This project, based at the Loveland site near Falmouth, Cornwall, received the Bridging Communities award to support its ongoing work combining ecological food growth with community wellbeing in nature. Dr Tim Hughes discusses his experience of using this fund to develop the project.
Loveland is an 8-acre field in Penryn that was granted to the Falmouth Food Coop in late 2020. It hosts a community growing plot, agro-ecological market garden, medicinal herb garden, flowers plot, fruit and nut orchard, and a grains project. Students and staff from the nearby Universities of Exeter and Falmouth are regular participants at community events and volunteering sessions at the site.
This project emerged in response to Loveland community’s need for a volunteer coordinator for their Saturday community sessions, and a shared wish to carry out related research. This need was identified through conversations between Loveland steering committee members (in particular, Tim and Jaye Brighton, Alex Murphy and Finn Halsall), and the academic co-applicant and Loveland volunteer, Tim Hughes. The project was supported by community growers and researchers, University researchers, and Loveland Steering Committee members. These included Eve Tucker, Molly Bond, Becky Fry, and George Steedman-Jones, alongside countless other committed members and participants.
The research team share interests in ecologically respectful food growing, nature, wellbeing, community, and social systems that value people and nature. Loveland and Falmouth Food Coop hold considerable knowledge and lived experience relating to these interests, and Loveland provides an ideal setting for them to be applied and studied.
It is hoped this partnership will connect the research and knowledge inherent in Loveland’s community and activities with research at the University, bringing recognition and funding to community growing in Cornwall and at Loveland in particular.
The Bridging Communities funding has enabled a number of vital roles to be supported. Specifically, a volunteer coordinator was employed to lead weekly community sessions, providing valuable skills and social interaction for participants, and additional support to part-time staff; a research intern was employed to support the ethical review process and explore potential research questions; and a community researcher has been generating creative content, including podcasts from audio-recorded conversations.
The research team have sought to respond to community needs, actively listen, follow and support emergent community plans and activities, and offer help where it seems of most value. They have aimed to respect participants’ time, make participation easy, and involve the Loveland steering group in decisions on research direction and spending. Thanks to additional funding and generous voluntary contributions, achievements exceeded expectations. Considerable efforts were made to ensure an equitable partnership, although this was constrained by the funding available, the time-consuming nature of the work, and wealth disparities between research funders and community groups.
The relationship between the Loveland and university communities has developed considerably. Some challenges were encountered, notably navigating differences of opinion and difficult conversations within the Loveland community and the time-consuming nature of this underfunded work. A team has emerged through this project with a mix of skills and a good collaborative working arrangement, who are now well equipped to undertake further research together.
A research subgroup of the Loveland steering committee has formed to develop the research agenda. A need has been identified for more data collection and communication, both to support future grant applications and reporting, and for broader engagement. This will require further surveying, conversations and desk-based research. Loveland, and Falmouth Food Coop, although growing, do not currently have capacity or funding to complete this research on top of their core operations. Therefore, follow-on funding would be very beneficial in bridging a gap and developing an evidence base to help access longer-term funding.
Action-oriented research and documentation of Loveland’s story will also benefit its community activities and spaces, supporting future governance and decision-making by demonstrating the wellbeing advantages of community growing. The University will also benefit considerably from continuing to build this relationship, through Loveland’s social and natural environment, and its potential for research and education. Longer-term, this can lead to wider social benefits, developing food awareness and ecological growing skills, and supporting both nature and personal wellbeing.
You can read more about the project from Sustainable Food Cornwall, found here.