5 benefits to Living in a community

Living in a community demands that we reach out to people but in my experience that reaching out works both ways and provides an element of security.

When mentioning a life in a community it can be as intense as living as a member of the Amish Community in which the rules are set by each community such as no electricity, no cars, mobile phones etc to living in a particular place or joining an interest group online of like minded people.

In a time of economic downturn the equation between money and time shifts and my priorities in times of economic downturn shift too to spending more time investing in myself through reading, learning new skills and connecting with other people.

The 5 benefits of living in a community:

A sense of belonging

Many people feel isolated from the world by the fact they have no friends or relatives in their community. This can lead to loneliness and eventually depression. A community spirit can instil a sense of belonging in these individuals, they are no longer  alone, and they lead healthier, happier lives.

Security

Living in a community protects the individual from the harshness of having to do everything.(The “every man for himself” mentality. ) It can help a person who falls on hard times if they are in  a community to feel supported, rather than living a corporate lifestyle where a person is only as good as their latest contribution. Community living also means that most of the people know each other. A small town environment like that often means less crime and also less need for surveillance. Surveillance is a consequence of living amongst strangers.

The sharing of resources

Sharing resources can greatly reduce the cost of living. Many of the luxuries that people enjoy are not used 24/7, or even if they are used frequently, they can often be shared. The quality of items that can be afforded goes up while the cost goes down. You can live cheaper and better, and the only cost is being more social.

Resources can be shared through the LETS system and FREECYCLE groups.
The transition towns initiative are creating communities that prepare themselves for sustainability after peak oil.

Cooperation and Competition

It is natural for individuals to cooperate with each other. We are a tribal species. In fact, cooperation on an individual level is very beneficial, because generally each person is interested in and skilled at different tasks than their peers. As a result close knit groups of individuals whose skills and personalities complement each other can be particularly healthy, happy, and successful.

Employment and fulfillment

One of the greatest benefits of living in a community setting  is that it gives us the freedom to care for our lives, our wealth, and often both at the same time. There is no reason for the community to resent individuals for participating in a way that does not directly benefit the bottom line. We can work together as business partners who share equally in the burden of maintaining the community economically. The needs of a community are numerous, and the avenues of occupations that could benefit a community are likewise numerous. Using local skills and expertise can benefit the individual member economically but also forges networks of professional relationships who have a sense of place and local solutions.There are  many diverse ways in which an individual can contribute. By working within a  community each individuals skills and abilities can be applied in a unique way, and no person need feel like a cog.

And community living is not just something for the countryside, there are areas in large cities that create hubs of community, where a local cafe becomes a meeting place, a place to relax and cultivate the relationships that bind us together as human beings.

Sustainable wardrobe- Part 3- HEMP

A CASE FOR HEMP


Hemp is a fibre much like flax coming from the Cannabis family

Cannabis nowadays is mostly known for its element tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a narcotic substance found in about 10% Cannabis species .

Hemp was first cultivated around the Caspian Sea and can grow as far north as the Baltic Sea and it was used as a plant fiber for textiles and later  paper in China as early as 2700 B.C. Because of its connection to the narcotic element although not present in fiber hemp it is prohibited from cultivation in the USA and under severe restrictions in the EU.  Most hemp comes from China Fiber hemp, however, contains virtually no THC and usually comes from THC low strains of Cannabis sativa and not Cannabis indica plants. In 1883 US law banned all hemp production ostensibly because of its drug use but in truth cotton farmers lobbied against hemp farmers. Thinking of all the chemical elements present in cotton currently I see hemp as a viable alternative sustainable fabric for clothes.

Hemp is grown, harvested and processed much like flax. Hemp fabric is strong and durable though usually not as fine as linen. The word canvas derives from the Latin word cannapaceus (meaning:derived from hemp), and even in Roman times sails were made from hemp canvas.

Hemp is very environmental friendly since it requires almost no pesticides and no herbicides. It grows fast with a high yield. Hemp seed is used in food preparations, cosmetics and animal feeding. The straw is used as biodegradable animal bedding. Nowadays, hemp is mostly used for paper making and grows much faster than a tree as a sustainable resource.


