Edible Guernsey: Community Centred Growing

In the fast paced world of convenience that we live in today it’s easy to forget that vegetables are grown in the ground and are not born in freezer bags. Most consumers are now more informed about the importance of growing and buying local, but have little opportunity or knowledge to grow food themselves.

Edible Guernsey, one of the twenty recipients of our Eco Fund grants this year, is changing all that. The charity educates and inspires people from all backgrounds about eating local by building communities of growers across the Island.

Little more than a year ago, Edible Guernsey took on the mammoth task of clearing a three vergee site in St Peter’s to create an ‘edible’ farm, with volunteers taking home the fruits (or veg) of their labour at the end of the day.

Alongside their farm, Edible Guernsey is involved with a variety of other community projects.

Their work so far includes growing projects at the new mental health facility, in residential homes such as Les Grand Courtils and Maison Maritaine, alongside their work with states education on a few sites. In all of these spaces, they are building community groups who can grow produce close to their homes, and in time will be able to help at the farm.

By encouraging the community to get involved, Edible Guernsey is closing the gap between us and the food we eat. This is the perfect way to teach our children and the wider community more about the values of nutrition, ecology and food production. And it’s fun too!

“Edible Guernsey has ambitious plans to re-imagine the food landscape in Guernsey, creating community centred growing initiatives and working to create a new model of food production at the edible farm in St Peter’s. There are so many threads to the project and we are very grateful to The Co-operative Eco Fund for its support,” said Jock Pettitt, Director of Edible Guernsey.

If you’re feeling inspired to get growing, be sure to like Edible Guernsey on Facebook for all their latest updates and new volunteering opportunities, or visit their website