Exciting - move with me

Exciting yes, scary too as I try to transfer the contents of this blog to its new home. I am assured it is likely to go seamlessly but then again, it might not.

Changing the blog might bring you a list of latest posts in your inbox as a subscriber and I apologise if it does not go to plan.

Lets be bold and surprised at the same time.

Thanks for your patience.

I posted on barefootabundance. com today about how to free yourself from junkmail in 5 clicks.

Blog Housekeeping

Dear Reader

Even blogs can get cluttered and I am currently doing a little housecleaning here and there, packing up a few boxes before I move to a new website home, where getting the information contained will be easier to access and action.

As with everything this may go smoothly or be very bumpy, so bear with me and I will write you an update of when I can show you around.

I am working hard at learning codes and templates and it is likely to take me a week or so before I can master new skills.

10 ways to downshift sugar consumption

Jamie Oliver, winner of the 2010 TED prize gives a compelling argument and visual reminders of how sugar consumption has contributed to the deterioration of health in both children and adults.

Every child should be taught to cook in school, not just talk about nutrition all day. Good food can be made in 15 minutes. This could be the first generation where the kids teach the parents.” – Jamie Oliver

Limiting consumption of fizzy drinks can initially feel like depriving your child  but a gradual reduction and change from artificial sugar to nil sugar via natural sugars can cause gradual change. Taste buds will adjust rapidly.

The following steps work towards a gradual reduction of artificial sugars and an increase of real fruit consumption and knowledge.

1.   Change from high energy drinks to fizzy drink without the added zing

2.   Change the fizzy pop to 50% sparkling water/ 50% fruit juice

3.   Reduce fruit juice element to 25%

4.   Change fizzy water to still water

5.   Introduce fresh fruit smoothie 50% /50% water

6.   Fruit smoothie 25%/ Water 50%

7.   Alternate 100% water when thirsty to mixture of smoothie and water  mid morning and
      mid afternoon.

8.   Provide fresh smoothie ingredients( banana, orange, apples, kiwi) on a plate and offer
      with water to drink.

9.   Provide fresh fruit and water to be taken when needed

10.   Introduce physical exercise such as a walk or a bike ride to balance sugar levels. Pack a drink of
       water and a piece of fruit and stop at a lovely location to savour. ( This last step ties in a need for
       refreshment after exercise with a solution of fresh fruit and water and sets an example for
       everyday.)

Then, you can introduce vegetables into juices starting with a combination of carrots and apples.

Often, our sugar levels drop due to a lack of hydration and when we feel a sugar craving it may simply be that we are thirsty.

Jamie's speech is a good 28 mins long but makes a compelling argument

The power of a question

Every child goes through a phase where they ask their parents and everyone else the most important question; WHY?

How would you react if your child asked the question : Why is it getting bad for every living thing on the earth? Why Global warming? How did it get this bad? What exactly are we going to do about it?

And not every parent takes the question on board and turns it around by asking : and what are you prepared to give up?

How would it feel to downshift by living on half of what you own?

The story of how one family's daughter challenged her parents on social injustice and as a result followed through by selling their house, downshifting and giving the proceeds to charity to make a difference. How would you react if your child asked the question : So, how did it get that bad with the planet? This Global warming, what exactly are we going to do about it. What happens if we challenge teenagers and ask them : What are you prepared to give up?

Not an easy question to respond to.

The Power of Half


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Paul Stamets on 6 ways mushrooms can save the world | Video on TED.com

Paul Stamets on 6 ways mushrooms can save the world | Video on TED.com


Solutions are available in nature, can we harness them and reconnect with the possibility. If you watch
it to the end, Paul Stamets has some interesting patented concepts in his 17 min talk.

believe

Believe In Yourself

The news has been dismal this week in the newspapers and if it is to be believed we should be hurtling into a recession at great speed. Hopefully you are still strapped in the rollercoaster and hanging on. I sense that the only way now is to ride it out however horrible the landscape is we are passing. Life from now on is going to be different. We have not been in this situation before and an alignment and adjustment is taking place.

