More of us are living in cities and urban farming is on the rise. Can you be sure the city soil you’re growing in is clean enough? Industry and traffic can contaminate land, but there are ways to deal with the problem. Ruth Alexander finds out how to test soil, how to clean it, and which fruit and vegetables are the safest to grow on former industrial and commercial sites. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: A garden trowel with some soil on it) Producer: Hannah Bewley
This was an impregnable fortress.
The only way you got out was in a wooden box.
The controversial maximum security prison, impossible to escape from.
And one of the duties of a political prisoner is the escape the IRA inmates who found a way.
I'm Carlo Gabler and I'll be navigating a path through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in british and irish history.
The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them.
Escape from the maze.
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Earlier this year, I planted some strawberry plants in this flowerbed here in my suburban garden.
And then I began to worry a bit.
Is it okay to grow food here?
I've not long since moved in and I don't know that much about the place.
This is the food chain from the BBC World Service.
And I'm Ruth Alexander.
Many of us like the idea of growing our own fruit and vegetables, but with more than half of us living in cities now, how much thought do we give to the history of the land we're using?
We're going to be finding out what toxins can be hiding in your soil and what you can do about it.
And I'm digging up some of this soil here to have it tested, a process that urban growers are becoming more familiar with, as I've been finding out.
But first of all, I've been to see a much larger growing project.
I'm a 15 minutes walk from the centre of town in Oldham, close to Manchester, in the northwest of England.
The terraced streets Peter out and before me, a green space has unfolded.