At Incredible Edible Lambeth, we are so excited to have run the Blooming Lambeth Awards again this year. It’s an awards scheme which is now well regarded throughout Lambeth and that’s because we have so many incredible gardens, gardeners and food businesses in the borough.
Lambeth is an amazing place for food growers; each year we discover a new corner of the borough which has been transformed into a beautiful space where pollinators and other wildlife can find food, and people can find a space to enjoy being in Nature and experience the highs and lows of growing food.
There were 86 nominations across seven categories this year, from best community garden to best school garden to a food innovator – a HUGE thank you to everyone who nominated – without you, we couldn’t offer these awards. We would very much like to encourage more ‘innovation’ – this can be anything from creating a drink from surplus fruit, as the winner of last year does, to making honey and byproducts from bees, as one of our winners this year does. Do you have an idea to make food in Lambeth more local? If so, why not consider becoming an IEL member and we can help promote your business.
This year, we were particularly looking for gardens that were pesticide-free. We really want our Lambeth green spaces to be havens for wildlife, which is why we’re running a pesticide-free Lambeth campaign. If you’ve not yet pledged, go to our website and do so today!
If you’ve not yet joined Incredible Edible Lambeth, why not consider it? Membership is free and it links you with other foodies around the borough. We hold regular events and workshops, we have created walking trails around the borough, highlighting food growing and green spaces and we can promote your site or business on our map – take a look at the website www.incrediblelambeth.org.uk
Growing our own food and setting up food businesses that utilise food grown (or wasted) in Lambeth cuts down carbon emissions, improves our health, increases our resilience in times of shortages and helps us to break away from our current food system and of course, helps build a supportive and growing neighbourhood. That’s a lot to be excited about!
Thank you for your contribution to transforming the food landscape of Lambeth.
You can also download the slides from the presentation given on the evening.