Calling all existing and budding community food projects in Somerset

Somerset Land & Food is a 3 year Local Food Fund project hosted by Somerset Community Food. http://www.somersetcommunityfood.org.uk

The project is now nearly half way through and our thoughts are turning to reviewing our progress to date and planning our exit strategy.

Following consultation with Transition groups and other groups in Somerset, the project was designed to support people seeking land to grow food on – new allotments, community and market gardens, CSA projects etc.

To this end we have established a base line by mapping the location of existing allotments and waiting lists in 10 market towns in Somerset with the highest indices of deprivation. See our digital record of this at http://www.foodmapper.org.uk/map.php You can also map all your own local food resources on this map.

Demand hotspots for land in Somerset include the following settlements. Numbers indicate length of waiting list:

·        Taunton – 400+ (unofficial estimate)

·        Frome – 90+

·        Wellington - 77

·        Chard- 58

·        Bridgwater - 50

·        Yeovil – 70+ including residents outside borough boundary

·        Highbridge and Burnham - 34

·        Crewkerrne - 30

·        Shepton Mallet – 28

·        Minehead - 14

We now need your help to contact groups actively cultivating land and/or seeking land in your community. We would like to survey them to discover exactly what support would make the most difference to projects over the next 18 months.

Please help us to help you strengthen our community food movement in Somerset by forwarding this message to anyone you know who needs the skills, access to land, tools and other support to get growing or keep growing in our county.

Please also forward to any landowners who might be willing to make land available for community growing.

Thanks in advance!