Todmorden Talks

Todmorden Talks on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September will bring together local communities and RSA Fellows, all working with the Incredible Edible movement. 

The ‘grow your own’ initiative has been spreading across the country at a pace as people respond to higher food prices and try to live within local means. Supported by the RSA North West region, the action-packed weekend event combines talks, demos and activities, all providing opportunities for Fellows and people to rethink how communities and society grow, produce and consume food. Existing projects will be able to swap ideas and help those interested in setting up their own projects. Saturday will conclude with a lecture from Professor Tim Lang FRSA who will be talking about food, food policy and how to become sustainable.

The lecture will be chaired by Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the RSA, who feels that “Growing food locally and collectively through community, educational and business involvement helps to connect people in a local area in a positive way. It’s great to see everyone pulling together for a better way of living.”

Pam Warhurst, founder of Incredible Edible says; “The big challenges on the horizon from environmental bankruptcy are just too mind-blowing for most of us to know what we can do. The simple idea of engaging with local food helps everyone, irrespective of age, income or culture find positive things to do to improve where and how we live our lives. It just works.”

Incredible Edible was born in 2008 to encourage communities to make use of council land by growing their own produce. Several Fellows have been involved with this community in Todmorden and three years on the area is scattered with fruit and vegetable plots, local markets and shops are stocked with local meat, and training sessions are offered including healthy cooking, enterprise and bee-keeping.

RSA Fellows in the North West and Yorkshire will be able to connect with this activity and project further, as well as provide valuable skills and expertise to grow and feed the movement.

You can find out more about the weekend and how to get involved with this activity through the Incredible Edible website.