Harvest Brighton & HoveJess Crocker, Harvest Manager

Brighton & Hove Food Partnership

Brighton & Hove Food Partnership• Unique structure/position• Cookery, nutrition, school food, food growing,

food waste, lobbying• Membership • Aims

– better access to affordable fresh, seasonal food– more locally produced food– more opportunities to learn to cook and grow food– a better understanding of the links between food and health– a better understanding of where food comes from.

Harvest partners...

Why local food and food growing?• Reduce resources used to grow and transport your

food• Reconnect with where food comes from• Eat seasonally and enjoy food when it’s at

its best• Support your local producers, farmers and economy• Better choice, variety, freshness and quality• Food access, healthier diet and exercise• Saving money

What we do• Skills for growing• Eating more local food• Land for growing• Community food projects• Reducing waste• Biodiversity affects all of this!

Skills for growing• Training, eg:– Dealing with pests & diseases organically– Beekeeping & attracting pollinators– Seed saving

• Work placements / volunteers• Events and website resources

Eating local food• Website resources and recipes• Cookery training and events• Foraging & appreciating wild plants

Land for growing• Allotments and learner plots• Land for growing projects• Grow Your Neighbours Own• Preston Park garden• Organic allotments etc...

Community food projects• Small grants scheme• Advice to growing projects and schools• Setting an example on biodiversity...

Reducing waste• ‘Scrumping’ project• Composting / wormery training• Community composting• Food waste recipes and workshops• Reducing landfills, creating new habitats...

In summary...• 8 out of 10 European crops depend on pollination by

insects but honeybee populations have declined by 54% since 1985

• Insects contribute more than £12 billion to crop production in Europe (£400 million just in the UK)

• We currently use less than 3 percent of the 250,000 plant varieties available for agriculture

• Avoiding monocultures and pesticides and creating new habitats with a wider range of plants is vital if we are going to counteract these problems...

Get involved...• Give us your ideas for what we

can do to promote the link between food and biodiversity!

• Join us at a training course or event• Volunteer at a community food project• Sign-up to the mailing list or go to the website

for more information...

Find out morewww.harvest-bh.org.uk

01273 431 700harvest@bhfood.org.uk