Changing Perspectives: Seeds of Change

This year, Dulwich Park became home to Earth Tenders, a Black-led community gardening project.

Earth Tenders runs low- and no-cost workshops for people of colour, sharing opportunities to enjoy nature, grow food, and explore ancestral cultures and heritage.

We sat down with Earth Tenders’ organiser, Idman Abdurahaman. We discussed her work and experience of growing food today in South East London, and asked her to choose an object from the collection to reflect her perspective.

How did you first get into agriculture and food production?

IDMAN: I stumbled into agriculture and sustainable food during university while studying environmental studies, driven by my interest in the natural environment and human-land interactions.

Living in Somalia as a teen, I saw first-hand how climate change affected my pastoralist relatives, causing famine and drought that devastated their livelihoods. This made me realise that farmers and landworkers are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, despite contributing the least to it.

Over the years, I became passionate about climate and land justice, understanding how climate breakdown disproportionately impacts marginalised communities due to existing structural inequalities. After finishing my education, I wanted to work directly with the land. I started working in urban growing and community gardening projects across London, focusing on reconnecting Black and People of Colour (BPOC) communities with nature and horticulture.

I deepened my knowledge in food justice and sovereignty through grassroots food aid projects and the NGO sector, focusing on transforming food systems. Working in different parts of the food system has been enriching, and I continually reflect on how to make the most meaningful impact, often finding that grassroots and community-level efforts are the most effective and empowering.

Tell me about Earth Tenders. Why is there a need for training in food growing across communities in London?

IDMAN: Earth Tenders was born out of a need for more BPOC-led community growing spaces in London. The food and farming sector is one of the least diverse sectors in the UK: 99% of farmers are White (compared with only 86% of the total population). Throughout my years working in the sector, I have often witnessed how marginalized individuals including myself, struggled to feel a sense of belonging in these spaces, experiencing racial discrimination, othering and not seeing ourselves represented in the environment and food movement.

I guess Earth Tenders is addressing that challenge in a very small way by offering programmes and sessions responding to needs and desires of our diverse communities, celebrating culture, heritage, ancestral food pathways, creativity, wellbeing and most importantly building community resilience. As this project develops and evolves we hope and wish to see this space transform not only to a thriving and functioning growing space but become a rich and vibrant community hub here in South East London.

How do African and indigenous practices affect your work?

IDMAN: Both Ali and I are very inspired by African and indigenous land practices and we want the community garden to be a space where we can incorporate various cultural, ancestral and spiritual land-based practices.

I believe that the ecosystem is an extension of us and that we should always treat the land in the same way we would a family member, with care and respect. In many non-western cultures, the environment and humans are not seen as separate forces but part of a whole that need each other to survive and thrive. Due to industrialisation, colonialism and capitalism, we now live in parts of the world that have set the environment apart from people, actively creating a disconnect and normalising the pursuit of profit over people and land.

Through the violent act of colonialism and land dispossession, indigenous and African practices were erased and disregarded. Fast-forward to today and we are witnessing the resurgence of ‘sustainable’ farming practices that incorporate those exact indigenous teachings that were once erased.

Particularly in the West, we have so much to learn from the way that global majority people steward the land, preserve biodiversity and implement practices that are climate resilient.

I believe that our broken food system as a whole would heal significantly if we collectively acted in ways that promote interconnectedness, reciprocity and community care.

What can wider English farming learn from non-western philosophies?

IDMAN: There is so much I don’t know about traditional English farming practices so it is hard to say what practices would be valuable. The English farmers, particularly smaller scale farmers that I have met throughout the years, hold so much rich knowledge and have an immense respect for the land.

I met an older Welsh farmer last year and it amazed me how he spoke about his farm, that it is alive and has a soul. I thought it was incredibly beautiful.

I think that there are probably many parallels between English farming practices and non-western practices but we just have different languages for it. It would be really interesting to see more educational spaces where these perspectives and knowledge were exchanged and celebrated.

Do you consider yourself a farmer? Why or why not?

IDMAN: It’s a tricky question.

Initially, I want to say no because my work in the sustainable food sector hasn’t mainly focused on growing food. I identify more as a landworker, having a deep relationship with the land through growing. My self-identification in this work will continue to evolve. Spending time with farmers who manage large plots and learning about their challenges has deepened my respect for them.

Last year, we went on a self-organized study trip to the US to learn from BIPOC farms and urban gardens in the NYC area. We gained so much from that trip, deepening our understanding of what it takes to run a farm, and I left with the utmost respect and admiration for the trade. I most definitely aspire to one day proudly call myself a farmer but for now I am happy very much in the knowledge absorbing and learning stage. That itself is very exciting!

What is your favourite thing about the work you do?

IDMAN: There is so much I love about this work and everyday I discover a new aspect of it.

When it comes to urban growing and community gardening, these spaces serves so many purposes: from learning and teaching about food growing, to promoting good mental health and wellbeing, to creating space for political conversations, as growing your own food and particularly growing food as marginalised people in the UK in itself is such a political and radical act.

There are so many barriers that we need to overcome collectively in the food movement so having honest and critical conversations about why things are the way that they are is an important first step. Why do we struggle with lack of access to greenspace and land ownership? Why does food insecurity hit marginalised communities the hardest? Why do we not value learning about where our food comes from and who grows it?

Moreover, another thing I enjoy about community gardening is nurturing intergenerational approaches to this work, learning from elders and children, nurturing their curiosity and seeing them grow up to be land-stewards. Most of all, I enjoy building community around growing food and connecting to nature.

How would you describe the future of food?

IDMAN: A future where farmers get a universal basic income and have a big say in how our food system changes since they feed the country. We’ll focus more on home-grown food instead of imports. Healthy, safe, culturally appropriate and nutritious food will be affordable for everyone no matter their background or circumstances. Kids will learn more about where their food comes from, and people from all backgrounds will have access to education about farming. There will be more mentorship and leadership opportunities for marginalized communities.

Our food system will be anti-racist, anti-oppressive, decolonial and treat people, animals, and the land with dignity and respect. I spend most of my time thinking about the future of food, and though our current system is flawed, I believe we already have the tools we need to reimagine a food system that is rooted in care for people, the planet, and animals.

Tell us about the object you have chosen from our collections.

IDMAN: I chose the book Cooking Up a Revolution by Sean Parson, mainly because I think that title resonates with what we are trying to do at the garden, use food as a tool for social change. The book explores how grassroots movements use food and housing activism to challenge social injustices and resist gentrification. The book focuses on three main movements: Food Not Bombs, Homes Not Jails, and anti-gentrification efforts.

• Food Not Bombs: This group uses food as a tool for social change, providing free meals to highlight issues of poverty and homelessness while protesting against war and military spending.
• Homes Not Jails: This organization focuses on housing rights, advocating for the use of abandoned properties to house the homeless and drawing attention to the housing crisis.
• Anti-Gentrification: Parson examines efforts to resist the displacement of low-income communities by wealthier newcomers, emphasizing the importance of community solidarity and direct action.

Overall, the book illustrates how these movements challenge neoliberal policies and promote social justice through direct action and community-based solutions.