Logically the news should mean that everyone wants to stop purchasing anything that is not a luxury and batten down the hatches. Some however will be panic buying. If you are a saver, the returns on your money are very low and if that is your source of income then things will get tight. If you worked in financial services, call centres and any other service orientated line of work, you may face redundancy and with that difficulty living and honouring any commitments you have. Many people live one paycheck away from disaster. It can be a situation where we all feel powerless, helpless and in shock. How did it get to this?

The response of our government is to drop interest rates, rescue the banking system and borrow more. We might otherwise be heading for a deadlock.

There is no doubt that we are heading into difficult waters and the situation will be unique to every one of us, depending on how old you are, what your commitments are, your skills etc.

5 years ago I was enjoying a job I liked very much and became ill. As the main breadwinner my panic button was pushed. My husband had been the one staying at home and on the 21st December I was sitting in the unemployment office having to prove that I had been let go from my job due to ill health. ( A project cannot be managed by a sick manager, not when it involved people in crisis)I was told that I would not be getting anything for a while. I felt lousy, could hardly walk and wondered how it had come to this. I felt I had failed and was being failed. I felt I had done my best and all I wanted to do was go hide, sleep or worse.

What has struck me about humanity is that we have the ability to unite and perform miracles together whereas individually the task may seem too great. As this is a crisis which faces the whole of humanity on a global scale and we are beginning to realise that what we do here has an effect somewhere it is conceivable that whatever effort we make to reduce our consumption, voluntarily or not will have an impact somewhere in the universe.

We can look at what we cannot do, at what has gone, grieve for a time that has passed and then we need to keep our heads high and pick up where we are now.

My job was dealing with people in a crisis and when I found myself in one I looked on from the outside and wondered how I could use the skills I had used professionally to make a way through.

Here are some olive branches :

Remind yourself that you are alive, very much alive and that at this moment you have all you need. Get up each day, face the sun and look around.

Gather your family and friends around you if you can and check that everyone is OK. Reassure the people around you that you can work together to find a solution. Listen to all options and make decisions. It is inaction that increases our fear; be flexible and reassess the situation each day.

Promise yourself to get up each day and face what happens in the moment.

Do not panic as fear can make things look like a nightmare.

Every day you will need water, food, shelter and warmth - plan with what you have.

Find out the resources you have available and make the most of what you have.
Let go of some possessions.

There will be people with money and no time that now find themselves at the other end of the spectrum, time and no money. Invest in your health and your relationships.

Gather your strength, work out what is possible and believe that you can achieve the impossible with the help of your friends, family, community, country and the rest of the world. Believe that you have the skills to bring you through. Let go of the expected and expect the unexpected.

Stand tall and smile. There is everything to live for and there is time to reconnect.

Really look around you, take it all in and then breathe, breathe, breathe and look ahead and reach out.
Let go and forgive.

Music is empowering to me and Mariah Carey's song has some great words to go by.

Converting rubbish to pay for honeymoon

Todays' article brought a smile to my face when I read that John and Ann Till, from Petersfield, in Hampshire, took thousands of cans and bottles to a recycling centre at a nearby Tesco supermarket.
For every four recycled items, they earned a reward point which was then converted into BA air miles.
They amassed 36,000 miles, which they used to fly back in business class from their US honeymoon.
A splendid effort.

Downshifting revisited - the tipping point

Words to Live By: Believe

January and September generally are months in which I reflect on the directions we take and look back on what has happened.

The economic climate at the moment is a difficult one, almost like a house of cards tumbling down. As an individual there is very little I can do about that apart from watching in the sidelines and staying strapped in on the roller coaster of events. If you have recently been made redundant remember it is not personal, do not feel a victim but use it as an opportunity to change track.

What follows are some of the principles that guide my decisions:

1. Stop buying - it sounds almost too easy but one of the major changes in this household has been to establish what our buying patterns are, why we buy, what we buy and how we can simplify that scenario. Example, I had a fetish about black trousers. 15 pairs were in the cupboard and at the same time I would still go and buy more. I had no idea I was doing that but I now own 3 pairs and rotate them. When one wears out I can buy another one. No impulse buying. Buying also does not mean new, it could be freecycled, second hand, eBay and new as a last resort if all other options fail. This action means you don’t need to earn as much, to buy as much, instead you can focus on living. Before you buy anything check whether it is in line with your downshifting goals and values.

