A recent conference paper presented at SPARC 2011.

1. Is Local Food Production the Way Forward? Covert and Overt Approaches to Cultivating Food in the Urban Hardman, M., Curzon, R., Lamb, J., and Larkham, P. Michael.Hardman@bcu.ac.uk

2. Contents Covert AND overt Research techniques FOCUS of DOCTORATE RESEARCH RESULTS CONCLUDING REMARKS

3. Submerged and Formal ‘ILLICIT CULTIVATION OF SOMEONE ELSE’S LAND’ (Reynolds, 2008: 16) ‘…produce organic food for the residents and encourage other environmentally friendly ways of living’ (Hardman and Jones, 2010)

4. Research Techniques Overt observation Passive participant Complicated ethics Note book Probing ‘informal’ interviews Semi-structured with: Groups/troops Local community

5. Focus of Doctorate Thesis Themes COLLECTIVE ACTION/SOCIAL MOVEMENT Hardman, 2009; Hardman, 2011; Melucci, 1996… The ‘planner’s eye view’ Lefebvre, 1995; Qvistrom, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011 ; Scott and Hardman, 2011… Is local food really the way forward? Purcell, 2005; Purcell and Brown, 2005; Born and Purcell, 2006…

6. Research Results ‘Local Trap’ ‘…the assumption that there is something inherently desirable about the local scale’ (Purcell and Brown, 2005: 282) Global food system is undesirable (Born and Purcell, 2006) Local food production attractive (Purcell, 2005) Four projects, two formal two submerged

7. Research Results Heavily promoted Positioned in a less affluent community Gated and fenced Some residents excluded Symbolic food production Council employees Open to the public/partnership with pub Ambitious plans and side projects

8. Concluding Remarks Local not always the best option Submerged offer possibilities Further investigation QUESTIONS? Understanding Guerrilla Gardening: An Exploration of Illegal Cultivation in the UK Google: ‘Mike Hardman BCU’