Good to Grow is an online platform to support community-based food growing in the UK, run by Sustain.
The website includes a map of community gardens who have registered on the platform. It also enables those gardens to promote their activities and recruit new people to join.
Good to Grow Day, from Friday 21 to Monday 24 April 2023, is a national weekend of action for edible gardens to celebrate the new growing season, open their doors to the local community and encourage people to volunteer. The map shows gardens that are taking part.
The stories on the Good to Grow website explore the environmental benefits of growing food locally, and the potential of local growing projects to produce good food, but they also emphasise the value of bringing people together socially. Some make use of established allotment sites, while others have been set up next to village halls, pubs or other community centres.
Networks of local food growers in the UK can happen at a very local level, and at a town/city level via food partnerships. Another map on the Good to Grow site documents local networks that have been set up to support food growers and make connections between them.
Community gardens are only one part of the activities that make up local food production, but can play an important role in sharing food, seeds, knowledge and skills, while providing social contact and an opportunity to be active.