Dig for Victory in London
I had to do a double take yesterday whilst walking through St James Park in London on my way to a meeting. I turned the corner to find an immaculately maintained allotment (a la WWII) installed in the centre of the park as part of a Dig for Victory exhibition by the Cabinet War Rooms.
Everything was there including the Andersen shelter, but was amazed me was how many people were taking an interest in the immaculately labelled vegetables growing in neat rows. The exhibit was quite literally stopping people in their tracks - it just goes to show how much interest there is out there. Thanks to the Cabinet War Rooms for doing us a favour! As if that wasn't enough, I was in Covent Garden later in the evening and came across another allotment smack in the centre of the shopping area - bizarre! It was attracting a lot of attention too. You just wouldn't have seen this a few years ago, but the interest in growing food is back on the agenda big time. Very encouraging - and before you start panicking that everyone starts trying to be self-sufficient, let's be realistic here. What are the chances of that these days - I think more importantly it signals a growing interest in food, which can only be a good thing for farming.