Eating sustainably
Health and wellbeing is not only about eating healthy food. The experience of growing food is really good for your mental health and wellbeing. On this page you can find out more about how to eat sustainably and grow your own food.
Eat Like a Londoner
We’re very proud to be part of Eat like a Londoner. It’s a first-of-its-kind food platform for Londoners.
It’s designed to help Londoners shop, cook and eat better: more sustainably, more cost-effectively, more deliciously. With recipes, hacks, tips and tricks –from experts and locals alike –this is the ultimate destination for anyone looking for new ways to cook, plan or save food.
Newham is a Sustainable Food Place
Grow your own food
Below you can find information and advice about how to get started growing your own food.
Use the Newham Food Growing Toolkit
Find out top tips, useful guidance and where you can join gardening communities in Newham.
Why is being outdoors in nature good for your wellbeing?
- Movement - Gardening is a form of exercise, whether through weeding, digging, carrying water, or other activities.
- Connecting with others - Using the garden as a way to bring people together is good for our mental health and wellbeing. Take a look at our community gardens below and join one of the community groups.
- Feelings of awe and wonder - Research has shown that feelings of awe and wonder make people feel more connected to each other, collaborative and kind. Take a moment to appreciate the birds, insects and nature around you. The more you can inspire others to feel awe, the more health benefits your garden will give you.
What food grows well in Newham?
Different plants need different temperatures and climates to grow well. To have a successful garden, it’s important to choose plants that are likely to grow well here. Although we certainly can’t grow bananas or mangoes, there are lots of
exciting and interesting foods that grow well in Newham.
Growing and Gardening Activities for Children
There are so many benefits to gardening with children. Take a look at Early Start Nutrition's blog to find out what fantastic basic growing activities that you can do indoors or outdoors with your little ones.
Find a garden near you
There is a network of community gardens across the borough. Many of these gardens run free gardening clubs for adults. The community leaders who run these activities are always good people to talk to.
Take a look at the services below to find a green space near you to get gardening!
You can also take a look at Growsie's community gardens map.
Forest Gate Community Gardens
We are a beautiful small community garden 2 minutes from Woodgrange Road, near the 25, 86 and 58 bus routes. We are open to the public from 10am to 3pm on Fridays and Saturdays, 10am to 12pm on Sundays.
We hold workshops and events, but mainly we are a haven for people to enjoy nature. Our volunteers water, weed, plant, sweep leaves, and generally maintain the site. Some work an hour, others a whole day.
Cody Dock Community Garden
Sessions are on Wednesdays 10:30am-3pm. We have plenty of opportunities to develop spaces and habitats helping to transform sites around Cody Dock and the local area by creating or improving communal greenspaces with benches, hanging baskets and signage showing what plants and animals are here. You can also get involved in planting out native trees/shrubs and creating features to promote foraging and habitat for local wildlife. The community gardens require maintenance year-round.
Cody Dock Therapeutic Gardening Programme
The therapeutic gardening project at Cody Dock offers weekly (2.5 hour) gardening activity sessions over a 6-week period to anyone who wants to improve their mental health, physical health, and general well-being.
Star Garden Project
A community garden project for residents registered to GP practices in that area.
Conservation volunteers at East Ham Nature Reserve
We are a small, friendly group of volunteers who meet on Wednesday mornings to do various tasks to create and maintain habitats at the nature reserve. Tasks range from scything and raking meadows, clearing ivy off gravestones and cutting back brambles to planting wildflower seeds and bulbs. We always have tea and biscuits and lots of chat.
Find a community garden near you
Use the Growsie map to find community gardens near you.