20 Oct 2006
Reflections on my Trip to Jersey.
I just spent a very enjoyable couple of days on the island of Jersey, at the invitation of the Jersey National Trust, Jersey Slow Food and the Jersey Organic Association, taking the message of energy descent and powerdown to the island. Jersey is home to about 90,000 people on a beautiful island near the French coast. My trip was organised by Alasdair Crosby, a reporter from the Jersey Evening Post and founder of Jersey Slow Food.
I arrived by plane from Exeter, a historic (for me anyway) trip, it being my last plane flight, my having [decided not to fly any more](http://www.transitionculture.org/?p=408″flying”) some months ago (this trip had been arranged before that decision was made). I was met by Alasdair at the airport, and then had supper with him and representatives of the other groups behind the invitation. Alasdair had my visit to Jersey organised with military precision, I was given a very detailed itinerary for the time I was there.
On Wednesday morning I was in the studios of BBC Radio Jersey by 8.30, and did a 10 minute interview on peak oil and on the challenges it presents to the island on their morning news programme, making the point that if the island is able to engage with the challenge of peak oil, it presents the opportunity for a historic and ultimately positive transition.
I then had a meeting with Chris Newton, the Director of the Environment Department on Jersey. We discussed the island’s emerging energy policy, a draft report that explores the energy options for the island. Chris clearly has a good handle on the energy challenges facing Jersey, and has been looking in detail at some of the options it has. As an island with a long coastline, the potential for tidal power is great. The report will be followed by an energy audit for the island, to which I suggested a food and medicine audit may well prove useful. There seemed to be a lot of interest in exploring the challenge, but much less enthusiasm for responses such as traffic management, and grants for microrenewables and conservation. The feeling seems to be that the market will deal with this, which I don’t see borne out anywhere else. It was very interesting to see how decision makers such as Chris are attempting to deal with this challenge, and while a lot of effort is going into evaluating the island’s energy options, I didn’t detect a sense of urgency correspondent to the scale of the challenge.
I then went to the offices of the Jersey Evening Post to meet Alasdair to do an interview with him for the paper, which should be in the paper some time next week. I’ll post it here at **Transition Culture** when it is done. Then it was off to Jersey College for Girls, where I met my host Tom Fallon, one of the teachers in the school. The school has a strong environmental programme, and next week has a visit from the island’s environment minister. I gave a 15 minute presentation to a school assembly of 700 girls, introducing the idea of peak oil and the need to respond to it. My slide of Wallace and Gromit as a model of post-peak living went down well!
I then had a few hours off, to check emails in the nearby internet café, and have a bit of a wander around. At 7.30 I was back at the Jersey College for Girls for the main part of my visit, an evening talk entitled “The Future of Local Food Production�. Over 80 people turned up, and I introduced the peak oil concept and what we could do about it. A number of island officials were in the audience, and the talk was very well received. There were lots of questions and feedback at the end.
The next day began with a trip to Francheville Farm, run by Ian and Angela Mitchell. Francheville Farm is an organic dairy farm with Jersey cows, a beautifully docile and high yielding breed. On Jersey no other breeds are allowed onto the island. The Mitchells went organic after their herd had a case of BSE in the 1990s, which was brought onto the island in imported feed which contained the remains of other infected animals. We had a walk around the farm, which despite the pressure in agriculture to build new sheds and slurry pits, still used the old stone buildings. A very well run organic farm, and Ian was a very impressive and informative guide.
I then went to the offices of the Jersey Evening Post again to meet Alasdair, Hugh Forshaw, the chairman of the Environment Forum, and James Godfrey, chief executive of the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society . We talked for a while about issues raised by my talk of the previous evening, and about the practicalities on an EDP process for Jersey, as well as what the impacts of peak oil might be on the island.
Finally it was off to [La Mare Vineyards](http://www.lamarevineyards.com�LaMare�), a wonderful local enterprise, using local grapes and apples to produce a wide range of drinks and foods. Red and white wine, rose, champagne, apple brandy, cider and a lovely Jersey Crème, like Baileys but made with apple brandy. I was shown around the premises, seeing all the different stages of the winemaking process, from the pressing and fermentation through to the casking and bottling.
Also there was the beautiful still, from Normandy and over 100 years old. I was given samples of the various wines as well as some of the food products, such as apple brandy fudge. It was very impressive to see this operation, using traditional recipes and techniques but also producing very high quality products. Then it was off to the airport and back home.
Reflecting on my visit, I was struck by the challenge that peak oil presents to Jersey. An island with a historical population of around 10,000, it is now home to around 90,000 people. It is dependent on imports for much of its food, as well as most of its daily commodities, and almost all of its electricity, which is imported from France. Its 100,000 vehicles are run on petrol and diesel which are also imported. Jersey is a very wealthy place owing to its financial services sector. The challenge for Jersey will be the practicalities of what degree of import substitution will be possible with such a large population on such a small landmass. Clearly, conventional approaches will be insufficient. From my perspective, a number of basic assumptions will need to be rethought.