2. Figure out what you can do now - can you develop your garden, declutter and sell stuff on eBay, get an allotment, can you afford to work less than 5 days a week, can you explore the library, start cycling, or learn a new skill? Look at what you have, what you need and address the balance.

3. Change what & how you eat - start supporting local markets and farmers. Better nutrition leads to less dependency on sugar and quick fixes to keep energy levels stable. If you visit the library you can read up on the subject and make changes. A food diary helps to establish why and what you eat. Our motto in the village shop is to encourage local producers and sell as much as we can that is locally produced in the county.

4. Change how you travel - can you reduce the amount of time you spend in the car? Check out alternatives : walk, cycle, share transport, get a bus, or more drastically check why you are travelling in the first place.Live locally and explore what is happening within 5 miles from your home, or whatever distance you can cover on foot or bike.

5. Imagine what people did 20 years ago and try to bring in some of those same activities and ways of living into your home. Write letters, visit people in person, join the library, go for walks in the park, grow your own vegetables and fruit or help someone who has a large garden and share the produce, play cards, play board games, read books, knit, sew and learn skills from others, have a social drink at your local pub and get acquainted with the your neighbours.

6. Look at what you need and redefine what you want. Create a plan of where you want to be to enable you to reach your downshifting goal. Some people are lucky, they bought when the market was lower and have enough value in their home to downshift significantly within a short period of time. If that is not the case for you or not possible in the economic climate, redefine what space you need, how much it will cost and whether you need to change location to make it happen. There are huge price differences within the UK with regards of property prices, rentals, jobs etc. If that applies to you ;do your sums, what do you need, how long will it take?Maybe share your space with others and create an income that way. Share resources.

7. Think about what you want to do when you downshift and learn how to do it now. Do you want to be a self sufficient smallholder, then volunteer at a farm, even a city one. Start gardening, using any spare time you have to invest in yourself and the skills you may need in the future. Do you want to make all your presents and gifts? Then start with what you can do and sign up for a class if you need to; you will meet other people and share enthusiasm and skills. Many classes are subsidised.

8. Don’t try to change too much too soon. Take one step at a time, the small impact leads to other more natural steps. There are people who moved jobs, countries etc in a very short period and found it very hard. Try to downshift at home, where you are now and explore possibilities. It took 2 years for us to realise that there was no need to burden ourselves financially, that we could live in a different way and then made plans to make that happen.

9. Do what you need to do while in the city or while in your country while you can. It may not all be immediately possible but you can take charge or your home, your health, your well being. your nutrition and live differently.

10. Downshifting can be more that just moving. It is about personal growth, changes within you, a change of direction, a change in what you thought you were doing and what ultimately what you want to do in line with your values and expectations. It is about changing yourself so that the changes you make can be reflected in the world we live in. If you stop buying factory produced chickens then ultimately, they will produce less and look at alternatives. The reason currently banks are collapsing is because they shared the belief that property prices would rise eternally and that the risks of lending to people who could not afford it would give them a win win situation. The people would be paying over the odds and then when the house was repossessed, the banks would cash in. It was about profit.

This is the real tipping point, we have been downshifting voluntarily and now need to share what we have learnt with those who face it head on as they are forced to deal with the crisis heading their way.

Believe that it is possible and you will find crumbs on your path to show you the way.

Rudyard Kipling - IF

Cover of Kipling's Histoires Comme Ca by Rudyard Kipling

IF


If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

Tainted sweets

Miao Baby Wearing Traditional Hat, China

Tampering with natural foods is again making headline news with melamine being found in sweets and baby milk in China. This has resulted so far this week in 13,000 babies being ill and some deaths.

Is it possible that food production and the manipulation of food is making us ill, not only polluting the earth but polluting our bodies and creating diseases?

Melamine is used in making plastics and is high in nitrogen, which makes products appear to have a higher protein content.

Health experts say that ingesting small amounts does no harm but sustained use can cause kidney stones and renal failure, especially among the young. ( BBC)

Over the past few months we have changed food intake to local, organic and sourced resources. This has made a great difference to the way we feel. It is clear to me that the foods that are very popular and where demand outstrips supply leaves an opening of exploitation. Profit then comes first putting people and the planet at risk.

Can we change anything about this.....as consumers the choices we make influence the buying power of shops.

