TT Weymouth and Portland Local Food Event

Those of you with a keen eye on the local media will have seen the press release for Transition Town Weymouth and Portland's Local Food event in last week's Echo Country supplement. In my role as TTD's new (and apparently, self appointed) media tart, Hedgewizard has persuaded me to use this opportunity to launch my latest media venture: blogging.

The Local Food event was held in the Ocean Room at Weymouth's Pavilion on Saturday 24. The organiser Jon Orrell had invited along speakers from a range of local food projects with the aim of inspiring Weymouth and Portland residents to develop food growing projects. Against the backdrop of the recent closure of European air space, bringing the topic of our reliance on air freighted food to the fore, it was fascinating to hear about the breadth of food growing projects in such a small geographical area. John spoke about the Chickerell Allotment Project, where food is being produced along organic and permaculture principles. We heard about the Incline Orchard and Community Garden from Margaret, where 9 plot holders are doing battle against one of the steepest sites I have ever seen. The project which left the greatest impression on me was the Shaftesbury Home Grown scheme, where 5 acres in central Shaftesbury are being cultivated with the aim of selling produce within the town. Diane, the project's secretary, shared the ups and downs of getting the project established and had some sobering warnings about the pitfalls of applying for funding . And then of course, there was yours truly talking about the Gardenshare scheme in Dorchester. It was so energising to see how four very different projects are all working with common goals in mind.

Thanks should go to Jon and the TT Weymouth and Portland crowd for a great event that allowed us to exchange ideas, provide inspiration and offer practical help to one another. The day finished with a session for local residents to discuss how they would like to move forward; I feel optimistic that the event will provide an excellent springboard for the start of new food growing projects in Weymouth and Portland.