Growing up in rural Suffolk, the abundance of the natural world was easy to take for granted. I was lucky enough to have a vegetable patch in my parents’ garden, and the chance to learn about biodiversity and sustainability was never far away.
What struck me when I moved to London was how few opportunities many children have to see where our food comes from and to understand how to live healthy lives.
Today, the health of our children is threatened more than ever by the cost-of-living crisis, with so many kids going to school hungry.
That’s why Hounslow Council has launched Grow for the Future – a first-of-its-kind policy to transform 27 acres of public wasteland across the borough into new allotments, community gardens and orchards.
This will tackle the enormous demand for allotments and growing spaces since the pandemic, and allow families to cultivate their own fresh produce in the face of rocketing food costs.
But more than that, we will look to pair each of the 18 new sites with a local school and dedicate a portion of it to teach urban children, in often deprived areas, about growing in green spaces, nature, wildlife, and eating healthily.
The food grown by the schools can be donated to support children going hungry.
In the initial phase of Grow for the Future, we will transform four new sites a year, with the first ones opening this summer. From 2025, we’ll also start looking at unused private land that could be leased or purchased and opened up to the public and schools.
I’d love to see councils across Britain’s cities look at similar opportunities to open up green space. I want to give everyone in urban environments, young and old – so often disconnected from nature – the opportunity to cultivate land they can call their own and understand where our food comes from. To learn, and grow, for their future.