A groundbreaking new collaboration with the people of Sheffield will see nature-friendly food produced in the heart of a peoples’ park from next spring.
Food Works’ cafe menus and Just Meals ready meals at sites across the city will soon feature nature-friendly fruit, veg and herbs grown in Graves Park’s Norton Nurseries by teams of community growers supported by Food Works.
The collaboration launches as urgent calls mount for the UK to grow more of its own. Evidence published this summer shows that boosting resilient local fruit and veg production could help avoid ‘a disaster’ for supermarket shelves, public health and the environment.
The nurseries will take on a new life as the engine room of a new community-driven mission to make nature-friendly food available to everyone in a variety of ways.
This move heralds a step change for Sheffield’s vibrant food growing movement over the next five years, and will be a flagship for a small but growing series of collaborations between communities and local councils to provide space for community food growing across the UK.
Food Works will support a new community of growers and partners, including Sheffield City Council, the University of Sheffield and many others, to breathe new life into the nurseries. All of the growing on the site will be nature-friendly, supporting the park’s wider flora and fauna too. It will also provide space for research on new climate-resilient crops and the benefits of community food growing. Over time, we will explore opportunities with funders and partners to support everyone in Sheffield grow their own nature-friendly food, building on the success of their community growing projects at Meersbrook Walled Garden and Heeley City Farm.
Our Director Rene Meijer has reflected on the news, saying: “This heralds an exciting new phase in the city’s food growing history. We know that people who grow food together are 3.5 times more likely to get their five a day, and that using just 10% of the city’s land could feed 15% of Sheffield population. So this represents a critical step forward in ensuring fair and sustainable food for the people of Sheffield, in collaboration with the people of Sheffield. We’re hopeful that Food Works’ strong track record of working with communities and partners will provide a positive foundation for more examples like this across the city.”
Selina Treuherz, Coordinator of ShefFood, Sheffield’s food partnership, explained the significance of the collaboration: “There are very few examples of local authorities working in partnership with communities to use public land for food growing to serve the people. In the context of increasing food security, the result of the cost-of-living crisis and the climate crisis, it’s a critical step forward. This is something to celebrate both for Sheffield and for the whole of the UK.“
Sheffield City Council have also welcomed the move. Councillor Angela Argenzio, Chair of the Adult Health and Social Care Committee at Sheffield City Council and Co-Chair of Sheffield Health and Wellbeing Board, said: “This is a wonderful project and I’m sure it will be very successful. To see healthy and fresh food produced in one or our parks and then sold in its café and locally is a superb example of partnership working. Access to healthy, affordable food is vital for the health and wellbeing of every community in Sheffield.
“The Council is committed to working together with partners to make sure that our local food production continues to thrive and grow. We are recognised nationally for our thriving local food economy and the significant knowledge we have across the food sector. Projects like this one will see that continue and generate real change. Growing and sourcing more of our food locally, with the right considerations, can increase our food security, support biodiversity and reduce our carbon emissions.”
