Edible Estate
allotment gardens as places of food sovereignty
Edible Estate explores the allotment garden as a historical place of resilient and sovereign food cultivation and presents a concept for sustainable allotment garden catering. The food is cooked with plants whose ecological and flavour value make cultivation worthwhile. By developing new recipes, tasting dishes and providing information, the aim is to inspire biodiverse cultivation. Can cooking as a creative practice influence the cultivation of food? To answer this question and test the concept, a food event was planned and organised on an allotment estate in Halle.
student: | Leah Messerschmidt |
project: | The Plant Project – Resilience Part II |
year: | 2024 |
There are around 30,000 plant species worldwide that are edible for humans. However, only around 150 of these play a significant role in human nutrition and just 30 of these species account for 95% of the calorie requirements of the world‘s population, which are covered by plant products. These numbers clearly show how our food is beeing produced – mostly in industrial and monocultural cultivation Regional, seasonal, organic, unpackaged and direct-sold food is desirable for its low carbon footprint and nutritional value. The idea of growing food in private gardens is also a way of avoiding overproduction and waste. Food production from allotments would enable people to eat locally and healthier, as well as benefiting urban biodiversity. With this in mind, „Edible Estate“ is looking for ways to make produce from private gardens accessible to a local market and is proposing the concept of chefs in residency. Different chefs could take over the allotment garden gastronomy for a period of a few days to several weeks and be inspired by the products in the allotment garden as well as inspire allotment gardeners with new plants. Allotment gardeners could give their products to the catering and receive discounts on the food. Rethinking the role of the city as part of the food economy has been widely publicised, particularly in relation to sustainable consumption, social and environmental justice, access to healthy food, urban-rural relations, biodiversity and resilience. I needed various props to realise the concept of an allotment garden restaurant. To accommodate as many people as possible, I designed a set of beer benches. The curved shape of the seating and table tops, together with the bright green powder coating, offer a change from the conventional beer bench set. However, the familiar proportions and classic table legs mean that the beer bench is quickly recognised as such. To enable allotment gardeners to grow the desirable plants themselves, postcards have been designed.
The postcards each feature a desirable plant on the front with its name, appearance and further information on cultivation and superpowers. On the back is the recipe in which the plant is used. This can be sent as a greeting from the allotment garden kitchen to other allotment gardens and thus continue to contribute to the cultivation of new desirable plants. The researched plants are divided into three categories. The first category deals with crops that are already grown on allotment gardens and often exist in surplus, such as courgettes, kohlrabi, tomatoes or beetroot. In this category, suggestions are made for replacing certain varieties with old varieties. The second category contains plants that are unknown or have been forgotten, such as shiso or burnet. Also presented are „weeds“ such as nettle or dandelion, which are not known to be edible. The third category of plants represents desirable plants of the future that are particularly resilient and will become increasingly important as the climate continues to change. Plants such as tiger nut, saltwort and sea buckthorn are the protagonists here. For the event, the postcards were vacuum-packed with the corresponding plant seeds so that the desired plants can be grown in the allotment garden in the future. As the event was to test the concept, it was important for me to evaluate the participants. In order to stay in the image of an allotment garden restaurant, I designed the evaluation in the form of a receipt. Questions such as „What is the motivation for growing edible plants?“, „Does your own cooking style have an impact on your cultivation behaviour?“ or „Would you give food from your own garden to an allotment garden restaurant?“ were asked. The evaluation of the receipts showed consistently positive feedback. Most people found the idea of an allotment garden gastronomy desirable and would donate food if they get discount in return or pay for the food.
