Food is the best classroom there is.

From plot to playground, Incredible Edible brings learning to life.

The Learning plate is about reviving hands-on knowledge of food – where it comes from, how to grow it, how to cook it.

That knowledge belongs to everyone, and passing it on is one of the most practical things a community can do for itself.

WhY Learning matters

We have gradually lost touch with some of the most fundamental things – how food grows, what it looks like before it reaches the shops, and the skills needed to do something useful with a glut of rhubarb.

That knowledge still exists. It lives in older residents, people from rural communities around the world, experienced growers, and anyone who has ever kept a kitchen garden.

The learning plate is about bringing it back to the surface and sharing it as widely as possible.

What Learning action looks like

Learning doesn’t have to be formal. Here are some of the ways groups put the learning plate into practice:

Cook and share

Set up next to your plot or at the community centre and use your crops to demonstrate a quick, easy, healthy meal. Send people away with a new herb or a pot of chutney – and a reason to come back.

Listen and learn

Talk to knowledgeable residents about the lost arts of pickling, bottling, and preserving. Record their stories, make their recipes, and share the results with the wider community.

Bring the kids along

Take local children to your plot, show them the difference between a weed and a herb, let them get their hands dirty, and let them taste a fresh pea straight from the pod. They’ll go home with a story worth telling.

Swap skills

Know everything about seed propagation but nothing about social media? Bring people together to learn from each other over a cuppa or a plate of food. Sharing knowledge builds relationships as much as it builds skills.

Break bread together

Got a great recipe made from local produce? Talk to neighbours about simple shared meals or organising potlucks with produce from local gardens. Got leftovers? Drop them round to someone who’d appreciate a home-cooked meal and a chat.

The most valuable learning is from each other – whether it's how to use seasonal foods or which weeds to keep and which to remove, learning in community changes everything for the better.

Celia Williams

Conwy, Wales