In the Northeast England town of Middlesbrough, a summer-long community project is about to ensue, during which over 1,000 town citizens will demonstrate the potential for a self-sustaining food supply through small-scale urban agriculture. The project is a part of dott07 (of which Worldchanging ally, John Thackara is Program Director ), a year-long series of community projects, events and exhibitions focused on achieving regional sustainability and exploring how design plays a part in the process. The Urban Farming component employs design through a collection of garden containers of various sizes placed throughout Middlesbrough, which effectively install an edible landscape in the town’s public spaces. That landscape also becomes interactive and encourages community engagement as participants work on their plots throughout the summer. The thousand urban farmers come from a diverse array of local institutions and organizations, including “primary and secondary schools, preschool groups (Sure Start), residential homes, allotment associations, mental health units in local hospitals, and residents’ groups…”. Over the course of the growing season, the urban farmers will hold week-long events to harvest, prepare and eat their goods, working with chefs to create recipes, and then distributing them on postcards. In addition, a design team will create a map… (more)
(Posted by Sarah Rich in Food and Farming at 2:00 PM)