Could Jersey’s agricultural sector feed the population? No. At present much of the nation’s farming is aimed at export markets. Mark Foskett of the Jersey Organic Association showed me some rough calculations he had done regarding how more innovative approaches to food production would affect this. Using the biointensive approach as developed and promoted by [Ecology Action](http://www.growbiointensive.org/biointensive/Ecology.html#about”EA”) in the US, the amount of land required to grow one person’s food can be cut from 20,000 sq.ft. to 4,000 sq.ft. In other words, conventional farming could feed around 1/3rd of Jersey’s population, biointensive methods could feed it twice over.
The drawbacks? According to Mark, this diet would need to be vegan, and being much more labour intensive, around 25,000 people, just over ¼ of the island’s population, would need to be employed directly in agriculture. Clearly with this approach being able to feed the island twice over there is some spare room for a small amount of biodiesel, fruit production, perennial tree crops and some livestock, given some careful integrated design. Jersey also has a wonderful sea food resource.
The question is, in a relatively wealthy population, where will the incentive come from to begin the move towards this? Clearly it is such a huge shift, not just in land use, but also in the economy and in skills, that it might appear impossible. What it clear though is that peak oil will render business-as-usual increasingly difficult to sustain in this island economy. If an Energy Descent Plan approach does emerge from my visit, it would prove an invaluable tool for exploring the practicalities of this.
While it is important that the energy issues facing the island are explored, it is clearly also essential that the intertwined issues of education, health, economy, food and so on are also explored. In many ways Jersey is in an enviable position. It has a wonderful climate, a great tidal resource, a history of sail powered trade with both the UK and France, clean seas and a wealthy economy. Whether or not it chooses to apply new thinking to its challenges and finds itself able to ask the right questions will be the key to its successful navigation of the years ahead.
*Many thanks to Alasdair Crosby for organising my trip to Jersey with such impressive precision! Thanks also to the Jersey Organic Association, the Jersey National Trust and Jersey Slow Food.*
Jason Cole
20 Oct 9:56am
When we made enquiries about eco-housing on Jersey we were told that the land-use is very strictly controlled (more so than the UK) so changing land use there is tricky. Jersey is very heavily regulated.
Much of the island is sparsely populated and still agricultural; St Helier being the notable exception with lots of “modern” flats, offices and leisure complexes being built. Plus the occasional 1960s tower blocks.
They used to use seaweed for fertiliser but I believe this is now banned due to it containing low levels of radioactivity from France’s nuclear programme.
Richard Haine
20 Oct 3:32pm
A huge problem is the number of vehicles (100000) - if you ever get the chance to travel to some beautiful small islands approximately 5 miles off the north coast of Jersey called the Ecrehou - when you land on them and look back you can actually see a smog cloud created by all these vehicles. Jersey used to have two railways running to the west and east of the island - I believe new radical thinking is needed to consider reinstating these along with an imaginative and bold transport policy. We need to cut down on needless car journeys, especially the large number of 4×4 vehicles ‘Chelsea Tractors’ often used by parents to make short journeys on the school run.
Robert Morgan
20 Oct 5:09pm
A very interesting article. Jersey seems in some ways, an exaggerated microcosm of Britain, in that most of its income comes from high value exports and intangible foreign earnings. It also imports most of its food and other basic products and has a population which is mostly used to high earnings and sedentary occupations. In that context, the comments made about possible future means of food production and sustainability, merit some comment. They have implications not just for Jersey but for Britain and other “developed�, densely-populated countries which after brief consideration appear rather alarming.
You state that Jersey could feed itself using high-intensity organic food production techniques (i.e. no fossil fuel inputs), needing only 4000 square feet per person of good quality land. That’s the good news for Britain and most of the rest of the world, and contradicts the most doom-laden peak oil predictions of starvation, population collapse, etc. However, you also say that 25,000 of the island’s population would need to be involved in food production. By “involved� I assume you mean it would be their full-time occupation, equivalent to, say 40 hours per week. Assuming that 60% of the current 90,000 population are aged between 20 and 65 (a reasonable percentage for any industrial country) and ignoring the agricultural work contributions of people outside that age group, that means 25,000 out of 54,000 people of such age would be involved, nearly half. Alternatively, if everyone of such age was involved on a part-time basis, they would have to input time of about 16-18 hours per week. It is, to say the least, not easy to see how our current growth-based society could be maintained in conditions where nearly half the time of the working-age population is spent in growing basic foods.
Also, consider the fact that the 16-18 hours per week would mostly be spent outside, at all times of year, in all weathers doing work which, to put it unromantically, would often involve getting cold, wet, dirty and physically tired. And that just to grow basic foodstuffs – vegetables, fruit, etc. – for ones own kitchen which then need preparation and cooking to make a meal. This seems an unlikely scenario for a generation largely used to physically undemanding work indoors, easy availability of cheap prepared food ingredients, ready-meals, etc., from supermarkets. As mentioned above, much the same would apply to the UK although the figures might be ameliorated somewhat by the continued availability of some (very expensive) fossil fuels, biofuel, etc. It was also mentioned that such an agricultural system would produce a vegan diet – another culture shock for the vast majority.