The rollercoaster ride continues. How many more babies need to die before we see the bigger picture?

From little acorns....

Collaborate

In the long history of humankind, those who have learnt to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed. Charles Darwin.

The financial markets are in turmoil at the moment. We knew Monday brought bad news as both the Times and Telegraph failed to arrive with the 6 am delivery. This usually means that breaking news has to be rescheduled and the papers reprinted before delivery. At 8 am the newspapers hit the stand with the news about Lehmans bank filing for insolvency.

Unless you are directly employed by the companies involved, the shock of the news is likely to abate just as much as a pebble being thrown in a pond. However, the ripple effect works outwards and as the shock impacts on the stock market, investments may be affected as well as mortgage rates in the next few months. With basics going up, investments rocking badly, and confidence shaky, its time to fasten your seat belt.

We have noticed changes in the shop too. People are using coins more, drawing more cash in hand from the cash machine and very reluctant to part with a £ 20 note. Children are emptying piggy banks and the town centres are showing shops for sale, to let and a less than healthy footfall.

Internet shoppers are sending their wares back to the companies and generally cutting back.

There appears to be a need to prune back, sometimes severely back to basics so that a new framework can emerge. Sometimes, underneath severely pruned bushes, a tiny plant lies dormant, starved of sunlight and warmth awaiting its time .When the conditions are right, it will grow upwards and bloom.

White you fasten your seat belt and you ride the roller coaster ride at the moment, while branches crash down and substantial pruning takes place, look for the acorn which in time will create another strong oak. All is not lost and we can start again.....

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.

Some welcome wiggly news....

What a fantastic moral boost after the budget post to receive the new Wiggly Wigglers catalogue today in the post entitled ' a fork full of country', the first social media catalogue of the century.

OK, hands up, I am talking about it not only because I love what Wiggly Wigglers stand for, the people behind it and the products it holds, and the authentic way they do business but because ( pss I am in it as a Wiggly Person'). I got soo excited when it came through the door , carried in by our local postman. I was busy delving into the stockroom but yelled. Roger came out to see what was the matter fearing I had fallen over ( that happens regularly when my brain has a funny moment), but no, he was not reassured seeing my smile, my genuine excitement at what was in the catalogue. ( I do not get excited about catalogues in the post on a regular basis but this one has been the longest time awaiting a historic event since I was pregnant and waiting for the delivery of a small bundle of joy.)

So, we opened it, I got a rush of the blushes and went suddenly shy. Roger read it and then could not stop telling people ' ask her about Wiggly Wigglers! with a smirk on his face! So now, there is a rush in the shop of people asking to see the catalogue, read it, and hopefully by word of mouth we will spread some good news, some news that will tickle the farmer in you and allow us to throw some wellies in celebration.

What could be so different about the catalogue :

The new mail order catalogue ' A forkful of country' due on doorsteps in March, was built with contributions from customers and friends around the world using social media. Building on their base of composting and wildlife gardening products, Heather Gorringe ( a Nuffield Scholar) and her team wanted to broaden their reach in terms of products and customers. Not content with traditional market research, Heather turned to Social Media to engage customers and others she met on her study and speaking tours around the world. Many of the ideas for new products and much of the content was built using a wiki ( i.e. server software used to freely create and edit web content using any web browser). Anyone with a password would have their say from Australia to the States to deepest South Wales. The resulting array of products includes everything from the traditional, sturdy garden spades, instant vegetable gardens, eco cleaning products, herb based lotions to chicken houses and peg bags. The new catalogue is presented in a scrap-book style, packed full of clippings, quotes, family snaps as well as the more traditional professional photography and product descriptions. You finish reading and you want a piece of this thing called Wiggly Wigglers. Businesses struggling with the concept of an authentic voice need to take a leaf out of this groundbreaking catalogue.

Here is the difficult bit though, I guess the server will be inundated with requests so if you cannot wiggle one online, you may have to give them a call by phoning 01981 500391. I promise you, you will not be disappointed. Its fully recyclable when you have read it, but I would say, reuse it again and again, share it with others and keep it on the bookshelf. It will be a collectors item.

With a new spring in my step, a smile on my face and inspired by Wiggly Wigglers, I am putting the wellies on. I am off to the garden to make my dream become a reality. With a little help from my wiggly friends......Be inspired, be very inspired......

