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Climate change film: Riverside Market and Allotments

Every Sunday, along the river Taff in Cardiff, the Riverside Markets sets up stall. Instrumental in its development was local resident, Steve Garrett, inspired by his community and the success of farmer’s markets overseas: ‘I've been living in Riverside for 13 years. I love Riverside; it's a diverse community with a real sense of identity. It's got a soul. To me, it's my village.

‘I lived in Canada for a while and was involved in a farmers market. I'd always wanted to set one up in the UK, there just didn't seem to be that sort of thing going on. I'm interested in working to help communities make choices, that excitement of people being empowered. This is where we can make a difference; working in our own backyard.’

In 1998, Steve helped set up the Riverside Christmas Food and Craft Fair, inviting local producers. ‘I think it was the right thing at the right time,' says Steve, 'we had more calls from stall holders, formed a committee of local people and, as they say, it grew organically from there.’

For five years the market was monthly, then, after moving to its new location near the Millennium Stadium, within a year was open weekly.

Steve, who now works for Riverside Community Market Association, explains the environmental benefits: ‘If food is produced as close as possible to the point where it's purchased you have removed all those food miles, packaging, infrastructure, that drain of energy that goes into what I would consider the supermarket experience.’

‘Some here are certified organic, all of them are using sustainable methods, minimising the use of fertilisers and so on.’ Steve continues, ‘many customers arrive on foot and we now have a little bike stall at the end, like a valet, run by a local bike shop.’

It makes economic sense too, as Steve explains, ‘you encourage a culture of purchasing locally, thinking about where things come from. It’s supporting a local agricultural economy - markets like this are making it possible for small producers using sustainable methods to survive.’

A big issue at the moment is that there are not enough producers. Steve explains, ‘producers should and can sell directly to customers, bypassing middlemen, big companies, multi nationals and all that structure. We hope that markets like this will show it is a way of making a living. You will be able to come and take a stall and actually get a fair return for what you're doing.’

Steve is confident that food culture in the UK is changing: ‘One of the critical factors for our success is growth in public interest and desire for local food. You buy food from the farmer; you know where it came from. On top of that, you know once you've tasted it it's going to taste fantastic.

‘The British diet has been a joke around Europe for years. We’re trying to turn around the habit of thinking if you're on a low income you don't have the right or the opportunity to eat good quality food. It isn't that way in a lot of other parts of Europe. We don't just want to be a posh foody place, where affluent people come and buy food. It's a very diverse market and we welcome everyone to come and shop here. That has been a challenge for us.’

Steve explains: ‘The market has always been more than just a trading experience. We've always been involved in schools projects, in running outreach activities for local people. I think we're one of the few markets, in Wales for sure, that actually has this.’

‘We thought it would be great to have a place where people could learn about how to grow food. So we took on three allotments and set up the Riverside Community Garden Allotment Project.’

Ann Bateman is project manager and garden tutor two and a half days a week. Ann explains, ‘In Riverside there are lots of people sharing flats with no gardens. This was an opportunity to grow healthy vegetables. We’ve got British and Welsh vegetables, leeks at the moment and daffodils and an international flavour: aubergines, chillies and, with poly tunnels, more exotic vegetables.’

‘It's very communal; great fun actually. People share plots, then share the produce. We share knowledge too, which is brilliant because, for example, the fenugreek and methi that they're growing at the moment, they've got knowledge that I haven't got.

‘There's a very important social aspect to this. Barriers are broken down between the communities. We've got people from about 20 different countries here.’

Ann stresses environmental benefits too: ‘It's so important that you can walk to this site. You're not using “food miles”. If you can grow it here and in your own gardens, you're cutting down on your carbon footprint. Along with that, people see that growing food is not a complicated mystical thing. It's something that everyone can do, even with a small backyard space.’

It’s success? ‘The volunteers are key, they give a lot of their time, they're the mentors, the faces of the garden, they're brilliant,’ says Ann, ‘we got financial and other support from Environment Wales too, they have been great. We're acting locally, definitely, and we're very global as well, in our diversity!’

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