People visiting Middlesbrough last year may have wondered why there were radishes and pumpkins being grown where they might have expected to see carnations and dahlias. All over the town, disused urban spaces were turned into fertile corners bursting with freshly grown fruit and vegetables as more than 1,000 residents took part in a project aimed at changing the way they think about food. This year, the results could be even more spectacular.
The idea of the urban farming project was to make people more aware of food miles, improve health and aid regeneration of the borough, which contains the ninth most deprived area in the UK. Groundwork South Tees advised schools, mental health hospitals, residential care homes and retailers on planting and growing many varieties of herbs, vegetables and fruit. Containers of different sizes were used so people could cultivate whatever space they had.
Middlesbrough borough council turned over parkland, town-centre planters and other landholdings for fruit and vegetable growing. The eight-month project culminated in a town meal outside the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, where up to 8,000 people shared meals from the food that had been grown.
This year, Middlesbrough plans to supply seeds and containers to anyone interested, and already has 2,000 individuals and groups lined up, including 31 out of 51 schools, with 280 growing sites. "This has caught people's imagination. But we've gone beyond novelty now and people want to make it a mainstream activity," says Ian Collingwood, a regeneration consultant at the council.
Noreen Hart, a parent support adviser at Park End primary school, which took part in the project and will again this year, says: "Some kids are not aware of where supermarket food comes from. There was a real sense of satisfaction when they saw food they'd grown [being served] on the canteen salad bar and other kids eating it. [Growing food] is dying out. People don't do it because food is cheap."
But cheap for how much longer? The Middlesbrough project may set an important example to other towns if rampant food inflation continues unabated. The past year has seen riots and food shortages in countries including Mexico, Italy and India, with the UN last month noting problems in urban areas that have previously been immune from food insecurity.
A lack of food may seem unthinkable in the UK, where supermarket shelves groan under the variety on offer. But the Office for National Statistics last month reported the highest ever recorded rise in the price of food. The cost of vegetables, for example, has risen by more than 6% in 12 months.
Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, says the era of cheap food in the UK is over, and that the nation is "sleepwalking into a crisis". He points out that the UK has an especially poor record on producing its own fruit and vegetables. "Ninety-five per cent of fresh fruit is imported. This is ludicrous in a country with 2,000 varieties of apples," he says.
Lang believes that with rising oil and food prices, schemes such as the one in Middlesbrough could have a big role in helping stave off a crisis. "There is huge potential for urban farming in the UK. The fundamental problem that is blocking its take-up is land ownership. Too much is in the hands of private developers," he says.
The food and farming alliance Sustain says there needs to be a change in the way urban land is perceived. "There's a lot of space in towns and cities that is just green desert. It's there just to look at," says Ben Reynolds, London food links officer at Sustain. He has just returned from the US where he was learning about successful urban farming projects. He thinks there is plenty of potential for similar schemes in the UK. As a starting point, he believes that planners, architects and developers have a central role in incorporating food-growing areas into new developments.
Meanwhile, derelict land, public parks and green areas among social housing could be set aside for small-scale agriculture. Even in big cities, where building tends to be high-density, green roofs could support types of food that require little water or nutrients.
Jenny Jones, a Green party London assembly member, has asked the mayor, Ken Livingstone, to commission a study exploring how much of its own food the capital could produce. She is concerned about the effects on poor people of recent price hikes. "In a low-income family, food takes up 26% of income, so price increases will hit very hard," she says. She believes London should aim to grow 25% of its food.
Back in Middlesbrough, last year's project has kickstarted a local food revolution. Plans are now being developed by the council to open a restaurant run along the lines of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen. Community run food co-ops will supply the restaurant with fresh, organic produce.
As for the urban farming project, Middlesbrough's regeneration team wants it to provide a lasting example to communities around the world and has already been contacted by Glasgow and Portsmouth city councils. Meanwhile, Erimus housing association has committed to providing five new allotment sites in the town with the possibility of 15 more. Linthorpe community primary school is turning derelict land on its grounds into an allotment for schoolchildren and local people.
David Barrie, a consultant to and director of the urban farming project, says there was an expectation that a post-industrial town would not be interested in such a project. "There's now a waiting list of around 100 for allotments when previously there wasn't any," he says. "If you start something, the demand will be there."
Andre Viljoen, a designer of urban spaces who worked on the Middlesbrough project, believes that the multi-layered benefits of urban farming make it a timely idea. "We need to start thinking about food production being part of a city's infrastructure - like roads," he says.
Jeanette Walker lives on a Middlesbrough council estate and had little previous experience of producing her own food. Last year, she grew herbs, strawberries and carrots in window boxes and a container in a communal garden. She is planning more this year. She says the project helped people on her estate to get to know each other better and they have now started a gardening club. "Obviously we can't grow all our own veg, but this made us realise our potential," she says.
· Catherine Early writes for Planning magazine. theguardian.com/environment/food