Buying vegetables and other food at local food fair. Image by Callum MacLellan.
Since December 2008, an ever-increasing group of residents in Shandon in Edinburgh have been discussing how we can buy and grow food which is more local, seasonal and organic. We want to see our local shops thrive; we want to make connections with farmers and producers in the wider region; and we want to see gardens, backgreens and common areas flourish with home-grown produce.
Our Shop Local Shop Shandon campaign launched in January 2011. See meetings and events page for details of our food fair and view our local food map.
In April 2009 we received a grant from the national Climate Challenge Fund to help us develop and which resulted in a report for us by Footprint Consulting. From that we identified three priority areas – listed below. In addition, we have agreed to be part of the community coalition which has been given 15 acres of land in Morningside to develop as a community garden site.
You can get more details of all of these things in our sections on meetings and events and key documents.
Action Groups
The Shandon Local Food Group has identified 3 priority areas for action as a result of community consultation. Each of these areas is listed below.
- Developing our community garden
- How to grow your own food
- Getting the best from local shops and local producers
Some of the ideas sound great, anything that helps us get a bit more from out wee urban gardens would be good. Hopefully we can reduce the number of gardens getting covered in gravel/paving slabs and get stuff growing. Swapping tips/ plants and centralised composting would be good for a start. Weed and cat control advice also welcome. Please keep me informed of progress.
People might be interested in the Craigie’s Farm Deli and Cafe website. The food they grow is organic, and they also sell organic meat and vegetables, etc. Most of the food from the cafe is also organic.
They are very keen on community involvement in food and regularly invite groups of primary school children to bake bread, and, while it’s cooking, to collect free range eggs, scramble them and eat them with the bread they have baked.
They’re website is http://www.craigies.co.uk
The cycle ride out there gives an excellent appetite. Route: follow cycle path signs along north suburban cycle path, down to Davidson’s Mains, through Barnton and over Cramond Brig, up to the bridge over the Queensferry Road, and half a mile along the Kirkliston Road to the Craigie Farm road end.
Sorry to burst the bubble about Craigie’s farm. It is a conventional farm using the most modern fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides to grow their food including the pick your own strawberries and raspberries..
There was a small organic food growing project at the farm but it finished last year, 2011.
I’d like to get some more info on the vegetable boxes from the local producers.
There is a useful list from the Soil Association at: http://www.soilassociation.org/Web/SA/saweb.nsf/e72f0c7da90e70da80256cd9004e17d6/1e1cf1f42fcadae580256eb700403642/$FILE/organic_veg_box_scotland.pdf
Two suppliers who produce and deliver locally are Oxenford Organics and East Coast Organics, both on the list.
We use East Coast and can recommend them highly. If anything they give us too much – which benefits our friends!
Oxenfoord supply our shop with home grown flowers through the summer and their system is probably more practical if your needs are smaller, say eating for 1-3.
Hello all,
and possibly the wider involvement of the community. Maybe get in touch with ECFI to see how the group could be integrated into other organisations. I think ECFI are doing a major mapping exercise to find out who is involved in food in Edinburgh, this might be a simple way of ensuring funding is used most wisely for the benefit of residents.
it seems like a fantastic plan, but I think one thing that is missing is what is going to be done with all the food
Good luck!
Hi Mike
Thanks for giving us the heads-up about ECFI. I talked to them a bit before the last newsletter, so I’ll give them a bell re:mapping (if Gavin’s not already done so).
Our bring-and-share in the Autumn was directly influenced by the Fife Diet’s moveable feasts, and we all want to do more communal food things. I guess it just didn’t get brought up at the consultations.
Regards,
Alex
Have you considered a facebook site to help keep people updated?
Hi Jessica,
It’s certainly something to look in to. There is a facebook page for the Community Garden that we work with, at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=122552387770226 We’re also revamping this wordpress.com website early in the New Year, so may make a facebook page for the whole Food Group and have this wordpress site post updates to facebook — it’s certainly technically feasible.
In order to have a successful facebook page, we’d need content being put online regularly. Would you be able to write some information for the page?
Alex
This is very cool to see a local foods initiative going on across the pond from me! I’m in Flagstaff, Arizona, US and we are starting our own local foods initiative right now! Check out our blog post about ours > http://bit.ly/m2ssGR Good luck with your efforts!