New help for communities to grow their own food

A recent Defra announcement highlighted the vast interest in 'growing your own' with people wanting to get more in touch with where their food comes from, as well as staying active and spending more time outdoors. About 300,000 gardeners in England already have allotments but demand still outstrips supply and the Government is therefore announcing new ways of meeting people's desire to dig in.

On 3 March, John Denham and Hilary Benn set out a package of measures to help gardeners in the community. This included working with the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens to set up a new national community land bank and many other initiatives and proposals to support communities. This recent announcement, as part of the Government's Food 2030 strategy, responds to a resurgence of interest in people growing their own food.