Rural Smallholdings Magazine

Abundance is a new group of projects aimed at tracking down surplus food being grown across Britain and finding ways to harvest and distribute it. One of the key issues behind sustainable food production is not wasting what is already being grown, and as well as addressing this problem Abundance helps to teach city inhabitants about the kinds of locally produced food they can often find on their doorsteps. Sarah Irving talks to Debbie Clarke of Abundance Manchester.

Abundance Manchester was set up in 2008 by a young woman called Leonie who had heard about the Sheffield Abundance project and, says Debbie Clarke, “just thought it made loads of sense. It addresses lots of issues – primarily food waste but also food miles, food access, health, and the underestimated capacity for urban food production. It also appealed to her love of climbing trees!”

The Sheffield Abundance project had been established in 2007 to harvest surplus fruit and distribute it around central Sheffield and Meadowhall or to can and bottle it, educating people about issues like food sustainability and in traditional skills for preserving fresh produce. In 2009, the project also published a guide to community harvesting for groups wanting to find ways of dealing with surplus food in their own communities.

Since 2008, Manchester Abundance has grown to a core group of six people although, says Clarke “there’s no formal committee and anyone is welcome to get involved.” They are joined by around twenty people who come to picking sessions and a further hundred or so on the mailing list. As well as actually picking fruit and vegetables, members of the group also take stalls to local food events, offering free produce or freshly-pressed juices to educate people about food sustainability. “One really nice thing about the project is that it is has appeal on lots of levels,” says Debbie Clarke. “It’s addressing some serious environmental and social issues but it’s also attractive to people who just want to do their bit for a good cause.

The Manchester Abundance project estimates that this year they’re picked and distributed around 800kg of fruit and vegetables. The vast majority, they believe, would have gone completely to waste if they hadn’t seized the opportunity to make it available. “We only take surpluses, we’re not looking for charity, so we’re really only dealing with produce that wouldn’t be used otherwise,” says Debbie Clarke. “That’s especially true for the domestic fruit trees we harvest – they’re often far too much for one household to use, and some people aren’t able to pick their fruit at all so it just drops off and rots.”

The project usually finds out about fruit that needs picking from tree owners who have heard about them via local papers, friends, information displays or talks at events and community spaces. They’ve put up posters on allotment sites to encourage plot holders to pass on surpluses, and if they find fruit trees in public places they sometimes harvest those too.

Recently, local food campaigners have sometimes been accused of being concerned with small-scale issues rather than worldwide problems. But the Abundance projects are very much aware of the social as well as environmental effects of food inequality. “The main aim of the project is simply to stop food going to waste, and make the most of the abundance of fresh produce that is and can be produced in our city,” says Debbie Clarke. But at Abundance Manchester, the group has prioritised people in the direst need to provide with fresh food they can rarely afford. Abundance works closely with the Boaz Trust, which supports destitute asylum seekers. “We’ve got to know the project well and have seen that what we provide makes a huge difference to them,” says Clarke. Other recipients include a battered women’s refuge, a hostel for young women, a Salvation Army hostel, a day centre and various community events. “Being able to provide fresh food for shelters and asylum seekers is fantastic, and adds another aspect to what we do,” says Debbie Clarke.

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Article by Sarah Irving for Rural Smallholdings Magazine