensure future sustainability."
• There's more from Jamie Oliver on his campaign, and the secret recipe he has planned for the produce from Rotherfield's playground in Green Places magazine's exclusive feature. There's also more from Mathew Frith on the future of food and its effect on the green space sector. To subscribe to Green Places visit the Landscape Design Trust website.