A few facts about Hemp

• Used for ropes :The stalk grows over ten feet tall and has been used in the shipping industry for centuries.It provides a very strong, durable and rot resistant fiber..
• The short fibers of the stalk can be used in textiles as a replacement or blended with other fibers such as  cotton.
•  Hemp as similar fiber capacities as linen. It insulates the body against heat and keeps body
  warmth inside during colder spells. But it is more durable than linen or cotton.Hemp holds its shape and is very resistant to stretching.
• The more hemp fabric is used, worn, washed and ironed the better it wears the more
  comfortable it gets. Hemp wears in not out
•  It is resistant to mildew, mould and salt water.
•  It blocks UV-radiation effectively which means less fading of the fabric and effective protection of body in clothes against UV-radiation
•  Hemp-blends with silk, linen, wool and cotton prolong the life of the fabric while retaining its soft quality at the same time.
• The original Levi Strauss jeans were made from hemp canvas.

Hemp can be bought online in the UK here and there are a variety of products to choose from including hemp wool  and fiber to spin.( I can see I am getting carried away with possibilities).
Another source is The House of Hemp with more yarns and colours.

Making the summer top as my January project took a bit longer but time is not the issue here and it is still very cold.

Instant gratification- I want it all

The New Year brought such an impetus of things I wanted to do to simplify my life even further so I thought I would write out those resolutions and got a bit overwhelmed with all the changes I intended to make.

January was used to look at those and I chose the sustainable wardrobe as my major project and then there was the garden, locally sourced produce in season, work goals, health, relationship, financial, energy efficient goals etc. Knowing full well the energy to achieve all of those would exhaust me and make life less simple to begin with. Some of these goals warranted investigating.

• Why did I choose this goal
• Is it aligned with what I believe is important
• Am I willing to commit time to it and if so how much
• What are the consequences of this decision.
• Is it in line with my major life goals or a distraction?

Lets say your goal is to go and ski. Skiing happens at a certain moment when snow is available, so is time limited. This means travel and staying somewhere other than home. Requires a passport , special gear, toiletries and is going to make a dent in your budget. Now if its is in alignment with your authentic self( a need)  you will go and find a way and have the satisfaction you have achieved something important with meaning. If however you go because you need a break from the rat race or the impulse came from a glossy brochure or advert, you may feel very discontented at the outcome.

Despite wanting to live a simpler life a downshifting path to simplicity the inflow of information we get every day to flex those consumer muscles is so great that our brains get more hits for consumerism than to simplify life.

In my goal setting I found that although I thought I had mastered the skill of differentiating between what is an important task and what is a want in my buying habits, this had not followed through in my personal life. And the most important habit to break is that of instant gratification so deeply engrained sometimes we are not aware of it.

To reduce the impact of consumer messages we have a system to deal with the post, reducing the amount of junk mail, recycling the paper as the post comes in and ending up with  the important mail that requires a response.Those pieces of paper then get devided into home or business and get dealt with when I give the home or business folder allocated time and attention. It can wait.

If only it were as simple as the post. We are regularly receiving

•  post
• email messages
• twitter messages
• facebook messages 
•  pinterest
• adverts

and most of them incite us to buy something and influence our choices.

Every time you buy something in the high street or online, it triggers a marketing campaign sending you emails whenever your profile shows up as a potential customer. You get asked for your postcode and what number you live in and there you are added to a mailing list. Every time you buy something the messages enticing you to buy increase. Companies are fighting for your buying power especially in a challenged consumer environment as where most people are tightening their belts after the spending spree for Christmas or for fear of losing their job. I know its a controversial issue because at the heart of it, we are asked to consume to create and keep jobs.

To counteract that we simply physically stop shopping but then turn online for our shopping needs. The consequences of shopping online brings you boxes and materials to recycle as well as the item you ordered plus a daily amount of emails which thankfully are easier to unsubscribe from and delete virtually. Many a purchase asks you to set up an account which when you do means another password to remember and more email messages for account holders.( including special offers just for you)

A few years ago my son was waxing lyrical about the benefits of a certain washing powder, how it would fulfill my need etc. We are open to receiving these buying impulses and clever though they are they diminish our personal power to make decisions about what we need and want. Add to that the trigger of instant gratification, and we impulse buy because we want it, and we want it now.

