Thought for Food

Allotment gardens, patches for community vegetable-growing and green space, started sprouting up in London more than 100 years ago as country people started pouring into the capital in droves.

They took off during World War II with the “Dig for Victory” campaign, the British version of the American “Victory Garden” — which happens to be one of the most enduringly awesome emblems of the war, at least in my book (what a symbol of civic engagement and all-in cooperation!)

To this day, they offer largely working class Londoners opportunity to supply their own healthy, sustainable produce, as well as a quiet, clean sanctuary in industrial areas.

But this is yet another story of Olympics über alles.* One of the most iconic plots, Manor Garden Allotments, was bulldozed to make way for a path and landscaping for the 2010 Games. One hundred or so families that gardened on the site have been moved, but they’re hoping to return to Manor Garden, as their new space has poor soil.

I learned about this on a great Kitchen Sisters segment on NPR. Check it out for more photos, a history of the allotments, and three garden-fresh recipes, one of which I posted on ffffood.

* I am not a fan of the Olympics. Nationalism couched in Orlando-style razzle-dazzle turns my stomach — though I do enjoy the World Cup, but that’s because it’s epic storytelling on the pitch.