Stepney City Farm

Stepney City Farm is an unexpected place; a patchwork of fields, farm buildings, rural arts centre and cafe between stretches of post-war housing estates, new multi-storey developments of tiny flats and Victorian terraces. It is unexpected to find a working farm where chickens are raised in fields for eggs and meat, just metres from fried chicken shops selling factory-farmed meat to school children.  The Farm is a green haven in a grey part of central London; a place to visit, to grow food or to help feed the animals, to learn new skills, eat fresh, locally produced food or simply to breathe clean air and experience the changing seasons. It is also free and open to all. A farm has existed on the site since 1979, when local people decided to act together to make a community space from a neglected bomb site. Despite long periods with minimal funding and no staff, it has survived, and children who were brought to the Farm now bring their own children to this thriving social hub.