This was brought home to me while testing a new organizational app called The Habit Factor which as it happens  accompanies a book , available tomorrow in hardback or instantly to a kindle and enabled me to list all my goals and then told me I could only concentrate on 3 of those goals. Three? The question I pondered this weekend was whose decision I follow when I want to achieve a goal, my own need or did the thought for that need originate as a marketing ploy?

Therein lies the differential and unhappiness between the goals our authentic self chooses and the ones we often pursue implanted by a clever marketing campaign.

Another app that brought me some insight was Astrid which enabled me to transfer those goals into steps I needed to take to achieve the goal and then allocated time in my schedule to do the tasks necessary.  Three goals are sufficient to fill a whole diary and both these tools have been instrumental in helping me choose my three most important goal allocated to the three most important roles. By the time I consider my health, family and work I have my three major areas of goal-setting.

I am not proud of the fact that I still want it and want it now as an impulse, knowing that consciously means I can set myself the task to wait, 24 hours, one week etc. A wishlist is a great tool as it gives me the instant gratification of acknowledging I want it now, but tomorrow I can delete the item knowing I really don't need it,

What drives your life?

Getting stuck in dirt

The amount of food you can grow in your garden will to some extent depend on the type of soil you have. The fertility of the soil can be improved and is the key to a healthy, thriving garden.

Some soil improvers :

• Compost all the kitchen scraps and garden clippings, animal manures , ( not dog and cat),paper towels, tissues and inside of toilet rolls, then dig the compost into the soil.
• Add seaweed from seaside foraging as well as other organic material that will break down the soil.
• Collect leaves at the side of the road in autumn.
• Check the amount of earthworms you have in your soil. Worms aerate the soil and turn organic material into compost. If low consider adding some to your compost bin to improve worm population.
• Set up a worm farm and harvest their castings and worm juice to use as a soil conditioner
• Use organic mulches on the soil surface to stop weeds competing with the productive plants and to reduce the need for watering.

Resources

what I put in the compostbin

composting101

wormcafe

composting worms

Reconnecting with nature

In Children of a Virtual world, ( Guardian, 3rd January 2010) carried photographs of our youthful generation all attached to technology, seemingly connected to eachother but disconnected from a living environment that nurtures us. Surprisingly easy to turn around according to Satish Kumar from Resurgence.




Nature indeed has the ability to draw us out of ourselves. As the country comes to a standstill because of snow it occurs to me that as adults we run inside our homes and our younger children cannot wait to enjoy and envelop themselves in the beauty, fun and sheer abundance of the beauty of a snow landscape. Lets join them and remember.

Vanishing bees

Microfinancing

To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.
Mohandas Gandhi

This is the reason I support Kiva. I get a tremendous sense of satisfaction that a small amount of money here, enables someone at the other end of the globe to start a business. Its creates a personal connection and when the money is repaid over time, I can take it back again or lend it out again. It amazes me what people on the other side of the world can do with a small donation and at the same time, it gives me an understanding that no matter how small our contribution here, it really has the potential to make a big difference to them. What the recipients can teach us however, is that their businesses are local, often they trade in circumstances hard for us to imagine and they are surrounded by community. Some of these businesses may not make a difference on a global scale as yet, but they enable us to reconnect with some aspect of ourselves that has been lost in last generations.

Here during the credit crunch our banks are having difficulty raising capital to loan to business and individuals. The difference with Kiva loans is that the recipients face a similar deal : the other options are that they get a loan from loan sharks that charge them over the odds just to survive and make a living. Ethically that is wrong. The other difference is that most people work very hard at their businesses, have realistic ambitions and repay their loans on time. That is something to be admired, in a business climate in the West that is often the opposite.

As an investment I feel that I will get a better value return on a loan to a Kiva recipient because it stimulates an economy at the other end of the globe, it gives me a personal connection and empathy. It also provides a feel good factor. I do not get the same from putting the $ 25 equivalent into my savings account. The interest paid by the loan compounds to enable me to loan more to more people.

The meatrix

The meatrix is a cartoon series based on the Matrix about factory farming of meat and dairy.

Having given up on meat, dairy, wheat, yeast and sugar this week I can say that it is possible to do. I have known for some time that changing to a vegetarian diet would have an impact not only on my health but also on our carbon footprint.

