Resilience and wisdom to stay happy in the years ahead
A model of de-intensification for humans too! Ever since I co-founded an organic farm in 1990, I’ve tried to stay aware of trends in sustainable farming. The latest is regenerative agriculture: there’s a lot of hype and froth around this, so I recently visited two farms who are doing it for real. One is a … Read more
Subtle Agroecology is a new term, created by the editor of a recent book on the subject, Julia Wright, an expert in agroecology at Coventry University. SA is “the systematic study of the invisible world as it relates to agriculture”, and is highly relevant in these times when we urgently need to renew soils, cut … Read more
It was only last year that Professor Tim Lang, one of the UK’s top experts in this field, published Feeding Britain, an exhaustive and exhausting 567-page account of why our food system is so dysfunctional: see blog here. Henry Dimbleby and team deserve a lot of credit for crystallising a set of major issues, and … Read more
There are many aspects of the Covid and climate crises where you may feel disempowered, dependent on government responses. However, food security is an issue where individuals and communities have scope for positive action now! Britain’s food self-sufficiency has declined from 80% to 60% in the past thirty years. We’re especially vulnerable on vegetables and … Read more
by Caroline Walker I have a nice personal memory of Professor Tim Lang. In 2001 I had just retired as head of the Small School in Hartland, North Devon, a very small independent secondary school where cooking the lunch together was a foundational practice. I heard about the Caroline Walker (no relation) Awards which recognise … Read more
Online briefing and discussion:Tuesday January 12, 7.00-8.30pm Organised and hosted by Transition Town Bridport and Seeding our Future Our food supply is more fragile than it appears. Some 40% of our food comes from abroad,and depends on good harvests, stable climate and frictionless borders. Covid, ClimateChange and Brexit are make feeding Britain even more precarious. … Read more
Bridport has a reputation as a foodie centre, but how solid is our local food security? Several local organisations believe we need to grow and buy more of our produce locally: you can find out more at their stall on Barrack Street in the December 12 Farmers Market. The main problem from climate change for … Read more
It’s easy to feel disempowered these days, but this is an issue where we can all do something. Food security means reliable access to enough good quality, affordable, sustainably produced food. Many experts believe that food shortages and price rises will be a major impact of climate change during the next few years. You may … Read more
This month’s Seeding Our Future webinar has started an important exploration of how our local food system can adapt to the coming challenges of climate change, just as the recent pressures of Covid-19 are revealing how adeptly the Bridport area’s independent food and drink producers and suppliers can innovate during exceptional times. Short supply chains … Read more
and some ways to explore answers Have you ever had the experience of wandering, lost in the mist, and emerging to find you’re at a vantage point where you can see at least broadly where you are, and where you want to go? That’s the place I’ve reached recently, and I’m sharing my perspectives in the hope that … Read more