Oh and pass it on please......

The budget

The Tax Collector

The chancellor states with punitive measures that if we do not reduce our carbon emissions on a voluntary basis we will be made to do it.

The axe falls again on usual items such as alcohol, cigarettes and fuel.Cars that use a larger proportion of fuel will have a larger road tax to pay too. Higher fuel prices will mean higher costs to commute to work, higher costs for public transport and higher costs for food deliveries.

There will be a higher Climate Change Levy ( CCL) on utility bills, which you can avoid only if you opt for renewable energy. Currently the charge is 0.441p per KWH. Residential customers do not pay this as yet, but I am certain that it will come before long.

If you consider flying, you will be charged a green tax in the future to dissuade you from doing so.

All this at the same time as continuing with Nuclear power stations that are coal based??? as well as expansion plans for Heathrow Airport? The two messages seem in direct contrast to each other.

There are some people who say that social media, paying and shopping for everything online will do away with the need to travel at all. This century though families have been split apart across the country and continents and as a result visiting family will become more and more expensive too.

If you have a car and it becomes too expensive to run, there may feasibly be a moment where a car will have no value because no one apart from affluent people will be able to buy one. The idea behind higher fuel prices is that you will choose a greener car; what impact does changing your car have?
In my hypothetical world then, rising prices will mean a downturn on the economy as people will have less money to spend on luxuries. This may induce a recession. This may well have a worldwide effect , as countries who produce our luxury goods such as China lose orders. At the same time manufacturing industries in the UK are far and few between.

If your mechanism is to get away from it all and fly to warmer climates, you will be penalised. The credit crunch might well mean that your credit card stops you buying anything at all. You might want to drown your sorrows with a glass of wine which will cost you more too.You may feel trapped.

The message the budget brings along for me is that the government will persuade you to make different choices by introducing taxes on everything that in any way endangers their pathway towards a 60% reduction in 2050. By the way that figure has just been increased to 80%.

Is this achievable in another way? I know how I react when I am told to go on a diet and how my sons react when you tell them they cannot do something. The reaction you very often get is exactly the opposite. What is missing here is a positive engagement with climate change instead of punitive measures. At the same time, I understand why the Government is taking these measures it is just the way they are delivered that could be improved.

Being aware of climate change and taking control yourself in how to manage your carbon emissions is likely to feel more empowering than being told what to do. Guess the message given by our country is, if you don’t make different choices, we will force you too. This is not likely to work unless they model the same thing: by investing long term in renewable energy sources and stopping expansion of airports. The same situation as if a parent smoker would say to his child; stop smoking its bad for you whilst smoking when delivering the message. It still sounds like ‘ don’t do as I do, do as I say’ I am not sure that has ever brought out the best in people.

Engaging with climate change demands that we take stock and reduce our emissions. Indications are that these continue to rise despite best efforts. Punitive measures are one response; the other would be to encourage good measures. Those who actively reduce their emissions could be offered incentives. Why not reward good behaviour instead of punishing bad behaviour Maybe we have passed that line....

Energy saving day

Nothing to Dream

Sadly. the information about eday must have been really well hidden as human beings with an interest in saving energy may have wanted to know about it. The principle is an excellent one yet with sad results so far.

So what is eday?

The bishop of Liverpool has urged people to give up a light bulb and turn off lights as an act of giving up something for lent. Usually people will choose chocolate or something else they feel they cannot usually do without. Giving up something is hard as any dieter will know and can put us in rebelling mode. Just like children stamp their feet when you take their favourite toy away, so too will we stamp our feet at giving up light, energy and peak oil.

On a personal level, I can observe changes in the conversations of my children. They are acutely aware of the situation. My oldest son had homework which demanded that the children work out their carbon footprint ( a difficult thing to do without asking your parents for exact figures on energy usage, car mileage). It gave us an opportunity to discuss why we do the things we do. Today he reported that although his footprint was lower than the average person, there were people in his class with double the average which was mainly caused by long haul flights.

My youngest son, remarked on the price of a gallon of diesel and wondered why it kept going up. Again, an opportunity to talk about energy and its use. We debated about gameboys, WII gamestations and how as children they found them very attractive and addictive to how wonderfully useful energy can be when you go for an MRI scan and have pictures taken of your brain.

