A LUDLOW businessman wants the town to learn from what is going on in part of rural West Yorkshire.

Graeme Perks, a former town councillor and now social entrepreneur, has just returned from a factfinding visit to the market town of Todmorden in Calderdale.

He believes that the “Incredible, Edible Todmorden” project shows a way in which the Ludlow community can work together for the benefit of producers and consumers in the future.

The scheme involves businesses, school farms and the whole community in a kind of ‘dig for victory’ initiative that has not been seen since the Second World War, to boost the amount of food grown locally.

In Todmorden, community herb gardens and vegetable patches are growing up in public flower beds in the town centre. Even the grounds of its health centre have fruit trees and a new local cheese is selling well in the town’s market.

Mr Perks runs a social enterprise offering training in traditional crafts and skills with ‘profits’ reinvested in the community.

Details of Todmorden’s initiatives can be seen at incredible-edible-todmorden.

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