growing food, growing community

We want a food system that is good for people and good for the planet, built around local, healthy, seasonal and affordable food. Our priorities are community growing, shared cooking and how planning policies can support food production around Holywood.

In July 2022, eighty Holywood people gathered for a ‘town meeting’ hosted by the Ulster Folk Museum. Over a delicious local lunch, participants identified three priorities for a community food project in Holywood: growing food, cooking food, and making sure that there is land available for food. This wasn’t just a meeting about food, however, it was also an exercise in local democracy – people planning the future of food in our own community.

 

In September 2022, nine people who attended the town meeting went on a study tour of six community food initiatives in England and Scotland. They learned about some amazing projects – some of which might work well in Holywood. There’s a report on what they saw in the Newsletter above.

 

The study visit team were so inspired by what they saw that they organised and cooked a community meal at the Parish Centre on Church Road. Nearly 60 people attended and spent the evening talking about food projects.

 

Our next event will be on Thursday 9th February when it will be decision time! Everyone is invited to share a bowl of soup and help decide what project(s) will go ahead. We will make plans together and there will be plenty of opportunities to get involved. For details email holywoodfood@outlook.com