A bit of history

Communities growing food together is not a new thing. All early agricultural systems seemed to have been co-operative activities, with land, tools and harvest all shared. However, as cultures have developed, ownership of land has tended fall into fewer hands.

This concentration of control does, in fact, affect almost all areas of life - not just land ownership.

During the 1960s the growth of community action escalated, in part as a reaction against this lack of control and access to resources. Many communities set up projects such as youth clubs, under-fives groups, tenant or resident associations, community centres and elderly projects.

Similarly, some groups around the country saw some derelict land in their neighbourhood and decided that it should be used as a community garden - a place that is run by the community to meet their own needs. Part of the inspiration for this was the growth of the community garden movement in the United States.

Over the years more and more community gardens were established, although many depended on short-term lease agreements or indeed squatting.

In 1972 the first city farm was established in Kentish Town, London. This larger project not only included gardening space but also farm animals, influenced by the children's farm movement in the Netherlands.