T 5 Site

Unit 1: Our site this year will be in Italy on the Bay of Naples, at Erculano, on the edge of the historical excavations of Herculaneum.

However we have been given an introductory design project in Ealing, which is Pitzhanger Manor and it’s gardens, (designed by Sir John Soane 1800). Part of the brief is to research urban agriculture.

Urban Agriculture

Urban agriculture is an old idea that has become current both as a strategy for adapting to the challenges of climate change and oil depletion, (by making food production more sustainable), and because of the recognized benefits to health (both mental and physical), and of engaging and building communities to improve green spaces and the environment in general.

Issues of food security and health are debated at a global level. The recent biodiversity summit in Nagoya explored how the world might achieve food security before ecosystems reach critical tipping points, and UN agencies such the WHO are engaged in addressing the twin issues of hunger and obesity, intimately connected to the way food is produced and distributed.

These issues are also discussed at national, regional and local levels of UK governance. There is a UK plan, a London plan, and an Ealing plan (Food Matters 2002). The government has set a target of reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 (34% by 2020), as a response to global warming.

National Policies and initiatives

Health. The Choosing Health: Making healthy choices easier White Paper, together with its associated Food and Health Action Plan, and initiatives such as the “5 a Day” programme, the “School Fruit and Vegetable” scheme and ongoing efforts to ensure food safety and food hygiene.

Environment. Notably the new UK Strategy for Sustainable Development, the work of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, the national Waste Strategy and the work to implement the Kyoto protocol on climate change.

The Sustainable Development Commission’s 2009 report on Food Security & Sustainability recommends that the UK Government adopts a new definition of food security in terms of genuinely sustainable food systems, where the core goal is to feed everyone sustainably, equitably and healthily; which addresses needs for availability, affordability and accessibility; which is diverse, ecologically-sound and resilient; and which builds the capabilities and skills necessary for future generations.

The Cabinet Office’s Food Policy Report includes food security and states that carbon reduction and health will be priorities ahead (Food Matters: Towards a strategy for the 21^st century, 2008)

London initiatives:

Capital growth is a campaign to support 2,012 new community food-growing spaces for London by the end of 2012. It is a partnership initiative between London Food Link, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, and the Big Lottery's Local Food Fund. Rosie Boycott, the Chair of the London Food Board, promotes it.

There are presently around 27 Farmers’ Markets, operating or planned, in Greater London and generate spending of up to £3.9 million pa

The Mayor's Great Spaces Initiative, launched in March 2009, is part of London's Great Outdoors, the Mayor's vision to transform the every day experience of London's outdoor spaces and improve public space across London. In Ealing the Park Royal Southern Gateway is part of this initiative.

The Food Strategy of May 2006, (when Ken Livingstone was Mayor), set out how health can be improved, pleasure from eating and dining can be increased, the experience of London’s cultural diversity can be enriched, and a more sustainable future can be ensured. It also describes challenges such as diet-related illnesses and obesity, and access to nutritious and affordable food. It seeks ways to support local, regional and organic producers, and help connect them to markets and consumers in London, ensuring a safe and secure supply of food, and reducing London’s ecological footprint.

Ealing

Ealing covers 55 square kilometers (over 21 square miles); 1.4% of the total land area of London. There are 19 major open space areas in the borough - designated green belt or metropolitan open land areas - totaling 8.4 square kilometers of park sand green spaces; which is 15% of the total borough land.

There are some ten miles of canals in the Borough as well as the rivers Brent and Crane and other smaller rivers and tributaries. There are also more than 30 designated conservation areas.

There is a history of orchards and wheat fields. In the 19th century much of the land from the Uxbridge Road south to Windmill Road, east to Northfield Avenue and west to Boston Road was given over to market gardens and orchards.

On the eastern boundary of these market gardens and orchards were allotments which date back to the year of the Poor relief Act of 1832, when the area called Ealing Dean Common (then both sides of Northfield Avenue) was given to the poor of West Ealing by the Bishop of London. There are still allotments on the eastern side of Northfield Avenue, but the ones to the west were built on in the early 1980s.

Ealing has poor air quality, and health issues of high obesity and diabetes.

Local initiatives

The Soil Association and London Food Link’s Hospital Food Project is a two-year project aiming to increase the proportion of local and/or organic food to 10% of the catering provision of four London NHS hospitals, and one of these is Ealing General. This will help to promote health by providing fresher and more nutritious food for patients, staff and visitors, and will help support local communities by keeping money and jobs in the local food and farming sector. (In Cornwall, the local health trust found that when they served fresh food, sourced locally, people got better more quickly).

West Ealing Abundance, (part of West Ealing Neighbours, a local residence group that has been going for 5 years), is engaging the local population in avoiding food wastage. West Ealing is built on orchard land and there is still a proliferation of those trees in the area. They have started publishing information on-line showing the whereabouts of apples, pears, plums, blackberries, damsons, and horseradish on public land, and thus encouraging people to harvest them. They have had a surge of people inviting them into private gardens to pick fruit that is going to waste. This has then been given away to the local soup kitchen or turned into jam and chutneys and sold at craft fairs. They have also bought an apple press, and sold fresh apple juice at the West Ealing family day. These activities promote what they are doing and educate the public.

EBCC (Ealing and Brentford Consolidated Charities) are developing 4 sites along a social enterprise model.

Ealing is a transition town, and part of Ealing Transitions Group. They are therefore concerned with addressing the challenges of peak oil and climate change. They have been involved with a small community pop-up garden in Walpole Park. This was part of a trial connected to a Heritage Lottery Application for the Park. They are also involved in developing a couple of orchards.

On the Transition Town website I found this quote: ‘Planning has never been more important and needs to be redefined – away from urban ‘development’ to planning a sustainable future’.