Research

Published 18 May 2009

Brighton and Hove is one step closer to becoming the food growing capital of the UK. The Big Lottery Fund has awarded a £500,000 grant to Harvest Brighton and Hove, which promotes local food growing initiatives.

The four-year project is being led by the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership and Food Matters, with partners including the University of Brighton, Brighton and Hove Allotment Federation and Brighton and Hove City Council.

Harvest Brighton and Hove aims to increase the amount of local food produced and eaten within the city, and encourage more people to grow food in their gardens, patios or even window boxes.  It will encourage food growing in underused and unusual spaces, for example on land around housing and workplaces, and will provide people with the skills and opportunities to grow food – whether at home, school or in community gardens.

Brighton and Hove is one of the first projects in England to receive beacon status, meaning that the project is of national significance.

Researchers, Andre Viljoen and Katrin Bohn from the university's School of Architecture and Design will develop an urban agriculture map for Brighton and Hove, making recommendations about how the city can in future accommodate food growing sites.

This will build on their research into urban agriculture in Middlesbrough, where they worked with about a thousand people living and working in the town to increase local food production and reduce food miles.

Andre from the university, who was also a member of the steering group that developed the successful Lottery bid said: "Harvest Brighton and Hove will move us one step further towards testing the viability of urban agriculture as an essential element of sustainable urban infrastructures."

The project will promote more food growing in allotments, gardens, parks and in vacant land around public buildings and on housing estates. It will explore how urban food production can help reduce the carbon footprint of the city, tackle obesity and diet related disease, increase the quality of life of residents, and contribute to a more sustainable food system in the future. 

Researchers in the School of Environment and Technology will also evaluate the success of the entire project.

Professor Neil Ravenscroft said: "We will be responsible for establishing a framework to assess the extent to which Harvest Brighton and Hove meets its goals, and for helping those involved to assess their contributions to these goals".

"We are delighted to be working with local partners in this important project, and see our involvement as a testament to the value that the university places on its role within the community."