Dott 07

In the Summer and Autumn 2007, thousands of people living and working in the town of Middlesbrough, Tees Valley participated in a project to increase local food production and reduce food miles.

Along the way, young, old, rich and poor worked together, growing food and realising new relationships with local food producers and existing growers in the town and its surrounding area. Theie goal has been to pioneer a new sustainable future - not just for Middlesbrough but also other post-industrial communities across the U.K.

They were also working to raise awareness of the benefits of and opportunities for growing and securing food for our towns and cities. Local growers need to be connected to existing and new markets, a new relationship needs to be struck between urban and rural, and communities need inspirational and educational ‘soil to plate’ experiences.

Middlesbrough Council and David Barrie, senior producer for Dott 07, have led the project, working in close partnership with Groundwork South Tees, Middlesbrough Primary Care Trust, more than 15 primary and secondary schools, many local community and voluntary sector organisations, and existing allotment growers in the town. It was driven by Bioregional’s commitment to the concept of one planet living, developed in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund and endorsed by the Minister of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

How did Urban Farming work?
Between October 2006 and March 2007, senior producer David Barrie and his team consulted community groups, voluntary organisations, schools and public health organisations in Middlesbrough. Barrie was supported by Zest Innovation, a North East based service design consultancy, and Debra Solomon, artist and author of culiblog.com, an online publication about food culture.

More than 80 groups, schools and other organisations expressed an interest in participating in a ‘soil to table’ project devoted to finding a healthier, more sustainable local food system. These included primary and secondary schools, pre-school groups (Sure Start), residential homes, allotment associations, mental health units in local hospitals, residents’ groups, voluntary organisations and even the staff of a smart department store in a main shopping street in the town centre. The local council chipped in by agreeing to dig up part of the main local park so the Urban Farming teams could grow specialist plants and food there.


The groups identified locations in which to grow food and the produce they would like to cultivate. Then, in May 2007, about 1,000 people began growing fruit and vegetables in containers at locations across the town. They received support from local horticulturalists, allotment growers, farmers and food producers.


Between June and September, this new team of urban farmers brought their harvested ingredients to a ‘kitchen playground’ event: three week-long blocks of activity in which people prepared, cooked and ate dishes based on ingredients that they had grown themselves.

The frenzy of food production culminated in September in a ‘Meal for Middlesbrough’ – a banquet for 1,500 in the town’s main square. Participants in the growing project created the menu from produce they’d harvested. Local producers provided meat and vegetables to supplement the meal, which was cooked and eaten in the open air.

Finally, several containers grown in Middlesbrough were presented at the Dott 07 Festival and participating groups prepared food for visitors in a special-edition kitchen playground.


The project was developed in consultation with regional representatives of the Soil Association, the National Farmers Union, the Federation of City Farms, the (North East) Regional Food Group, North East Organic Growers and Natural England. It has been informed by the work of the Sustainable Food Commission, SDC and Bioregional Quintain Ltd. who is leading a large-scale development in North Middlesbrough. The scheme at Middlehaven is driven by Bioregional’s commitment to the concept of ‘One Planet Living’, developed in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund and endorsed by the Minister of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

What next?
Over the next year, the urban farming project will build on its successes so far:

• Mapping locations where food is grown already
• Mapping sites or ‘edible landscapes’ where food growing could be extended
• Deploying planters to individuals and groups around the city
• Designing kitchen playgrounds and staging a town meal.

Middlesbrough Council commissioned a map from designers Andre Viljoen and Katrina Bohn – authors of Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes – which identifies existing and prospective foodgrowing sites in Middlesbrough. The map was on display at the Dott 07 Festival and features in the Dott 07 Manual. It details existing allotments in the town, maps surplus land and highlights connections between the town and local food producers. This is a plan for the local authority and others to consider as a new context for strategies towards a more local and sustainable food economy.

Fact Source

1. Why Our Food is So Dependant on Oil, Norman Church, Energy Bulletin (2005)

2. Eating Oil, Andy Jones