A note from Zarina Ahmad, Co-director, Wen
“It’s not just food. It’s power.”
In Wen’s community garden in Tower Hamlets, the tomatoes are ripening. Bees dance among the blooming flowers. Women gather in growing spaces to harvest, share stories, and plant what their ancestors once taught them to grow. These are not just gardens – they are acts of collective resistance.
Yet as these green spaces flourish, the national picture tells a different story. The UK still lacks a comprehensive Food Strategy. And with Climate Emergency Day (22 July) approaching, we ask: Why is Westminster still failing to recognise food growing as climate action?
The broken system we’re up against
Our food system is deeply unjust and deeply unsustainable.
It fuels health inequality and climate breakdown. Corporate monopolies promote ultra-processed diets while industrial agriculture depletes our soil and pollutes our air. Land is hoarded, while communities live in urban food deserts with little access to fresh, affordable, culturally appropriate food.
Government policies remain shaped by the interests of industrial meat, processed food giants, and extractive landholders. There’s no coherent plan linking food, health, waste, or land justice. And too often, the voices of feminist advocates, community growers, and migrant women are entirely left out.
“When women aren’t at the table, food policy doesn’t nourish us – it exploits us” – Anna Lappe, food activist and author
Wen’s community growing spaces: resistance in bloom
In Tower Hamlets, community gardens are more than allotments. We’re sowing solidarity, seed sovereignty, and systems change.
These community growing spaces are hubs of joy and knowledge-sharing – where racialised and marginalised women reconnect with the land, grow culturally meaningful produce, and pass on ancestral techniques. Women exchange Bangladeshi pumpkin seeds, Caribbean callaloo tips, and Somali soil wisdom – reclaiming and reviving a multilingual culture of care.
At the heart of the Community Food Growers Network and within the Just FACT programme, these growing spaces are more than plots. They’re a radical reimagining of what a just, localised food system should be.
“When we plant seeds together, we’re also growing agency, dignity, and justice’ – Leah Penniman, food justice activist and author
Seasonal food growing meets structural change
Community gardens don’t stop at the harvest. They bridge the personal and political. Community meals (which exist in various forms) celebrate seasonal harvests and reduce dependency on extractive food systems. Compost bins close the loop. Women reclaim power over their family’s diets and decisions. Seasonal food tips are woven into feminist activism. What you grow becomes a tool of empowerment. What you share becomes a recipe for liberation.
Community growing is the strategy – and the future.
“Every bed we dig is an act of care. Every seed we save is a stand for justice”– from the “Seed Keeper” by Malika Booke.
What’s missing from the ‘good food cycle’
Last week the UK Government unveiled an outline of its new food strategy – a so-called “good food cycle” aiming to create a healthier, more sustainable and affordable food system.
It’s a welcome shift in tone, recognising the deep flaws in our current system from the dominance of junk food and corporate profits to the rise in food insecurity and environmental breakdown. But while the strategy talks about “people and place”, it still misses the heart of the issue.
Because here’s the reality: Everyone deserves access to affordable fresh, healthy and organic food. But for many communities, especially those in low-income or racialised neighbourhoods, that’s still out of reach. Particularly in the ‘food deserts’ of our local communities here in Tower Hamlets.
To overcome this, we need urgent investment in community-led alternatives – not just promises. And we need a food strategy that truly reflects the voices and lived experiences of the people doing the work on the ground.
What’s coming up
Mark your diaries for the Power of Food Festival, running from 18–28 September in Tower Hamlets. A celebration of local growing, cultural food traditions, and collective action.
And don’t miss the new Just FACT Podcast – a summer listening series that explores how the food on our plates connects to land, identity, climate and justice. From closed-loop growing systems to community-led food cooperatives, the stories begin in East London but speak to global struggles and solutions. Listen here.
Your call to action:
Learn: Listen to the Just FACT Podcast this summer
Celebrate: Visit the Power of Food Festival in September
Act: Share seeds, stories, and solidarity in your local food system
We don’t just grow food.
We grow dignity. We grow solidarity. We grow power.
Zarina Ahmad, Co-director, Wen
Zarina is an expert in equalities and climate change, increasing participation of under-represented groups in environmentalism. She was named as one of the top 30 influential women contributing to the environment and sustainability by BBC Woman’s Hour.
