The D’Eynsford TMO Secret Garden in Peckham has committed to donating fresh fruit and vegetables to those in need to help neighbours struggling to afford fresh fruit and veg, writes Jessie Kolvin…
The initiative is borne out of a partnership between FoodCycle and gardening brand Miracle-Gro. Miracle-Gro will provide its results-driven plant food to an allotment linked to each of FoodCycle’s 38 projects across England.
The All-Purpose range promises 50% extra tomatoes and ten times the weight of courgettes compared to unfed produce. That extra produce will then be made into tasty and nutritious meals for people experiencing hunger and social isolation.
The need for extra food is particularly great over the summer holidays, when three million children are at risk of going hungry according to The Guardian.
FoodCycle and Miracle-Gro hope to encourage Brits with access to green space to start growing their own food. Lindsay Cooper, Plant Food Category Manager at Evergreen Garden Care UK Ltd., explained: “Despite 86% of the UK population having access to their own green space, over a quarter (26%) use their outdoor space for eating, entertaining and sunbathing only.
“We are urging these people to try their hand at growing fruit and vegetables… the volume of extra yield produced and made available for projects like FoodCycle could be huge.”
The D’Eynsford TMO Secret Garden is on its way to making just such an impact. The garden has been developed over several years, from a derelict site into what is now a flourishing community garden. One of its central aims has always been to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs for sharing; that generosity has now been extended to include the wider community.
Chay Pulgar, a gardener at D’Eynsford TMO Secret Garden, commented that “donating to the Peckham branch of FoodCycle… is incredibly rewarding and has the potential to make a real difference to our communities. I encourage others with an allotment or garden patch to do the same.”
Read more about the food bank crisis in Southwark here: