27 September 2006
Culture Kitchen 2006 in Bradford - success!
From the plot, to the pot, to the plate.

Bradford Community Environment Project’s 10th birthday last week was a colourful and lively celebration of local food growing with Women’s Environmental Network (WEN). Culture Kitchen – WEN’s annual feast for groups in its national food network – came to Bradford for the day. Women community growers from across the North of England joined together at the Carlisle Business Centre in Bradford to share inspiration and the fruits of their growing plots. A member of a food project in Huddersfield described it as "Wicked! Fantastic! And well-organised." Another participant said, "Seed-saving gave me lots of ideas."

Members of community growing groups including Sho Nirbhor from Bradford, Burnley Food Links, Leaf in Sheffield, Surestart in Manchester and Public Health Resource Service in Huddersfield attended as well as interested and new growers. BCEP and WEN offered them support to develop their projects. There were workshops on: harvest dances with Kala Sangam, a Bradford based south Asian arts organisation; making beauty products from everyday kitchen ingredients with WEN and seed saving with the Heritage Seed Library from 'Garden Organic'. The delicious curry lunch was made from vegetables grown by Sho Nirbhor. Local councillor and BCEP trustee, Hawarun Hussain cut the birthday cake.

Carlton Smith, Director of BCEP said, "BCEP is delighted to continue to work with this national network in promoting local food growing activities, and glad that WEN and its members can join us in celebrating our 10th birthday".

Clare Joy, of WEN’s local food project, said: "Culture Kitchen attracts and includes the diversity of women growing food across the UK but each year it changes and develops, taking on the character of its host. On 20 September 2006, around seventy women came to Bradford to exchange skills, gain confidence, and enjoy themselves with others with a like-minded passion for food. Thanks to BCEP for hosting such a fun event, and congratulations on their 10th anniversary."

The day ended with an inspirational visit to Bradford City Farm.

ENDS

For photos, further information or to arrange interviews with food growers please contact the WEN Food Project:
Clare Joy 020 7481 9004 Fax: 020 7481 9144
Caroline Fernandez 0787 6777327
e-mail: food@wen.org.uk

Notes to editors:
1. Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) is a national charity and membership organisation which campaigns on environmental and health issues from a women’s perspective. It educates, informs and empowers women and men who care about the environment.

2. Bradford Community Environment Project is Bradford’s largest registered environmental charity which has been helping local communities to engage positively with their environment since 1996.

3. WEN’s ‘Taste of a Better Future’ Network was set up six years ago to help ethnic minority women’s groups develop organic food growing skills. It recognises that such groups have little access to affordable organic food, particularly traditional fruit and vegetable varieties, or to gardens of their own. Over the last six years, the 50+ groups in the Network have brought new life to some of the most unlikely spaces on housing estates and disused inner city plots. As well as nutritious food, they have enjoyed making new friends, sharing skills and bolstering their communities. The current project, ‘Cultivating the Future’, offers support and training to urban women’s growing groups.

4. Culture Kitchen Bradford has had support from the Austin Hope Pilkington Trust and Cultivating the Future is supported by Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Olive Tree Trust.