Garden Organic

Garden Organic was founded in 1958 with the aim of researching and promoting organic growing. We work to enable and support people to grow organically, through research, education, demonstration gardens and practical projects, and through lobbying and campaigning on issues vital to people and the environment.  

In a time of rising obesity levels, divided communities and an increasing disconnection from the natural world, coupled with rising concern over the health and environmental impact of modern food and farming practices, organic gardening and food growing has an essential role to play.

Our work includes:

• Get people growing: Growing your own food helps people get in touch with where food comes from and is an important step towards more sustainable lifestyles. 

• Community projects: we work to bring people together through food growing projects, celebrating and sharing growing across diverse communities.

• Education: through the Food for Life Partnership (FFLP) we have helped set up food growing projects in almost 5,000 schools, enabling thousands of young people and their families to develop new skills and to learn about food growing and healthy eating.

• Policy: In 2011 we chaired the Defra-supported Food Growing in Schools TaskForce, bringing together evidence of the benefits of food growing on young people’s health, wellbeing and attainment. Our vision is that every school should be a food growing school, so that every young person can benefit.

• Campaigns and lobbying: we campaign on issues important for people and environment. This includes working to save our threatened bees and lobbying for changes to “green” labelling on garden products.  Our latest campaign 'For Peat's Sake' aims to end the use of peat in horticulture and to push it to the top of the agenda again.

• Environment and biodiversity: we promote wildlife-friendly growing practices at all levels, and through our Heritage Seed Library (HSL) we safeguard over 800 rare and endangered vegetable varieties, sharing these with growers nationwide and supporting community seed swaps.

• Organic gardens: We are based at Ryton Organic Gardens in Warwickshire