July brought good weather and the news that we had finally secured land for the Community Orchard, or so we thought!
The benefits of growing fruit and vegetables go back a long way, for example, during the Middle Ages monasteries in Western Europe set up cloistered gardens to grow fruit and vegetables. The food from these gardens fed the monks and those they cared for as well as offering patients meaningful work, an opportunity to encourage physical movement and social interaction. The beginnings of what we might consider today to be social farming and gardening can be seen in these historic monastic communities. Today, we still consider purposeful work in nature with social support to be the three critical elements of green care.
Unfortunately July also brought bad news because no sooner had we arranged to take over the land for the orchard than the offer was withdrawn due to some complaints from local allotment holders. So back to the drawing board on the land search!
July also saw the two day online Food Summit arranged by Hannah Fenton and Sustain. We welcomed local farmers, food producers, charities, interested individuals and representatives from the local Councils to debate the future of food provision in the county.
We listened to the views of micro producers as well as those farming hundreds of acres of land, those with established products, and those in need of a shared commercial kitchen space to progress to the next stage. The final report looking at a county food partnership is due in October and I look forward to reading that.
We also set up a number of working groups to take forward specific projects. I will be leading the Food Cooperative Investigative Group and asking the question - Do we need a food cooperative in Buckinghamshire?
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