Here are the steps we have taken to get this far :

• Change from normal milk to organic milk.
• Check out alternatives (almond, rice, oat and soya milk)
• Explore other grains than wheat : oats, millet, rice, barley, spelt
• become aware and ask where your food comes from.
• Shop local for meat and poultry from sustainable farms you can visit
• Change from 7 meat meals per week down to 6, then 5,4, 3 until you have 1 meat meal per week.
• Go to the library to read up on recipes based on vegetarian cooking.
• have soup for lunch or a rice salad.
• Trust that your tastebuds will change.
• Grow salads and vegetables in your garden
• Grow herbs in your garden to season your food.
• Eat fruit 3 times per day to enable your body to get used to natural sugars instead of artificial ones.
• Eat seasonally and locally produced food.

This is not about going hungry. Until recently I was unaware that the food we ate was nutritionally deficient making our bodies want more and instant fixes of sugar as this is quickly absorbed into the body.

After a week, I can eat strawberries without sugar and cream, icecream or yoghurt and they taste of strawberries.

Fresh food requires no refrigeration, can be eaten straight from the garden and waste is reduced or composted easily.

Sample menu today :

oat cereal with fresh strawberries and rice milk
mid morning snack - banana and herbal tea
lunch - rice salad : rice, grated carrot, grated courgette, raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chopped herbs, olive oil and lemon juice, black pepper.
afternoon snack- apple and herbal tea
dinner: roasted vegetables on quinoa fussili
evening snack - herbal drink

A few months ago I would not have managed this but reducing consumption of meat and dairy is possible slowly. This is not an entirely local diet but in time further changes will be made.

Some good resources are :
Barbara Cousins - Cooking without made easy
Lizee McGraw - Energy on a plate

Winds of change

The cyclone in Burma has hit and killed thousands of people and yet in this quiet english village, life is going on as usual. Maybe we are getting immune to disaster messages and shrugging our shoulders because we cannot relate to such devastation. We can however notice that a temperature yesterday of 22 degrees C was out of the ordinary ( lovely but out of the ordinary).

To visually picture the devastation, the after cyclone picture gives an indication of the area covered.

Thousands of people in a hot country with no water and very few facilities. Add to that difficulties of aid getting through and the devastation cannot even be imagined.

I wonder when enough will be enough for people to realise that something is wrong here?

It feels sad, overwhelming and before we dismiss that feeling let us imagine what we can do today to alleviate the situation for the human beings caught up in this region and also which one of our actions is contributing to future events.

This is hard to look at , much easier to run away and ignore the news. Actioning aid is a good response.

Personally I am uncomfortable with the thought that if we continue living along the same lines, someone else on earth pays the price for that .........live simply so that others may simply live.

I stare at my bowl of brown rice with vegetables and I am thankful and saddened at the same time.

KIva sponsorship

Three months into our business venture has seen many changes and the least mentioned of all is the impact of the decisions with regards to money taken after reading Janine Bolon' s book upon which I commented in my post on time management.

Janine' s book enabled us to really look at how we are earning money and how we are using it in line with our values and beliefs. The first three months have seen us increasing the stock in the shop without taking much for a living but from this month we are sharing some capital in a different way.

I chose to give a loan via Kiva to sponsor a business in Nicaragua and you can see the impact of that by clicking on the item in the sidebar.

Gaia in the waitingroom

My work as a bereavement counsellor brings me in touch with many people who have difficulties coming to terms with the effects of the loss of a person they loved very much in their lives. My previous work experience lies in crisis management.

Imagine how we would feel if we received a visit from Gaia, turning up rather feverish, wondering what is going on, looking dazed, unsure about the diagnosis. The temperature is erratic, she has definite moodswings and no one seems to take these symptoms to heart. Some dismiss them as mental behaviour that has been exhibited before ( like a case of bad PMT) and because she is the caregiver, and fulfills many other's needs, hers are often overlooked. How would you respond to such a person in your home?

I reflect on this question after a hospital appointment with an unexpected outcome. My health has been precarious just like Gaia over the last few years, and we have symptoms in common which gives me an empathy angle on her scenario.

