“Grassroots to New Shoots” Hull residents embrace rewilding!

THE growers behind this initiative are part of an organisation called GOSH (Garden and Open Spaces Hull), a collective of local growers who are committed to making Hull a happier and healthier place.

Although their focus is wide (ranging from rewilding to improving public health, to solving food shortages), they have one main goal: community-led open space management.

The movement is committed to working alongside Hull City Council in order to tackle some of the most pertinent social issues facing the city, planting seeds of change from the bottom up.

GOSH member Kate MacDonald explains the importance of collective, community-based action, citing bureaucracy and stilted communication between the residents and the council as the main reasons for inaction.

‘This is about bringing people together,’ she explains ‘Let’s just get back to being human beings’.

This statement is closely aligned with the group’s motto ‘Solidarity not Charity’, which seeks to present these issues as the responsibility of all human beings, rather than just a charitable few.

“The pandemic showed us how fragile our systems are, and as a city, we’re facing the devastating consequences of covid, Brexit and climate change.

We need to work together to ensure we all have access to fresh, healthy food and the means to grow it ourselves,” explains Elizabeth Heywood, a member of the ecological group The Green Corridor.

A far cry from the stockpiling of chickpeas and pasta, which occurred before lockdown, GOSH champions healthy, altruistic and sustainable methods of preventing food shortages. Be it through collective gardening or sharing that extra cabbage with your neighbour, GOSH encourages mutual support groups, in which communities and neighbours look out for each other.

This community-driven campaign is what the world is missing right now, food banks would see a lot fewer visitors if we all helped our neighbours a little more and had access to environments in which we could grow our own produce.

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