Sitopia Farm sits on the edge of Greenwich; founder Chloë Dunnett tells us about growing produce in the capital
“We are an organic, regenerative farm and social enterprise and we grow organic food and flowers on two beautiful acres of land that we lease off our partners, Woodlands Farm,” explains the founder of Sitopia.
Chloë Dunnett, who is also chief growing officer, runs the farm with Sarah Alun-Jones as head of growth and grower Ximena Ransom. She says they are reclaiming corporate terms for the urban farm.
The “small, but beautifully formed core team” work hard each week – along with volunteers and some part-time staff – growing produce to stock shops and restaurants, and fill subscription veg boxes for local people.
Sitopia uses no-dig techniques, which is better for the soil and supports the billions of microorganisms in the complex networks underneath the soil, Chloë explains.
She says: “We exist because we think we can and should grow more food in the city for a whole host of health, social and environmental reasons. The food system, unfortunately, is absolutely broken. Food and farming are responsible for over a third of greenhouse gas emissions, and food poverty is rising even in developed countries like the UK.
“We live in a world shaped by food, but it’s almost too big for us. We think we can and should live in a Sitopia.”
The name for the farm comes from the Greek sitos, meaning food, and topos, meaning place, and is a play on the word Utopia. Where utopia means “good place” or “no place”, Sitopia means “food place”. The word “Sitopia” was coined by Carolyn Steel, who is the author of Sitopia and Hungry City and a Sitopia Farm Advisory Board member.
“I heard Carolyn talking about her book, and I thought, ‘That’s it’. We’re trying to be part of the change we want to see; a small farm, serving its local community, and growing food in a way that supports the environment. But also, we’re not naïve. We can’t feed London on our own,” says Chloë.
“So we have that twin approach, to show what’s possible and spread the word, and try to engender the wider change we so urgently need.”
Farming was never a career option Chloë had thought about, but it was when she was working in Tanzania for a charity that she thought about subsistence farming.
“We didn’t have supermarkets in the town, it was just fresh produce. Then to suddenly come home to the UK and think, none of this is fresh food. Why do we need 30 different types of breakfast cereal,” she asks.
So Chloë saw her farming dream begin to sprout: she started to grow things on her window ledge, then a concrete roof terrace, and helped an elderly lady with her allotment. She was volunteering on farms alongside working and went on to study food and growing before getting a job as a grower at a farm on the Welsh border.
This all led to Sitopia Farm. Now Chloë grows hundreds of different varieties of things on the farm, “partly because it’s fun, partly to show people what’s possible”.
And you can your own hands dirty every Thursday on the farm with their volunteer days. You can volunteer to help out each week, and attend whenever you can, you just have to attend an induction session to get started.
Sitopia also has regular markets, where you can buy produce and explore the farm, as well as subscriptions for organic veggies and flowers and gift bouquets for special occasions. They have also started a wedding flowers service, to help you create an extra special display for your big day.
And finally, what is Chloë especially excited about produce-wise at this time of year? “It’s got to be tomatoes. It’s one of the things we really shouldn’t be eating in winter. They’re amazing for the few months of the year when they come in. They’re going in the veg bags we’re making today.
“Our tomatoes have converted people who thought they didn’t like tomatoes. We grow 20 different types of heritage tomatoes – small, orange ones or pear-shaped yellow and green ones, fat pink ones.” Delicious.
Images by Helena Dolby
331 Shooters Hill, DA16 3RP