How do we generally react to bad news; many go in shock and then denial. Others become extremely angry, or think that if they can but keep busy, the pain will go away, the fear will go away too.

So it could be with Gaia and me; we can both sit there and exhibit more moodswings, with the difference that mine are not likely to be of seismic proportions. Mine will be insignificant compared to hers. She has a fever and her temperature gauge is not quite normal. My reaction to today's news is a sort of numbness which will be followed by action ( and the odd moodswing I am sure, accompanied with cries of its not fair). I bet she does that too. although her tempestuous outbursts are noticed more widely.

The solution in managing a crisis from my experience has been not to only look how the symptoms of the crisis can be reduced or made more comfortable but to look at the causes and look for a solution in another level of existence. To work with physical muscle weakness in one side of my body, I have engaged with the creative which involves other parts of my brain that have not been fried as well as using knitting as a mechanism that was automatic to enable loose brain connections to reconnect. This has had some success.

I will continue to work this way even though the news today seems to indicate that another circuit is under threat which may mean the loss of one or other function. Shock, ofcourse, then I want a second opinion and some idea about what can be done to minimise the effects of this breakdown. How does Gaia feel? The strain on some circuits as well as temperature rises are pushing her to her limits too. A second opinion is however useless, she tells me, they have already done that to oblivion. How will she tell the ones she loves that if they do nothing, she will not last and neither will they. I feel another pang of empathy and nod.

The next step will either involve mankind falling into deep depression and gloom and doom about global change while others have the potential to become fearful for the future.

That could be my response too : I could give up now, say so be it and watch as another brain circuit goes out of action. Or, I can acknowledge that it is happening, I can work with the transition it is trying to persuade me to go into. I hesitate, I want things to be the way they were and am still stamping about saying its not fair. Then follows a moment where I wonder what it is that I can do, am reminded of the words :

If you believe that one small living creature cannot make a difference, spend time with a mosquito in a small room.

I have empathy with Gaia, but am hopelessly unqualified to provide her with an instant fix. She knows that the resources she spent millenia saving and preparing are being used up much faster than she can cope with. There is a loss of function, some areas will change and become redundant; some circuits and functions will shut down. We can feel very sad about that and feel helpless. On the other hand we could look at the circuits and functions that are working well ( like how we can capture the energy from a moodswing) and how we can turn that into a positive. Lets be mosquitos and engage with creativity to find another outcome.

For me, a piece of chocolate seems the answer right now as well as a nice piece of music to delight my ears. That way my optical senses will have rest and may not fry as soon as scheduled.

There can be miracles by Leon Jackson

Changing the impossible

The impossible is defined as :

• not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with ; such as an impossible dream
• something that is totally unlikely
• something that cannot be done
• a term used to describe someone’s behaviour.

“The impossible - what nobody can do until somebody does”

If someone had told you 200 years ago that people would be flying around the world, visiting families at the other side of the world in 1 day you would have answered them that that is simply impossible.

If we challenge our thoughts that global warming needs to be engaged with and that the concept is impossible my reply usually agrees with the quote from St Francis of Assisi :

Start by doing what is necessary, then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

When faced with a challenge, a need for change and an outcome in your mind that seems impossible, the very thought of it has to create a response in the universe. There is a response and a choice : it does become possible but only if you make the choice to face whatever impossible challenges are in its pathway. That in itself is a choice.

Yesterday I attended my graduation ceremony. What at 25 seemed like it had passed me by when I was a young woman, with a small child has become possible at 47 with 4 children and a disability. The dream at age 40 to support children in achieving their potential, in all walks of life, in challenging circumstances seemed impossible when a virus changed my health and working with children endangered my immune system. The vision did not go away. The possibility of achieving that ambition seemed however impossible. You can imagine the rolling eyes of my husband when I uttered : You know, I know that I am in bed unable to move, but I have a place waiting at college and I am going to finish that degree. Unlikely, impossible were only words that others uttered. I myself had moments of sheer frustration lying in bed wondering how on earth I would get there. However, yesterday, sitting at the front together with my other disabled friend; ( and having posed together as the ‘ disabled students’), I felt tears in my eyes. I know it was only possible because I refused to believe that it was impossible. At moments where in sheer frustration I felt I would never achieve that essay, that deadline, that placement……..I received help, I received encouragement and support. I could not have done this without the support of my family, friends, the college and the fantastic peers on the course. A place where disability was aired, trashed, discussed and accepted in the end. By opening a conversation about it, by listening to their fears about disability, and voicing mine about vulnerability and frustration, they actually strengthened the resolve within me to achieve the impossible by accepting that I still am the person I am, outwardly changed but the same person with the same dreams within.

