Background
The Scottish Government has set out a vision that by 2025 Scotland will be "a Good Food Nation, where people from every walk of life take pride and pleasure in, and benefit from, the food they produce, buy, cook, serve, and eat each day."
Our Community Food Growing Strategy aims to support this goal by helping facilitate community food growing in the Scottish Borders.
It seeks to provide support to anyone interested in community food growing, which is an increasingly popular model of local food production. This includes:
- existing growing groups
- groups who would like to start a new growing project
- schools who grow or would like to grow food as a way of engaging pupils
- communities with a lack of growing opportunities in their area
- keen gardeners and complete beginners who would like to gain skills to grow and use seasonal produce
Recent Work and Highlights
How can I get involved
Within the region there are a broad range of community growing projects, from self-managed allotments to community gardens, which you can get involved in.
We have an interactive web map showing all the local food growing projects in your area, and lots of other information on what's happening locally and how you can get involved.
More information on allotments across the Scottish Borders and how to get access to them can be found on our website.
Support, guidance and information on all types of community food growing you can be found within our Community Growing Strategy which is available to download at the bottom of this page.
Newsletter
A monthly Community Food Growers newsletter is now being produced, providing information on up and coming events in the region, case studies from existing community groups and advice and tips to help develop your food growing projects/initiatives.
To register your interest in receiving this monthly digital newsletter, email our food growing team communityfoodgrowing@scotborders.gov.uk
Aims of the strategy
The strategy aims to promote the wide-ranging health, social, environmental and community benefits associated with community food growing. This includes:
- highlighting the physical and mental health benefits of community growing, from accessing outdoor exercise and fresh local produce to engaging with nature
- using community gardening projects as a way of creating opportunities for social interaction
- tackling prominent environmental issues by creating opportunities for pollinator friendly planting, as well as reducing food waste and food miles
- creating sustainable communities by benefitting the local economy, developing skills and utilising local goods and services
- promoting cost-effective ways for families and individuals to access fresh produce
- using food growing projects as an educational tool to encourage the sharing of skills and provide development opportunities to people of all ages across the region
Background to the strategy
The Community Food Growing Strategy was approved by Council on 25 March 2021.
The development of the Strategy was informed by a public consultation which was carried out in 2019 to identify the food growing needs of local communtiies across the Borders.
More information
Lots more information and news on local food growing initiatives and opportunities can be found online.