Don’t hurry that curry

By Andy Marks

The hustle, bustle and grime of inner city London is an unlikely place to find a farm, let alone a wide range of delicious Bangladeshi vegetables growing in abundance. But a visit to the Spitalfields City Farm will reveal something quite special.

The farm is home to the Coriander Club, which provides the space and know-how for local women to grow organic vegetables for their families, and the opportunity to participate in healthy cooking classes.  Using local ingredients, vegetable curry, dahl and pilau rice are just some of the treats rustled up in their Bengali food masterclass, but there is more to this spice oasis than meets the eye.

The Coriander Club is the brainchild of Luftun Hussain, who is the farm’s Healthy Living Project coordinator. Luftun grew up growing fruit and vegetables on her father’s land in Bangladesh, before moving to Britain in 1969. Once in the cooler climes of London, she set herself the challenge  of growing Bangladeshi vegetables in her backyard in London’s Tower Hamlets. Luftun then set up the Coriander Club in 2000, to allow Bangladeshi women to grow vegetables, socialize and exercise whilst cultivating some very special veggies.

Luftun sees the club as playing an important social and cultural role in the community, and cites promoting ethnic diversity, cultural exchange, inclusion, organic horticulture and healthy living in society as objectives for the club.

Such is the success of the club that Luftun has been appointed as one of fifteen London Leaders, by the London Sustainable Development Commission. And not only that, to spread the word on Bangladeshi culinary delights, Luftun has now written The Corinader Club Cookbook, with proceeds from the sale of the book going back in to the farm and the Coriander Club.

Share your spicy secret recipes, your favorite curry house, or any tips for growing hot stuff in the city, below, and we may thank you. 

why vivacity

This is the century of the city.

Over half the world’s population now live in cities. This is projected to rise to three-quarters of all people in 2050. With population increases, this means 6.75 billion of us will be city dwellers, an increase of 3.75 billion from today. As the future success or failure of mankind lies in cities, new ways of using them are needed.

The city represents an incredible paradox. We have never been closer together physically, but we have never been further away from each other emotionally. At vivacity we celebrate city movements around the world that change and re-define the way we interact with and use cities. Whilst cities cannot cope with the numbers now and the resultant strain on the world’s natural resources and eco-systems are already painfully evident, we believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome, as it has done before.

vivacity promotes city movements that are connecting people & creating new types of communities. They are typically low impact, highly sociable, enabled by technology, using public and private spaces in new ways and empowering people to act locally.

vivacity promotes new ways of feeling alive, new ways of being invigorated, and new things to be a part of. We call it grassroots stuff in the city. We hope you get involved and share your experiences with us.

who we are

Andy Marks vivacity founder and editor

Social entrepreneur, lecturer, writer and curator, Andy Marks is an agent of positive social change practicing at the intersection or fault-line of business, society and culture. Andy is the founder of research and consultancy network Salad Worldwide, an advisor to some of the world’s leading companies on Corporate Responsibility and an advisor to a number of non-profit organizations. Andy is an expert on grass roots city movements, and a founding partner of an upcycling enterprise launching in 2010.

Julian Broadhead contributor

With a background in advertising, branding and corporate responsibility, Julian works with blue-chip companies from a wide range of industries and sectors, advising on strategy and new ways of connecting with people. He is currently developing a number of new opportunities in the environmental sector, with a particular emphasis on making environmental action more accessible.

Shane Solanki – contributor/distributor/carburettor/carbon-ara

Artist, writer, performer, producer and director, Shane’s first short film was commissioned by the BBC and directed by Peter Cattaneo. His first record was produced by Mercury Prize Winner Talvin Singh. He worked for years to forge the unique identity of independent record label Ninja Tune. We at Vivacity like to think of him as a grass roots detective, covertly operating under the pseudonym of the Last Mango in Paris; imagine him skulking around the world in a beige macintosh, recording and documenting our shift into a society where social responsibility and public creativity are norms.

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become a vivacity scout

As more and more of us live in urban areas, individuals and communities can feel overwhelmed and isolated by the sheer intense-city of it all.

However we at vivacity believe that human spirit and endeavor will overcome as it has done so many times before. That is why we are celebrating movements around the world that are changing and re-defining the way we interact with the city. We would like to hear from you about grassroots movements or activities that bring people together face to face and use cities in new ways. The more original and imaginative the better.

Please email us describing a movement you would like to see on vivacity using a maximum of 300 words. info@vivacity.me