If today you are faced with redundancy, a health diagnosis, a family situation, a financial crisis and you think you are facing the impossible…….take a step back, assess your values and beliefs about the situation, check your dream and take one step forward. If you need help with that….ask someone who knows you well.

The same could be said about the challenge of global warming, of the difficulties we face with our climate on a worldwide scale; it seems impossible and my reply will be just the same as Pitbull Dog……just watch me!

Path to Freedom - Homegrown revolution

I have been following the Dervaes family's example for the past 3 years and here is their video explaining what they do, how they do it and how urban homesteads or small acreages can produce a large amount of food. ( 9 mins approx).

Innovative ideas

This post connects to yesterday's post about engaging with the negative and is an example of how Shidulai in Bangladesh has looked at the equation of global warming, what the difficulties are likely to be in the future through flooding and what can be done now to prepare and to engage with the situation instead of accepting that this is the way it is and that change is not possible.

If you watch the video by Green TV to the end, the last words provide the same sentiment as those I voiced yesterday, just in a different situation.

What Shidulai realized is that the rivers are not barriers to communication but can become channels of communication. In the same way Global warming is not just a negative that leads to extinction, if we engage with it we can harness the resources presented to ensure survival.

Tomorrow' s post will explore the changes in attitude that a business can implement to effect solutions and include the proposals within our business plan to test these out on a small scale.

The answers are out there if we engage with them.

On a serious note

Just when you think that the subject might become serious and you are about to get depressed....then this comes in. Enjoy.
Serious message but you get to have a laugh too......

Check out this video: Grocery Store Wars



Add to My Profile | More Videos

We still have not exchanged contracts on our sale and purchase and am feeling the pressure in limbo. Maybe today.

Taxing waste

Plastic Bag Floats in the Shallows of the Yangtze River


Disposing of waste is likely to increase living costs.

The government have given the go ahead to do a pilot scheme in a number of local councils to test whether charging consumers for the amount of waste they produce is feasible.
I know it will be unpopular for various reasons :

• waste collection is meant to be part of the charge paid by residents to their local council so charging extra for collection of waste will be seen as an extra tax.
• As long as companies continue to wrap cauliflowers and sell things in large boxes, in plastic tubs etc, there appears to be little progress possible.
• Some councils offer residents up to 4 bins to recycle in (how practical is that when you are older?)

Against that is the fact that people could do with incentives to recycle more and yet penalties seem to be the only tactic that is being put forward. The reason for this is that the UK will face a penalty of £ 180 million a year. ( If we have 60 million people in the UK that would be £ 3 per head). Compare that to a suggested charge of £ 50 per household?

It comes as MPs warn the UK could face fines of up to £180m a year from the European Commission if it does not cut the amount of waste dumped in landfill.( BBC news article)

The question begging to be answered is as to why, as consumer,we are asked to pay a price for the waste being given to us by the producer and why producers are not paying too? Surely, a consultation about how to package things and finding routes to recycle packaging would bear some innovative results. How about each company figuring out what the cost was of recycling the material and putting the actual cost of packaging to the consumer in their bin on the product? We have food labels, why not waste labels with clearer instructions. Why if we have Value Added Tax, can they not tax producers a waste tax instead of asking the consumer? This surely would mean that companies would bear a responsibility and if they as a result have to put the price up? I guess it is probably a lot more complicated than a logical answer.

As consumers we are meant to have the choice.....but in reality do we?
The responsability for the huge waste produced is a shared one surely; a shared responsibility by the producer and consumer?

An example of producers taking environmentally concerns seriously in respect of packaging are Wigglywigglers ; their catalogue was distributed without plastic cover, and is completely recyclable. It therefore shows that it is possible to emulate this practice in other areas.

We may soon need to ask ourselves more questions :

• Where does this product come from?
• What methods of packaging are used?
• Is it recyclable or will it cost me to dispose of the item and the packaging?
• Do I really want it?

