Incredible Edible Todmorden

Being located in the village of Yorkshire, the project of Incredible Edible Todmorden brings local food to the street and makes it available for everyone. The project includes food planting crops at forty public locations such as a local police station, cemetery or health center. The crops allow different community members to enjoy locally sourced fresh food and revive neglected spaces.  

Todmorden is a small village with a population of 17,000 people. The village which did not have any specific features, today is known for its growing food crops and the ambitious local community. The project Incredible Edible Todmorden started in 2008 with a great idea and a group of sixty people and expanded to commit more than one-third of Todmorden’s residents. Pam Walhurst co-founder of the project describes it as “propaganda gardens”. She explains that “food” was the key element that brought people together and made the project crucial, inspiring and open to each person living in the village. Immediately taking action without any permission was an important step in direct achievements.  

Today, the vegetables grown in the crops are shared and defined as “open-sourced food”. Although it took around two years for the local community to adopt the new concept, nowadays people pick and eat food from shared crops no matter who has planted it. The food crops placed in different neglected public spaces transformed them into socially active edible spots. Furthermore, the village became popular for “vegetable tourism”. Created Todmorden Green Route map guides the visitors around the green spots and explains the concept of Incredible Edible Totmorden.

The project has a participatory vision of three spinning plates: community, education and business. All three work together: the local schools teach children to grow food, businesses donate goods and services, and shops place planter boxes. Moreover, the created local food movement inspire farmers to raise more chicken and eggs and produce local cheese.

The Incredible Edible Todmorden continues to better the environment and life in the village while inspiring others to create more resilient and healthy spaces. The project represents a green movement which spread, succeed and advanced the village by introducing new habits. Furthermore, the movement replicated and prospered in different countries including Belgium, Germany, Finland, the United States and Canada.