In all, this emphasises the fact that the implications of weaning ourselves off our fossil fuel addiction, whether as a result of peak oil/gas or the need for reducing CO2 output, extend way beyond transportation. Even in the terms outlined here, it requires a degree and speed of adaptation greater than any seen in modern human history and will need correspondingly determined action to bring it about. Let’s hope TTT is the first of many initiatives which will be needed to succeed in this task!
Mark
20 Oct 5:14pm
It’s an interesting situation. I think because a Jersey is a wealthy place they are actually less inclined to act, believing that their wealth will be a cushion or barrier to peak oil effects, just like it was on the Titanic. Unfortunately the economic repercussion are pretty unpredictable.
I think the population of Jersey will probably decided to move elsewhere if the costs are too high and they realise this before their money becomes useless and in 50 years time perhaps the population will be back to 10,000 again.
Robert Morgan
20 Oct 8:32pm
It is true that many of the (on average) very wealthy population of Jersey could decamp elsewhere if things got desperate. This is an option not available to the millions of British who will find themselves in a fairly similar situation. Which is why education initiatives are so desperately needed - surviving peak oil in comparative comfort is easy if you know how and have the determination to do so, rather difficult if you don’t have the knowledge.
Cath Blakey
20 Oct 9:26pm
Hi folks,
Thanks Rob for a thought provoking essay.
And also your humour and humanity.
Jersey shifting from a society with employment mostly as bankers, finanical advisors and tax-dodging investors to a more labour-intensive agricultural economy will be a challenge.
In the transition, for those interested in the security, health benefits, enjoyment and bloody-minded righteousness of growing their own organic fruit and veg, but don’t have the time to do the work, see an example of an organic grower being paid to use other people’s land:
http://www.growbiointensive.org/biointensive/goldmine.html#goldmine
Anyway, Jersey is an interesting case study for considering an Energy Dissent Plan. This is not just in relation to the consumption of oil as a direct energy source. As an island dependent on electricity from French nuclear power stations, it also potentially highlights the indirect oil dependence of nuclear energy generation – eg just for starters through mining, processing and distribution of uranium. (leaving aside all the other, I believe prohibitively negative impacts of the nuclear industry, from the fact that it is also a finite and exhaustible mineral resource, to the dnagers of its waste products.)
Mark Forskitt
21 Oct 10:35am
Robert Morgan makes some interesting observations on my quick calculations on food sustainability in Jersey. It is not atypical of agrarian economies to have half the population working in agriculture - I have seen figures as high as 70%.
A key reason for doing the rough calculations was to demonstrate the fallacy of the widely known ‘fact’ in Jersey that we simply cannot grow our own food. There is good reason for this belief. The experience of the occupation 1940-1945 when imports were all but non-existent showed that supporting a 50,000 population was not really sustainable with the technology and techniques available then.
However that was an unplanned event. Although agriculture at that point was a major activity in the island, it was significantly geared to exporting potatoes and tomatoes. At that point too horses were still comonplace on farms, and it takes a couple of vergees (say an acre) of good land to feed a horse. It’s a tough decision - feed a horse or feed 10 people on the same area of land.
As it happens I have been making some refinements to my calculation to deal with new information. For example my original figures used a typical calorie requirement for modern westerners. However I read recently that in the 16th century land labourers had a calorie intake closer to modern olympic athletes. That shouldn’t be a big suprise given the sheer physicality of the work. However it does mean that if you use human labour you have to grow perhaps 25% more food. It just goes to show how sensitive all these models are to basic assumptions.
Robert Morgan
21 Oct 12:05pm
Of course there are a host of other awkward questions. To mention just a few:
Are wealthy people with large ornimental gardens and lawns really going to let others turn them into veg plots?
What proportion of islanders (British as well as Jersey!) would be up to the task in terms of knowledge when most people under 40 have never grown a food item in their lives, except perhaps a few tomato plants? Education would be essential and it would be difficult to see more a than a few percent taking it up in a big way until a crisis really hit. These few percent (compared to the current few tenths of a percent) would be the pioneers, the people we need to reach and teach, who after honing their skills would lead others.
There is a big difference physically and psychologically between growing a few summer veg as a hobby and to save a few pounds, and growing the range and amounts of food to feed your family for the whole year when the difference between success and failure could mean starvation. Some individuals would inevitably fail in some years and strong communities such as those being built by Rob would be essential to prevent social breakdown, if not anarchy.
Marion
30 Oct 9:10pm
It was fantastic to see such good attendance. We’d been to a screening of End of Surburbia at St Johns parish hall that attracted far fewer.. but was a good beginning. Our response to the film was to set up http://www.sustainablejersey.org. We would like to look into the matchmaking garden scheme you mentioned. There are big issues of social inequality in Jersey. There are many children without access to outside space…besides the growing potential. Many landowners have fields as well as gardens. Are there contractual precedents/internet examples you could sign post? Any guidance gladly received.
Mark Forskitt
18 Aug 9:55am
Some Jersey observations om Transition Culture:
http://st-ouennais.livejournal.com/17338.html