Chloe’s Farm coming to a back garden or waste plot near you

Chloë Dunnett won the Cooks award for best dissertation, having embarked on a career change after a previous life as a senior civil servant in central government. After six months working full-time at a ten-acre biodynamic farm in Herefordshire, living off-grid in a shepherd’s hut, she has started a new venture: creating a farm comprised of a patchwork of small growing spaces in London. The aim is to produce vegetables, herbs and salad leaves all year round using organic techniques, and sell them as weekly seasonal veg boxes with a proportion of each harvest going to those in need of fresh food.

Stemming from ideas sparked during her Masters degree, it’s about taking action locally. Growing where you stand. Being part of what she passionately believes is the transformation required to the food system and the health, social and environmental benefits a more localised food system can bring. “The food system is not fit for purpose, contributing climate change and biodiversity collapse, obesity, and food poverty, even in wealthy countries, “ she argues. “Urban areas hold great untapped potential for food growing, with a recent Sheffield University study for example highlighting the opportunities city farms could provide”. The Lord Mayor has also welcomed an expansion in inner city agriculture, recognising the many social, health and environmental benefits.

Chloe’s project now has four sites, including a disused primary school, a playground, and a large back garden, and she hopes to be ready for her first harvest around now. Food production is of course key work and she has been able to continue despite Covid restrictions and says she has been bowled over by the generosity of strangers and friends offering their time to volunteer in clearing weeds, donating old wood and bricks to build beds, even buying sacks of compost.