The autumn gathering of the Tower Hamlets Food Growing Network held on 25th October 2012. The event which held at Tarling East Community Centre, London was focused more on healthy eating; growing own vegetable herbs or fruits; and initiating own gardens. 

The UK National Coordinator for the Food We Want (FWW) project Mr. Bereket Tsegay from PENHA has participated in the autumn gathering of the Tower Hamlets Food Growing Network held on 25th October 2012. The event which held at Tarling East Community Centre, London was focused more on healthy eating; growing own vegetables, herbs or fruits; and initiating own gardens. Tower Hamlet is one of the London boroughs located at the heart of the city with about a total population of 252,440.  

The event was organised by the Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) in with collaboration of other participating organisations including FWW Project, Love Food Hate Waste, St. Hilda’s Food Co-op, Gaia Foundation, ProjectDirt (The Green Social Network), etc. In order to facilitate the learning and exchanging of experiences among the partners and individuals, the event included various means of deliveries including presentation and discussions, stalls of food producers and other stakeholders, gardening, community seed exchange and tour to Winterton House Organic Garden.  

Group disscussion

   

The presentation made by the speakers was insightful and learning. Complementary to the event, people who completed their Social Enterprise course from the St. Hilda Food Co-op had also received their certificate of accomplishment. This course will help them to boost their engagement in strengthening their involvement in the food network.

Mr. Bereket talked to the WEN, Spitafields City Farm, Tower Hamlets Hilda’s Trust and a representative from Gaia Foundation. He agreed to visit their field gardens and extent collaboration to work together with the FWW project in similar food awareness raising activities and implement the joint school food campaign of the project. Talking about the event, he said ‘it was great event as it gave the FWW project a chance to identify potential local partners who work in the food network and lay out a foundation for future collaborations.’  

During the event a film with a title of ‘Seeds of Freedom’was screened to the participants. The film which is produced by the Gaia and others showed the impact of Genetically modified organism (GMO) on seed sustainability to continue as a source of human existence.

To watch the video please follow the link:

http://wewantfood.opencontent.it/eng/News/Seeds-of-Freedom