( Think not only monetary value, but the time it will take you to dispose of it.Example, if my hourly rate is £ 10.00 and it takes me 15 mins to dispose of this by recycling, the cost to me will be £ 2.50. If I cannot be bothered to do that, and stuff it in the waste collection, it may cost me X as a penalty).



Shopping locally, with a basket seems suddenly even more attractive. Think about this before you set off to do your Christmas shopping this year.

Local Food Shop

Farmers Market

Shopping locally online is about to become a reality in the UK thanks to LocalFoodShop.

Farmers markets work as well as websites to enable the consumer to find you but require an awful lot of inconvenience and social media knowhow : as a consumer you need to know where they are, when they are at the market and thus falling into your usual shopping patterns is far too easy.

What does LocalFoodShop do?

As a consumer you can put in your postcode details and it will bring up participating foodproducers in your area with links to their website. This means that you can go and check them out if you want to with the ability to order online from them. Good, local food delivered to your door at the click of a button.

What does it do for farmers and food producers?

It enables them through social media to turn virtual consumers into real ones, without having to meet them. It means that local producers can make customers aware of what is available, in season and the true cost. The actual cost of registering as a producer and having real e- commerce possibilities is surprisingly low cost.

I have no experience with this service but will give it a go. It makes the prospect of reducing my diet to 100 miles radius a reality. It also meets with my personal values of supporting locally produced food, growing our own and putting money back into the local community.

Producers and consumers alike, go and check it out.

From a downshifting point of view, the handy distance calculator will also give you an indication as to how far your food travels, i.e. 6 miles is my nearest food producer. You also get to know what your area is rich in producing.

All this without having to leave your home? That scores highly on my list. Now how about spreading the word to your favourite food producer; currently word of mouth is still the best way to spread the message. I am of to get some cheese.

tulips

Purple Tulips

The indications are that by 2015 small businesses will have ceased to exist as we know them, that large supermarkets and corporations will have the upper hand. We are at a turning point. Do we engage with the picture that evolves or do we continue along the path feeling powerless and watch as choices diminish. Personally we are about to take a leap of faith......and swim up the creek against the trend.

We plan our lives according to a dream that came to us in our childhood, and we find that life alters our plans. And yet, at the end, from a rare height, we also see that our dream was our fate. It’s just that providence had other ideas as to how we would get there. Destiny plans a different route, or turns the dream around, as if it were a riddle, and fulfills the dream in ways we couldn’t have expected.” ~ Ben Okri

So this weekend, I have cleared the polytunnel of its last tomatoes, the boys planted out a full border of lupins that will greet others in the spring and potted up some plants that have meaning and that I want to take with me to the smaller garden.

Autumn is a season that enables us to shed our leaves as trees and to plant seeds and bulbs that will bring us hope in springtime with the promise of renewal and the newness of life. Its a time when nature shuts the door on warmth, we all retreat to our safe homes or nests and snuggle down either to slumber for winter not to wake up until spring, or to face the cold weather. Its a time to look at what has gone well, what has not gone so well and what we hope to start with next year.

Celebrate.........all your achievements....... and plant seeds for spring. My favourites are sweetpeas and tulips.

It is time.......for change. We are getting ready to exchange contracts on our sale and purchase and are feeling a little scared at the thought of leaving a cosy existence and leap into a new venture. Will we survive? Probably but to what degree will it be successful. To answer that question you must figure out what success means to you and that answer will be different for all of us.

Our world is about to become very local and we will be sharing the realities of that existence with you as we go along. Next week we plan a last trip to purchase essentials, do some more market research and by the end of November we hope to have settled ready for the next chapter.

Farmers - an endangered species

It continues to be in my awareness and there have been some excellent contributions from Farmer Phil, Podchef and Heather in the comments section, please go and read them.

