Community gardens in the city are growing more food than ever to support the food needs of Brighton & Hove residents.
These community run projects are increasing the amount of food they grow to meet the call of the city, and are donating it to local initiatives, supporting those that are classed as extremely vulnerable and have registered that they need support for food.
The food is then either being used in food parcels or to create hot meals.
There are many amazing projects like this going on in the city but here are a few that have caught our eye.
The Brighton & Hove Food Partnership gardens at Saunders Park and Moulsecoomb Forest Garden - usually used for lessons and therapy connecting people with gardening, food and nature - are now growing produce for the Bevy community pub to be made into meals for vulnerable people.
The Bevy are running a ‘Meals on Wheels’ style service for local vulnerable people that can't go out to get food.
Volunteers and staff at The Bevy cook meals three times a week. They have already delivered 350 meals to vulnerable people in the city.
The Brighton & Hove Food Partnership garden in Preston Park, normally home to open days for volunteers to grow food for the community and pick up tips, is also being repurposed.
The garden is now looking to grow extra produce, which will be delivered to central food hubs and then sorted into parcels for vulnerable residents.
Nurture through Nature, a charity in Brighton & Hove that addresses food poverty by growing and supplying fresh produce on allotments to food banks and community centres, are also using their allotments to sow more seeds than ever right now so they can continue to supply food banks this hard time.
Community farms at Rock Farm that offers access to horticultural therapy and community gardening, and Fork & Dig It that practices and teaches sustainable agriculture, are also doing what they can to help.
They are both local community farms which operate on a larger scale and are increasing production to feed their vegetable box customers.
Rock Farm also have a 'pay it forward' scheme where customers can pay for boxes for those who can't afford them. These are then delivered to low income families and others in need.
Councillor Anne Pissaridou, lead councillor for food, said: "The community response to this pandemic has been remarkable – they hit the ground running to make sure vulnerable residents could get the food they needed.
"The efforts of local people and organisations show the commitment our city has to the environment as well as the people that need our help, using creative sustainable solutions to help now and in the future.
"I’m really proud of our community’s response and would like to thank everyone that is continuing to help where it's needed."
