Women on allotments: soil in the city

分配中的妇女:城市的土壤

The Conversation

社会与文化

2024-05-27

26 分钟
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In recent years women have overtaken men as the majority on allotments and community gardens. These spaces for growing fruit and vegetables to eat at home have been peaceful places that provide families with healthy food. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to two women from Kenya and Ukraine about the appeal of these plots. JC Niala is a writer, academic and creative from Kenya who has written about the history of allotments. Alongside Greenpeace, she has co-created ‘The Waiting List’, an allotment-sized artwork highlighting the significant demand and lengthy waiting lists for allotments. Olia Hercules is a Ukrainian cook and author of the award-winning Mamushka cook book. Raised in rural Ukraine she later moved to London where she missed the fresh tastes of homegrown food. This led her to start the lengthy process of securing an allotment, which she says helps make a place feel like ‘home’, particularly during times of war and displacement. They've written essays for a book celebrating allotment life called This Allotment: Stories of Growing, Eating and Nurturing. Produced by Jane Thurlow (Image: (L) JC Niala, courtesy of JC Niala. (R) Olia Hercules, credit Joe Woodhouse.)
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  • Hello, I'm Dashiani Navanayagam, and welcome to the conversation, the show that amplifies women's voices today.

  • The earthy, practical and soulful relationship that emerges between humans and the land when it comes to growing and harvesting our own food.

  • No longer a fundamental skill for many of us, it's also increasingly hard to cultivate crops in urban environments.

  • For city dwellers, the the solution of allotments and community gardens has been a popular workaround for decades, and it tended to be men who frequented them.

  • But in recent years, these spaces have been overtaken by women keen to grow their own bounties.

  • Today I'm speaking to two women about the appeal of working the land in this most intimate of ways.

  • JC Nialla joins me in the studio.

  • She's a writer, academic and creative from Kenya, who has written about the history of allotments.

  • And Olia Hercules is a ukrainian cook and author of an award winning cookbook.

  • Mamushka.

  • Raised in rural Ukraine, Olya later moved to London, where she missed the fresh taste of homegrown food.

  • Her solution?

  • To grow her own vegetables to remind her of home.

  • Welcome to you both.

  • Welcome.

  • Jacy.

  • Welcome, Olia.

  • Thank you.

  • Thank you.

  • Really nice to have you both.