For me it is not that we are giving up things but that we are creating differences with the choices we make ; yes they have an impact if you deprive yourself from them immediately such as crash dieting would do or giving up smoking immediately. If however you start to make different lighter choices, you suddenly find that you no longer crave electricity or whatever it is that is your energy addiction and you can find other pleasurable alternatives.

My youngest son realised that he could choose a game of cricket in the fields against a game about cricket and that in that way he would be saving energy and using a different sort of energy; a physical energy that would revive him and challenge him in a different way.

Eday....will it make a difference? See for yourself

Crunch time

There are changes afoot in a variety of producing areas which will have an impact on the foodchain.

Our supplier of petfoods has advised us that the cost of peanuts has trebled due to peanuts being in demand as a fuel source and has passed the price onto us. The impact of that is that the kind ladies in our village who have been putting out peanuts for the birds during the winter months are thinking twice about how they will continue to do that and keep warm themselves. Pressure on everyone in that transaction. I was not aware that peanuts were a source of fuel and an ingredient of biofuel.

I understand that there is pressure in the world with sources of oil reducing and demand staying the same or increasing to find an alternative.

The second piece of news that disconcerns me personally is that our local beekeeper, who provides us with local honey is concerned that he has lost some hives and that the bees are reducing the amount of honey they are producing. Thus, honey is going to be a luxury soon. I touched on bees being an indicator of global change previously, and frankly most people would not pay much attention to the loss of pollinators because they may not be aware of its significance.

We continue to offer a local service. A customer amazed me this week; he had made a trip into the nearest town to buy some meat. The cost of petrol was £ 1.00 and then he had had to pay 50 p to park his car. He understood the equation that if he had shopped locally he would have saved money, time and hassle. It makes sense for suppliers to do the travelling once on the country lane instead of 10 cars doing the journey. Hopefully the word will spread......

Generally, the trend of food prices is up, because the cost of raw materials and transport is up. I expect that soon, suppliers will expect a larger minimum order to minimise their transport costs which will have an effect on small shop keepers like us.

Reducing your carbon footprint is exactly about that, reducing it, changing the way we do things, the way we use the resources we have available. If we do not reduce consumption, and resources reduce, then the prices will go up and obtaining basic foods will become more difficult.

Every day we get bombarded with bad news about global warming, or some other strange phenomenon. When the financial markets are volatile, food prices go up, your bank increases its rates, the credit card company stops you from purchasing any more items on credit; there has to be a message in there that things are going wrong somewhere.

The way things seemed to fall into place is changing; if we are all connected and our actions have an effect then, all these vibrations and shifts have to have an impact somewhere. Its a shaky foundation for the moment, a delicate balance.

And yet, the consumer is making different choices. There is support for organic which has evolved into ethical resulting in every high street company now offering a green alternative to make you feel better when you shop.

If you consider being on a carbon reducing diet; if the shops offered you a slimming bar that tastes as good as the real thing, but would not cause you to gain weight, you would buy it right?
If they can produce biofuel and it means that you do not have to stop driving then ofcourse you would go for that. That means no change for the individual and just a change of resources. The thought of giving transport up completely is too hard to contemplate and yet that is the shift that is required in the long term just as giving up sugar would be the direction to go into if you found out you were diabetic.

That sort of shift is unpleasant, probably not for the fainthearted. I want to ask you to take that step with me. This is the toughest thing we will be asked to do.

Moving from Berry Cottage was a wrench for me. I loved the house, the garden; but it was no longer manageable with a lack of resources. Yes I traded a comfortable cottage with all mod cons for an old house that leaks, that is hard to keep warm but that provides an opportunity to not travel, to work from home and to grow a large proportion of our food on the premises.

I find myself wanting a new bathroom, a new kitchen, a warm room and occasionally I also want to just run away, usually when the power cuts out. I am no different, I want all my stuff, I just choose to not want it so much and to start reducing my carbon consumption. I expect it is no different than dieting. Hard, very very hard to do but it can be done.

Anyone want to be my carbondiet buddy?

The power to vote for change

This post is a reflection on the comment left on yesterdays post. The question as to why is it that the elections in the USA and the impact globally on the environment and the economy are not mentioned.


