Nettes Derbyshire is a part of Inclusive Gathering Birmingham’s Leadership Community and has written this blogpost to spread the word about a community food project she’s been part of. Nettes is sharing more about her involvement during our Inclusive Online Worship Gathering on 10th May.

Eat Make Play is a new community  initiative in Ladywood that was just about to open up its doors when we all got locked in.  

The Potato project started with a conversation between one of the directors, our lovely friend Sam Ewell, and a farmer friend who had just had his potato contract with a food chain cancelled due to C19 and was faced with either digging up a field-full of potatoes to go to waste, or leaving them to rot and loose his field for 2 yrs.  Eat Make Play/Slow Food Birmingham jumped in and bought up the whole field of potatoes (10 tonnes).  

So now we can all help out in one of 2 ways

You can buy

10kg of potatoes for £10

10kg is an awful lot of spuds for any household. So we’re asking you, to donate eight of those kilos to the emergency food system, to help feed people who are struggling to feed themselves. We will send your 2 reward kilos to various pick-up locations across the city.

2 kilos = for you

8 kilos = for those in need in our city

So far we have processed most of these 10 tonnes within the last 3 weeks – HOWEVER as news of the project has spread another farmer has now come to us with another 5 tonnes of potatoes needing re-directing.  So the offer still stands.  Click this link to place your order.

http ://slowfoodbirmingham.co.uk/campaigns/

The other way you can help if you are anywhere near Ladywood is to sign up to come over to the share-shack and peel some of the potatoes. Of the 8kg going to the emergency food chain only those that are good enough to go out go into food parcels directly.  Many more have wormholes or slight damage.  These need to be peeled and sent out to the many kitchens across the city that are preparing fresh meals daily for those in need.  

If you would like to do this you can send a message to the Eat Make Play facebook page and ask to be sent a link to the sign up sheet.Finally, Eat Make Play now have a growing space on the Edgbaston Reservior playing field – with plenty of space to get actively involved in growing while safely distancing.  And also plants you can take home and grow from your own garden/balcony/windowsill, or at your local grow-space.  They will be there every Wednesday afternoon from 1.30-3.30 (for more details again email/message Eat Make Play via their facebook page or contact Nettes Derbyshire through Inclusive Gathering Birmingham.