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British Waterways is working with Capital Growth experts to identify a range of suitable spaces for growing food, including land alongside canals and turning retired workboats into floating vegetable plots.

The first will be a stretch of land along the Hertford Union Canal in Hackney Wick. This area will be planted and tended by Growing Concerns, a community-based gardening and landscaping team dedicated to improving the environment for those living and working in London's East End. The land will be used to develop a community composting scheme and food planting plot.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said:
"I am thrilled that British Waterways has signed up to Capital Growth. Using currently underused stretches of land along London's canals and even the boats on them, to grow fruit and veg will not only provide local communities with top notch healthy grub but also help make our waterways even more vibrant, exciting and colourful places to enjoy."

Rosie Boycott, added:
"The response we have had to Capital Growth has been really amazing. We are now working with a wide range of groups and organisations who are enthused by the prospect of growing their own in London to the benefit of our local communities."

British Waterways' Chairman, Tony Hales said:
"British Waterways is very excited to be part of the Capital Growth project. The 100-miles of canals and rivers we care for in London provide a green corridor through the city, offering an escape from the hustle and bustle of the streets.  We are working with Capital Growth to identify any suitable pockets of land along London's waterways that we or others might not be using, and matching them up with local groups and schools looking to grow their own food.

"We are also looking into more creative options, such as giving a new lease of life to some of our retired workboats, saving them from the breaker's yard and converting them into floating vegetable gardens, moveable feasts that could provide growing opportunities in even the most built-up of areas.

"If these schemes are successful then there is no reason why we couldn't repeat them elsewhere in the UK along the 2,000 miles of canals and rivers in our care as part of a wider initiative to encourage communities to make greater use of their waterways. Our network already attracts 11 million visitors each year and hopefully this scheme will encourage even more people to get a taste for the canals."

A total of 14 groups have now signed up to the Capital Growth pilot scheme to date, which was launched by the Mayor and Rosie Boycott in November 2008. The Capital Growth team hope to announce more participants in coming weeks.

Boosting the amount of locally grown food in London makes economic sense at a time of rising food prices, and it also has a range of health and environmental benefits, such as improving access to nutritious food in urban areas and helping to increase flood protection. There is rising interest in self-grown food and inner London boroughs have waiting lists for allotments that can be decades long.