Small town's scheme makes a big difference

Most of you won’t have heard of Todmorden, but buried away in this small, yet busy market town in West Yorkshire a revolution has taken place. The town of Todmorden launched the Incredible Edible scheme, growing their own fruit and vegetables to highlight the importance of local produce.

Two years ago, after an inspiring visit to a conference, Pam Warhurst sat in her friend Mary Clear’s kitchen and told her that they needed to change the way they thought about where their food came from.

The scheme initially began with a seed swap, during which time residents grew vegetables in their own gardens. It then grew with the local council essentially selling areas of land to people for £10 which led to edible produce being planted around the town.


Today, after involvement with the local primary care trust, fruit such as rhubarb and cranberries can be found growing outside the station and the health centre.

A previously unused patch of land has now been prepared to grow vegetables after positive talks with Network Rail. The vegetables will be planted by local volunteers, and once the vegetables start growing, anybody can pick and enjoy them.

Walking through Todmorden, I can see why the scheme has worked so well. Todmorden seems like a very tight community. People are standing and chatting to each other, greeting everybody who passes them with an “Ah-riiight” in their thick Yorkshire accent, an accent that even comes through in the one piece of graffiti by the canal. A poster asking “What sort of dog owner are you?” has gained the response “Reet Fluffy!” in neat letters underneath.

Inside the Market Hall, stalls sell a variety of products, from craft supplies to meat. The market butcher proudly displays a sign that all the meat is from his own farm. The “local products for local people” school of thought is evident throughout the town, with independent shops, such as the butcher, the grocers and the general store dominating the High Street, rather than chain stores.


After the original success of Incredible Edible, a new Every Egg Matters campaign was launched last spring. Residents are encouraged to keep free range hens to provide eggs for their families and sell any extra eggs to neighbours and other members of the community.

In an article in the local paper, the Todmorden News, Beryl Tyrer explains “People are a bit nervous about starting with hens, but if you have a garden or a bit of land and you get prepared before they arrive, they are quite easy to keep.”

The Incredible Edible scheme has been a great success for Todmorden, in terms of producing local food. It has also inspired other areas of the UK to follow in their footsteps with schemes now up and running in York, London and Ramsbottom, and there is also interest from Switzerland to introduce a similar scheme there.

The scheme has been in effect for a while now, so what does the future hold? Team member Estelle Brown says “Incredible Edible is still expanding and being planned, that never ends. It kind of grows organically just like the fruit, vegetables and hens.”