Community Organic Produce Project

[MrReed]

Hello to everyone this is my first post and i hope its in the correct section. Anyway i am hoping for some help/advice and feedback from the members of this forum. Maybe some of you will even get actively involved. As you can see by the title ( this may change if a better title is suggested ) this post is concerning a project i would like to develop in my area ( Merseyside ) and hopefully one which will spread throughout the UK. Here is a brief outline of the project.

Community Organic Produce Project.

The aim of this project is to gather a group of like minded individuals from the local community. Together the group will attempt to grow their own organic produce and in doing so drastically reduce their annual food bill. As well as financial benefits there will also be many other benefits of this project these include.

: Healthier Diet for the families involved.
: More family and community interaction.
: Regular exercise and fresh air for the families involved.
: Becoming more self reliant.


Obviously the above is only an outline as i have so far split the project into 3 main categories

People
Land
Produce

These then get split into further sections etc. I do realise that there are some smaller versions of this project already happening such as city gardens which Hugh F W is focusing on in his latest tv program. I feel that a project on a larger scale such as the city gardens of Cuba is the way forward. Interestingly these gardens only appeared as the population faced starvation. Its not that bad in this country but with prices rising constantly and we are being told to expect further rises, surely now is the time for communities to start becoming far more self reliant.

I don't want to go on to much but i would very much appreciate any feedback from members and if theres any questions i would be happy to answer them as best as i can.

[sewer rat]

Hi MrReed
Sorry if I'm stating the obvious or if you have already done so, but you need to guage the interest first, either by approaching local community councils, or putting small ads in local papers or magazines. It is only when you feel that there is sufficient interest and a will to work on the project that you should proceed to step 2, procuring some land. When you approach the council or whatever organisation/individual you hope will be able to put up some land, you must emphasise that you are NOT looking to set up an allotment site but wish to run the land as a community project - this will also open doors to all manner of grants and financial assistance.
It is only when you get the first two ion place that you can decide on what to grow - and that will have to be democratically.
It sounds like a great idea and I really hope that it gets off the ground.
I know my points are pretty obvious and also pretty general, but if you have specific questions I am sure we will all do what we can to help.
Good Luck

[MrReed]

Hi sewer rat thanks for the reply.

The way i may of typed my first post my be confusing. When i listed the three main catergories they are not nessecerily in order of how i will go about the project. I also understand that the first step is to gauge interest and see if there is a suitable number of people willing to participate. I just listed them as headings for people to give feedback/help in connection with any of them.

If i do get positive feedback in general i will then narrow the search to my local area ( Merseyside ) and see if theres enough interest. Forums like this have members from all over the UK so maybe theres some potential recruits on here.

[TonyF]

Isn't this the type of project that HDRA/Garden Organic are already working on across the UK?

[MrReed]

Just having a read through the HDRA/Garden Organic website it looks as though they are going from a different angle. They are recruiting people from community's and training them to be mentors to other members of the same community. Funding also comes from private donations from Garden Organic members. I also found the following statement very interesting - ' The target audience is socially excluded communities and those not currently growing their own produce '

Well firstly any project i work on is open to anyone in the community and from any community within the city or region, i know from past experience target audiences are just ridiculous. If someone approaches you looking to make a commitment to the project but isn't from your target audience should you really refuse them because of that?

Also i want the group to empower themselves, not have to rely on funding via donations or government grants. My idea is to gather a group who are willing to make a commitment with their time, skills and money. After all this project is to save money for the group and hopefully year on year save more and more money as food costs rise. The people involved will need to view this as a working investment and not a training scheme that needs little or no commitment from themselves.

[Flummery]

I think the people here are already doing this. You are looking at involving people who are not already doing it I would think?