Ireland: Urban gardens and new ways of growing: The community-centre future of food
How cities from Cork to Belo Horizonte are leading the pack in terms of sustainability
By Michelle Darmody
Irish Examiner
June 23, 2022
Excerpt:
In Ireland, we have fertile land and a deep agricultural tradition. We also have plenty of empty, overlooked, and unused spaces throughout our towns and cities. Importantly, we also have a will to increase food growing, with Community Gardens in Ireland calling for the doubling of the already 2,500 community gardens and allotments in urban areas. Ireland trails behind other European countries, not just in availability of land, but in the infrastructure to support people who do grow within urban areas.
This was not always the case, in the 1940s there were reportedly 35,000 allotments provided by local authorities. With current waiting lists of up to 10 years, the lack of such amenities is something that needs to be addressed.
Brian McCarthy is the pioneer behind Cork Rooftop Farm on Coal Quay and says that, while Cork is by no means a food desert, new ways of agriculture in urban settings are the key to futureproofing our food supply. Its Community Supported Agriculture scheme is a vegetable box offering whereby people sign up for 20 weeks to receive a weekly vegetable box made up of an equal share of the produce of the farm.