What I would like to do is to reflect on what it means to vote, and what the effects of that are personally and globally.

As a child, accompanying my parents to vote, to the polling station I would always ask them who they were going to vote for. The answer was always. I do not know yet. When they left the building in which we were not allowed to enter I would ask my parents, so who did you vote for and was told, I cannot remember? As a child I felt this was an odd response, thinking they must have a strange sort of memory loss, but it was not until later in life that I realised that your political orientation can in many countries be the death of you.

What would I tell my children about elections? Voting is your ability as an adult to make a choice. Remember that what counts for the candidates is that you vote and vote for them. What happens after the election when they are in office, matters little at the time of campaigning. Such it is when companies want you to buy a new car, a holiday, something that you may or may not want. A picture is created that you buy into and so when you have bought it, you may discover that either it is exactly what they told you it was going to be, or it was a lie and you have been sold something that turns out to be completely different.

How would you choose how to vote? That depends on your values and beliefs and eventually each person who votes is making a choice by matching the things they have been told about the candidate, whether it matches with their values and beliefs and whether in the future they think the person is going to carry these election promises through.

Does voting matter? Yes it does. If the party you would have voted for misses 51 votes to get a majority and 52 people out there did not vote because they felt their vote would not make a difference, then I would say, they made a choice not to vote and therefore the result is one they have contributed to by their action of not voting.

Does voting matter in the USA and its global impact? Yes primarily and foremost to the citizens of the USA and depending on the outcome, it will affect us globally based on the decisions made by the successful candidate on a global scale; for better and for worse.

Making changes globally also starts with me and you, at home and ripples out into our communities, our countries and eventually globally. Whatever small change you make at home will have an effect. There is no way that I can influence a change in the USA by making comments on the election process, candidates etc as it would not be my place to do so.But if you are an Amercian Citizen, then yes, you can make a choice that will influence the future.

What I am saying is that as human beings we are given an opportunity every once in a while to say whether we agree or disagree with this or that, and voting matters wherever you are; whether you choose to vote or not is a personal decision but whichever way you vote will have an effect on you, your community, your country and the world. We are lucky in that we can vote without fear of our lives and that we live in a country where voting is safe; there are other countries where expressing your opinions is not safe. In some countries people make the choice to vote whilst knowing that doing so could endanger their lives. These people are making a very difficult choice. That brings me back to the way my parents reacted to their vote being cast. I am not sure that they had a short memory, but with their actions they instilled a principle within me that voting was important, personal and a matter of choice. As an adult, I am therefore considered able to make my own choice and that may be different to theirs. If you are due to vote next week you are given an opportunity to make a choice. and that is a privilege that many do not have.

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.

The coal house - living in 1927 in Wales

BBC Wales are scheduling a historical programme over the next 3 weeks where 3 families will return to 1927 and live in 3 miners cottages as families of that time.
The families will have to work together, the women and children during the day while the men are working 8 hours, underground in the coal mines. There will be no heating, no computers, no washing machines and a garden with some vegetables like curly cale, parsnip etc. This programme will not only show the hardship in that period of history but might give us an indication of what life could be like without electricity and fossil fuels easily accessible. The men will be paid by the amount of coal they haul up which will determine the food on the table.
What I noticed was the lack of stuff they have and the space limitation. Families will each have the same amount of space, 2 rooms down and 2 rooms up and one family has 6 children including baby and toddler. The programme can be accessed on BBC Wales. You can look at some pictures about the coalhouse here.

In the meantime, Kate Rusby's song about my young man shows you some pictures of coalmining and set the scene. Communities were destroyed in the 1980's when a large proportion of coal mines shut down a fate not dissimilar to what is happening in the farming and manufacturing in the UK.

Change begins at home

The "Change begins at home" award. This is given to bloggers who live what they preach, who try to make the changes in their own lives that they would like to see in the world and it originates from Bean Sprouts . The rules for this award can be found here. Thank you to the Green Fingered Photographer who nominated me.

My turn to pass it on to :

Mark from Otter Farm
Jane from Yarnstorm
Keri from The Wish Jar


To

walk your talk

is a proverb used by the Native Americans meaning that you put your beliefs into actions.