In other countries this is happening.
Police stations, for example often have large spaces where food can be grown.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11225370

Helping Todmorden Become Self-Sufficient
Dec
08
2009
CMBC Councillors are helping Todmorden High School become more self-sufficient. Last night members of the Council’s Cabinet committee agreed to a number of steps which will help staff and students develop a fish farm and associated growing plots on land behind the school.

The Council will now dedicate the plot of land where the fish farm will sit to the Big Lottery. This will act as security for the funding they receive.

Councillor Craig Whittaker, portfolio holder for Children and Young People’s Services, said he was delighted the Council had been able to help the school progress with its proposals.

“This is a really exciting project which will ultimately lead to the school being able to use the fish and vegetables they have cultivated in home economic lessons and the school canteen. Any surplus stock can then be sold on to the community.

“It will also allow the school to offer further education opportunities as students aged between 14 and 19 will be able to study for a BTEC diploma in Environment and Land Based Studies.”

The whole process is called an Aquaponic system. Spring water will feed the tanks which will hold a variety of fish. The waste produced by the fish will then be used to feed the vegetables.

“Todmorden has led the way in creating a sustainable community and their efforts have already made national headlines. The school has been at the heart of the Incredible Edible project and this latest proposal demonstrates their commitment and passion for the scheme,” said Councillor Whittaker.

“This scheme will help people to shape their own future and ensure Calderdale is a clean, safe and thriving area for residents to enjoy.”


I have seen this done in Yugoslavia and in the 50's in the UK with some success.


http://www.todmordenlist.com/news/helping-todmorden-become-self-sufficient


Todmorden: Britain's First Town with Self-Sufficient Food Supply
Share: by Geneva B | February 26, 2009 at 02:48 pm
828 views | 26 Recommendations | 10 comments
Photos
Recession Foods: Comfort for Your Wallet and Your Belly

see larger image
The move toward self-sufficient living is not just for paranoid end-of-the-world resisters anymore. Consciousness of how precarious our global food distribution chain is finally seems to be reaching wider audiences in places where such knowledge matters most.


By all means, the local food movement appears to only be picking up steam with towns such as Todmorden, U.K. setting fine examples for the rest of us of how we should be managing land-use and food supply issues more resourcefully.

Every square inch of available ground in Todmorden is being dug up and turned into a vegetable plot.
Red-ribbed chard decorates the kerbside of A646 to Halifax and fruit trees are thriving in dustbins in the backyards of artisans' cottages. Even floral displays, which once helped the town take second place in Britain in Bloom in the small-town class, have given way to edible plants. Commuters passing through its tiny station are urged to bring scissors to crop herbs from planters on the platform.

Mary Clear, Todmorden's community development worker and a founder of the "Incredible Edible Todmorden" project, said: "Why pay the supermarket £1 when you can have it fresh for free?"



Source: telegraph.co.uk
What at first seems rather eccentric or absurd starts to make a lot of sense when factoring in the very real costs of using vast amounts of non-renewable resources to produce and ship food around that we could very easily grow in our own backyards and communities, season-willing. In other words, what Todmorden is doing could become the rule, not an exception.

Mrs Warhurst, 57, said it made sense to forget flowers and grow food. "Given costs and concern about where produce is sourced – and it has all sorts of benefits: it's healthier and reduces food miles. It also encourages a sense of community."
At their first public meeting 60 people crammed into her café. "The buzz was phenomenal," she said. "Incredible Edible Todmorden lets everyone just do what they want to do and not worry about the big picture," said Mrs Warhurst.

Todmorden has planted its first community orchard of old English varieties of apples and pears, around the municipal soccer pitch.

Todmorden High School's chef, Tony Mulgrew, has begun sourcing food locally for his 800 pupils. "Through Incredible Edible I have made some fantastic contacts with local farmers," he says. "Now we have free-range chickens and eggs and rare breed pork on the menu, all coming within the normal school budget."

Parents at the area's six primaries have planted tubs and tyres with potatoes and carrots, and even the GPs at Todmorden's new £6 million health centre insisted its landscaped grounds be turned over to fruit and veg.


http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/todmorden-britains-first-town-self-sufficient-food-supply

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/countryside/4806351/Todmorden-turns-into-a-giant-vegetable-patch.html


S.