Heather in particular offers the following suggestions :

Heather's draft guide for cheering up farming:
1: Think about the food you are eating - not just the posh restaurant meal on the weekend but the cake in Starbucks and the food in your freezer. Check out the yogurt in your fridge and where its practical start to source it locally and sustainably from farmers.
2: When you do use a supermarket - try to use Waitrose - they are the best at sourcing local sustainable produce from Farmers in LEAF.
3: Blog about it all, blog blog blog. Phone up the Wiggly Podcast and leave a message of support - or a rant 00441981 500930. We'll play it to the world. Come on the show - email me heather@wigglywigglers.co.uk, get involved with this www.heathergorringe.com
4: Ask a farmer to come and speak at your school or organise a farm visit. Check out the Year of Food and Farming
5: Get informed - it was the government research place that spread Foot and Mouth and other European countries have Blue Tongue and they dont shut down massive areas of farmland!
6: Grow things of your own (I know a really good mail order company that sells farm produced hedging, veggie seeds - birdfood all sorts...!)
There's a start anyway.

It is going to be mighty inconvenient to do this.........most people are going to say that they are too busy, not enough time= not enough money, what is the cost going to be?

If you grow fruit and vegetables in your garden you know how much work it takes and also the pleasure you have from eating something that is fresh, local and hopefully as organic as possible.

DH is in the process of starting a business venture in our local community but just like farmers, it seems to take ages because we need to have this and that certificate, go on this and that course and comply with this and that legislation. There is in principle nothing wrong with protecting the consumer but even at this level I keep asking myself, should we bother. Every course, every certificate gains you what exactly? I am not knocking it, it just seems that every step involves us paying a fee to an agency to put a stamp on what is mostly common sense. I guess it is the same with farmers.

The Uk has some of the most fantastic countryside, sheep eating the grass in the hills act as stewards to the countryside too, without them, land could go to what exactly?

What you can do easily to get an idea of a farmer's life :
Listen to Farming Today to get a flavour of what is happening and how real the situation is.
Go and source local ingredients and cook with what is in season.
Check out the Farming Help Appeal 2007 site for details.

Most of all, engage with what is happening and whatever level you can.

The farmer- an endangered species?

Hill Top Farm

The farmers need to know that they are valued. The story about the sheep being culled and low prices for crops is likely to pass many by and yet it is an indication that things are not right.I am very fond of my food and interested in where it comes from, add to that a passion about fibre and sheep, living in the countryside and I am at a loss to grasp what is going on and how we can help the situation.

A lot of DH's friends have tried to make a living as farmers and a large proportion have either retrained in other trades ( plumbers) or their marriages have broken up due to financial pressures. Statistically too, I understand that the suicide rate amongst farmers is higher than average.

I grew up in a city, with a lot of concrete and parks and yet was unaware that milk came from cows. We did have independent shops in which you could purchase food of which you could trace its origin, local food prevailed and there was a pride in farmers. My childhood holidays were spent on a dairy farm in Germany where I loved helping out , sitting on the tractor and learning about what grew where. Over the years we have seen small shops disappear and supermarkets take their place for our convenience.

2 years ago, the WI campaigned to raise awareness of the price difference between the price paid in the shops and the price paid to the farmer. This was followed by a marked exodus of dairy farmers, as I understand mostly those who rented farms and were faced with higher interest payments against lower income. Farmer's wives went out to work to earn extra money and many farmer's families live a poor existence. Others may look rich in land that gets sold off to produce more housing estates. Gradually, the land that produces food and sustains us is changing.

Again, does it matter?

Not if you want to continue shopping in supermarkets, if you want to depend on other countries supplying our resources and not it you are comfortable with what is going on.
Personallly I have found it inconvenient to stop shopping in supermarkets and to search out local suppliers, farmers markets and to change my eating habits to a more local scene and yet, at this harvest time when we are thankful for the harvest and for a variety of reasons, tins of baked beans and tomatoes are brought up as thanksgiving offerings, I shudder somewhere.........

A very sad picture emerges in my mind of hens in cages waiting for their food to be be dropped in, so they can lay an egg in cramped conditions...what is the difference between them and us? How long before we are in small cages, go out to work to earn money to provide our basic foods because they are imported from far away?

At harvest time, go out and seek out a farmer, wave to him when he is on his tractor, buy him a drink in your local pub, make a point of telling him/her that you appreciate what he is doing. Ask questions, find out what is happening in his world. Winter is a long time, a lean time this year for many farmers in isolation, if we cannot change the immediate picture, let us at least reach out and show them we care about them and the work they do.