Food for thought as campaign plants seeds for future

THEY say that mighty oaks grow from small acorns, but in a small corner of West Yorkshire they’re growing something even more impressive – a food revolution.

Back in 2008, Incredible Edible Todmorden was an urban garden project set up by local café owner Pam Warhurst and her friend Mary Clear, with the aim of turning disused public land in the bustling Calder Valley town into fruit and vegetable patches.

Since then it has become a catalyst for communities to grow their own food and promote local produce, with the campaign garnering praise from the likes of Prince Charles and celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who has featured the town in his popular River Cottage TV series.

Not only that but its influence has spread far and wide. There are now more than 30 Incredible Edible towns across the UK, as well as an Incredible Edible France and Incredible Edible Ghana. They also share tips and information with like-minded groups in Asia, North America, Africa and Australia.

But this foodie revolution remains firmly rooted in Yorkshire. Every school in Todmorden is now involved in growing its own produce and this month the first Incredible Edible Aqua Garden was opened next to Todmorden High School.

The aqua garden, which houses three different growing methods – aquaponics, hydroponics and soil growing – will allow students to compare and contrast the different methods of food production as well as grow everything from potatoes to fish.

It’s the latest milestone in the remarkable Incredible Edible story and one that’s taken four years to come to fruition. “We’ve overcome many challenges to get this far and now the aqua garden is a reality. But this is just the beginning,” says Warhurst.

“This aqua garden will link everything together, from growing food to cooking it.” It will be one of the few places in the country where people can gain hands on experience of aquaponics.

“Gaining skills and confidence in growing more of our own food, using a number of different methods such as aquaponics, will become even more crucial in the future as our global food system is stretched.”

Aquaponics is a food production system that combines the rearing of fish with hydroponics – a method of growing crops 
using mineral rich water without soil.

It was actually practised in ancient Egypt and by the Aztecs but until recently had been largely overlooked. “Aquaponics offers a useful tool in the battle to produce enough healthy food in a humane and sustainable way. It will also offer the young people of Todmorden the opportunity to build expertise and careers in the food industry,” says Warhurst.

A number of crops, from tall tomatoes and beans to smaller herbs and salad crops, will be grown hydroponically, while in the aquaponics unit Tilapia fish will be reared in several tanks and their waste used to feed the plant crop watercress. As the mineral-rich water feeds the crop it will be cleansed of ammonia; this cleaner and re-oxygenated water will then be re-circulated into the fish tank.

The aqua garden, which includes a grant of more than £500,000 from the Big Lottery Fund for the building work, will be used by students at the school as part of their BTEC in agriculture and horticulture.

“This is open to the children of Yorkshire, not just Todmorden,” she says. “We want to see schools up and down the country creating something like this.

“It’s about understanding how to grow food and also showing people that you can have a career in food. It’s about creating the farmers and growers of the future and putting food at the heart of society, it’s not a bolt on.”

Incredible Edible Todmorden (IET) was set up in response to concerns about food production and how to make it sustainable in the longer run.

Since then local campaigners have transformed the town centre and what started off with a few herb gardens and vegetable patches has blossomed into several orchards, with free food grown everywhere from bus stops to the town’s railway station.

As well as Todmorden’s schools, local businesses and public sector organisations have become involved. “We’ve shown people what it’s possible to do and we’ve shown that it doesn’t need to be expensive,” says Warhurst.

“When we started four years ago no one was talking about food like we were, but now they are.”

It just goes to show what can be grown from even the smallest of seeds.

For more information visit www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk