Comments on: My Introduction to ‘Local Food: how to make it happen in your community’ http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/ An Evolving Exploration into the Head, Heart and Hands of Energy Descent Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:35:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Transition Books « Transition Dereham http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64498 Transition Books « Transition Dereham Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:19:04 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64498 [...] The Transition Network is beginning to develop a series of ‘how to’ Transition books. The Transition Handbook, and The Transition Timeline are already available, and the first of the new ‘how to’ series; Local Food is released on the 17th September 2009. You can read more about this on the Transition Culture blog. [...] [...] The Transition Network is beginning to develop a series of ‘how to’ Transition books. The Transition Handbook, and The Transition Timeline are already available, and the first of the new ‘how to’ series; Local Food is released on the 17th September 2009. You can read more about this on the Transition Culture blog. [...]

]]> By: Elaine http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64444 Elaine Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:41:32 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64444 I don't see it as an issue about respect in itself. In the feudal system, it was understood by all layers of the system that it rested on the serfs. There was a whole religious idea which backed up the respect that the serfs had to be given because of the importance of their work. That didn't translate into them having control over their working conditions or standard of living. Those things, which are surely as important as being given 'respect' varied throughout most of history based on how many labourers were available relative to how many were needed. The relative importance of one's work now doesn't translate into higher wages. Hospital cleaners earn a fraction of what hedge fund owners do and there's not much argument about which one provides a more fundamental service to us all. The idea that people will become agricultural workers because they want to is looking at it from the perspective of our current society, where no one is (in theory...) forced to take work just to put food on the table. In the absence of a welfare state safety net the nature of the choices available to people will change. What I am talking about is changes in the structure of power in society. Concepts like respect and perception need to be understood in that context. People need to have a certain amount of control over their lives and working conditions to be happy. Being given respect by the rest of society, while it might be very important, doesn't translate into having that kind of freedom or control, which are also important. In a post peak oil world, it's likely that landowners will become wealthier and more powerful, since they will have control of a resource that more and more of us need access to. They won't need to be overly concerned about the respect they're given. I don’t see it as an issue about respect in itself. In the feudal system, it was understood by all layers of the system that it rested on the serfs. There was a whole religious idea which backed up the respect that the serfs had to be given because of the importance of their work. That didn’t translate into them having control over their working conditions or standard of living. Those things, which are surely as important as being given ‘respect’ varied throughout most of history based on how many labourers were available relative to how many were needed.

The relative importance of one’s work now doesn’t translate into higher wages. Hospital cleaners earn a fraction of what hedge fund owners do and there’s not much argument about which one provides a more fundamental service to us all.

The idea that people will become agricultural workers because they want to is looking at it from the perspective of our current society, where no one is (in theory…) forced to take work just to put food on the table. In the absence of a welfare state safety net the nature of the choices available to people will change.

What I am talking about is changes in the structure of power in society. Concepts like respect and perception need to be understood in that context. People need to have a certain amount of control over their lives and working conditions to be happy. Being given respect by the rest of society, while it might be very important, doesn’t translate into having that kind of freedom or control, which are also important. In a post peak oil world, it’s likely that landowners will become wealthier and more powerful, since they will have control of a resource that more and more of us need access to. They won’t need to be overly concerned about the respect they’re given.

]]> By: Andy Wilson http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64426 Andy Wilson Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:47:34 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64426 Yes indeed Nigel, attitudes towards people engaged in food production do need to change. Just consider how many people currently work in near-slavery around the world in order that the people of the rich nations may enjoy imported food goods. What respect do these exploited agricultural labourers get, if any? I fear it would be no different in a post-peak-oil world (except those toiling the land might be nearer to home) unless there is accompanying social and economic reform. Yes indeed Nigel, attitudes towards people engaged in food production do need to change. Just consider how many people currently work in near-slavery around the world in order that the people of the rich nations may enjoy imported food goods. What respect do these exploited agricultural labourers get, if any? I fear it would be no different in a post-peak-oil world (except those toiling the land might be nearer to home) unless there is accompanying social and economic reform.

]]> By: nigel cochran http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64412 nigel cochran Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:06:35 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64412 On the issue of land ownership and agricultural serfs surely the perception of people as just labourers will need to change If food reestablishes itself as a fundamental necessity for existance then the people who are involved in its production will benifit from a greatly increased respect from the population they feed. this should translate to possibly higher wages and a desire for people to want to be actively involved in this type of work. On the issue of land ownership and agricultural serfs

surely the perception of people as just labourers will need to change
If food reestablishes itself as a fundamental necessity for existance then the people who are involved in its production will benifit from a greatly increased respect from the population they feed.

this should translate to possibly higher wages and a desire for people to want to be actively involved in this type of work.

]]> By: David Cowen http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64387 David Cowen Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:57:18 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64387 I found this article interesting and looking forward to getting the book. Here in Murwillumbah Northern NSW Australia we are in the beginning period of developing a Transition Town movement and I am personally trying to start a Community Garden . It all takes time. It would be good to have a book like this more relevant to Australian conditions. We could be completely self sufficient in Australia as we have a climatic zone that stretches from the Temperate to the Tropical. Water can be a problem but would not affect home and community gardens. All the best David. I found this article interesting and looking forward to getting the book. Here in Murwillumbah Northern NSW Australia we are in the beginning period of developing a Transition Town movement and I am personally trying to start a Community Garden . It all takes time. It would be good to have a book like this more relevant to Australian conditions. We could be completely self sufficient in Australia as we have a climatic zone that stretches from the Temperate to the Tropical. Water can be a problem but would not affect home and community gardens. All the best David.

]]> By: Ben Brangwyn http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64379 Ben Brangwyn Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:25:00 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64379 Rob - reading this brought tears to my eyes. We're getting there... Rob – reading this brought tears to my eyes. We’re getting there…

]]> By: Andy Wilson http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64378 Andy Wilson Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:45:30 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64378 Elaine, you make some very good points about land ownership. The reform of land law - globally - is an absolutely critical pillar of sustainability/food security, or as you say, we will simply see the emergence of a new class of agricultural labourers or slaves. Also, I think the scale of the challenge for the world to feed itself post peak oil is often seriously underestimated, and no more so than in the modern consumer nations with their high dependency on food and fossil fuel imports, and unsustainable diets. The Growing Communities in Hackney group, which features in Local Food, has produced a chart of food zones, showing what percentage of food used by the group is grown in urban gardens, traded locally, sourced with 100 miles etc. 65 percent of the food used comes from within 100 miles, which is a hugely impressive achievement. However, only 2.5 percent of the food used by the group comes from urban gardens although presumably not for want of trying. In order to quantify these percentages more accurately, I carried out a food audit of our own garden this year and calculated our household produced about 5 percent of its total calorific intake. We also calculated that about half of the food energy yield was needed as human energy to grow the food in the first place! Still, at least there was a net food energy gain: many veg gardens would barely break even on the human energy invested. Visitors to our site (also the home of the Westport-based Sustainability Institute) frequently make comments like "You must be nearly self sufficient!" when they see the vegetables and the fruit. Unfortunately not. If we developed the site (1000m2 so 6-10 times the size of an average urban garden) according to the best principles of sustainability over the next 10 years we might get to 15 or 20 percent of our dietary needs. This type of food energy auditing is essential in order to get some handle on the nature of the challenge. Existing urban allotments and domestic gardens combined, if developed for food production in an optimal way, might eventually produce 2-2.5 percent of Britain's calorific food requirements (I use Britain as an example as Britain is the main focus of Local Food). Currently the proportion produced is only a small fraction of 1 percent. Reaching the modest 2-2.5 percent figure quoted would require a high level of horticultural competence throughout the community: something that does not happen overnight. The oft quoted "Havana produces 90 percent of the fruit and vegetables consumed by its residents" doesn't quite tell the whole story, which is that fruit and vegetables alone rarely provide more than a small part of dietary calorific, protein or mineral requirements. In Havana's case, it appears total food production for the city peaked at about 500,000 tonnes. This involved the use of about 40 percent of the total land area of the city for growing food - a proportion not easy to replicate in many UK cities. The actual proportion of Havana's total food requirements met by food production from within the city during the 'special period' was probably between 20 and 30 percent. The link below is to a detailed 55 page study of food production in Havana ("Cultivating Havana: Urban Agriculture and Food Security in the Years of Crisis") carried out by Catherine Murphy. http://www.foodfirst.org/pubs/devreps/dr12.pdf Havana had a very big incentive to grow food - its people were starving. In spite of that, it still took 7-8 years from the onset of the crisis to get production up to the levels quoted. Elaine, you make some very good points about land ownership. The reform of land law – globally – is an absolutely critical pillar of sustainability/food security, or as you say, we will simply see the emergence of a new class of agricultural labourers or slaves.

Also, I think the scale of the challenge for the world to feed itself post peak oil is often seriously underestimated, and no more so than in the modern consumer nations with their high dependency on food and fossil fuel imports, and unsustainable diets.

The Growing Communities in Hackney group, which features in Local Food, has produced a chart of food zones, showing what percentage of food used by the group is grown in urban gardens, traded locally, sourced with 100 miles etc. 65 percent of the food used comes from within 100 miles, which is a hugely impressive achievement.

However, only 2.5 percent of the food used by the group comes from urban gardens although presumably not for want of trying. In order to quantify these percentages more accurately, I carried out a food audit of our own garden this year and calculated our household produced about 5 percent of its total calorific intake. We also calculated that about half of the food energy yield was needed as human energy to grow the food in the first place! Still, at least there was a net food energy gain: many veg gardens would barely break even on the human energy invested.

Visitors to our site (also the home of the Westport-based Sustainability Institute) frequently make comments like “You must be nearly self sufficient!” when they see the vegetables and the fruit. Unfortunately not. If we developed the site (1000m2 so 6-10 times the size of an average urban garden) according to the best principles of sustainability over the next 10 years we might get to 15 or 20 percent of our dietary needs.

This type of food energy auditing is essential in order to get some handle on the nature of the challenge.

Existing urban allotments and domestic gardens combined, if developed for food production in an optimal way, might eventually produce 2-2.5 percent of Britain’s calorific food requirements (I use Britain as an example as Britain is the main focus of Local Food). Currently the proportion produced is only a small fraction of 1 percent. Reaching the modest 2-2.5 percent figure quoted would require a high level of horticultural competence throughout the community: something that does not happen overnight.

The oft quoted “Havana produces 90 percent of the fruit and vegetables consumed by its residents” doesn’t quite tell the whole story, which is that fruit and vegetables alone rarely provide more than a small part of dietary calorific, protein or mineral requirements. In Havana’s case, it appears total food production for the city peaked at about 500,000 tonnes. This involved the use of about 40 percent of the total land area of the city for growing food – a proportion not easy to replicate in many UK cities.

The actual proportion of Havana’s total food requirements met by food production from within the city during the ‘special period’ was probably between 20 and 30 percent. The link below is to a detailed 55 page study of food production in Havana (“Cultivating Havana: Urban Agriculture and Food Security in the Years of Crisis”) carried out by Catherine Murphy.

http://www.foodfirst.org/pubs/devreps/dr12.pdf

Havana had a very big incentive to grow food – its people were starving. In spite of that, it still took 7-8 years from the onset of the crisis to get production up to the levels quoted.

]]> By: Rob http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64375 Rob Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:26:36 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64375 Hi Judith.. you can order the book from this site, http://transitionculture.org/shop/local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/. It is all quite straightforward.. or, in Ireland, you could order it from Walnut Books. Elaine. I think that a critique of land use and land reform, and that kind of 'bigger picture' thinking doesn't feature greatly in the book, as its brief was to focus on practical projects, practical initiatives that Transition groups could start today. It is not intended as a book about how the country will feed itself, that is a different subject for a different book. 'Local Food' focuses on initiatives that can get underway today, and on how to best maximise their likelihood of success. Of course the country won't totally feed itself from allotments, that's why it also looks at forging links with farmers, CSAs and so on. Thanks. Hi Judith.. you can order the book from this site, http://transitionculture.org/shop/local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/. It is all quite straightforward.. or, in Ireland, you could order it from Walnut Books.

Elaine. I think that a critique of land use and land reform, and that kind of ‘bigger picture’ thinking doesn’t feature greatly in the book, as its brief was to focus on practical projects, practical initiatives that Transition groups could start today. It is not intended as a book about how the country will feed itself, that is a different subject for a different book. ‘Local Food’ focuses on initiatives that can get underway today, and on how to best maximise their likelihood of success. Of course the country won’t totally feed itself from allotments, that’s why it also looks at forging links with farmers, CSAs and so on.
Thanks.

]]> By: Judith Hoad http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64370 Judith Hoad Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:29:08 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64370 This book sounds like another timely tool! I would like to order two - one for our Transition Donegal Library and one for myself. How can I place an order? The latter one will do the rounds of borrowers,a s well! Thank you Tamsin and Rob for all your work. This book sounds like another timely tool! I would like to order two – one for our Transition Donegal Library and one for myself. How can I place an order? The latter one will do the rounds of borrowers,a s well!

Thank you Tamsin and Rob for all your work.

]]> By: October Newsletter – Southend-on-Sea in Transition « Transition Town Westcliff http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64369 October Newsletter – Southend-on-Sea in Transition « Transition Town Westcliff Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:01:08 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64369 [...] to get on your high horse and cartWishing Owenstown well in establishing an ecologically sound ...My Introduction toLocal Food how to make it happen in your ...Cortijada Los Gazquez » Transition Culture 4Honour & Inspiration: [...] [...] to get on your high horse and cartWishing Owenstown well in establishing an ecologically sound …My Introduction toLocal Food how to make it happen in your …Cortijada Los Gazquez » Transition Culture 4Honour & Inspiration: [...]

]]> By: Elaine http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64360 Elaine Sun, 06 Sep 2009 11:19:58 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64360 Does the book deal with land ownership at all? There's no mention of it here. Clearly the entire UK population can't be fed from bits of 'free' land, allotments and back gardens here and there. And the huge industrial farms will need massively more people to make them productive without oil. But will many of those people be able to afford to buy land of their own as its value increases? You say agriculture will become a 'far greater employer of people'. So most of those who end up working on the land will become agricultural labourers? Although some may choose that occupation over any other, surely it's naive to assume that all of those who end up in this employment will be there because they would genuinely prefer to work for someone else for a wage than to work their own land. That has huge implications for our society. The last time that land ownership equated to power we effectively had a feudal society. In the peak oil world there has long been a concern that the issue of land ownership is crucial. If you ignore it, you may well end up with a new society of large land owners and a new class of basically serfs who are entirely dependent on their employers for food. Please tell me you've addressed the issue in the book? Surely the ownership or control of the most basic resource that we have is fundamental to who eats and how? Does the book deal with land ownership at all? There’s no mention of it here. Clearly the entire UK population can’t be fed from bits of ‘free’ land, allotments and back gardens here and there. And the huge industrial farms will need massively more people to make them productive without oil. But will many of those people be able to afford to buy land of their own as its value increases? You say agriculture will become a ‘far greater employer of people’. So most of those who end up working on the land will become agricultural labourers? Although some may choose that occupation over any other, surely it’s naive to assume that all of those who end up in this employment will be there because they would genuinely prefer to work for someone else for a wage than to work their own land. That has huge implications for our society. The last time that land ownership equated to power we effectively had a feudal society.

In the peak oil world there has long been a concern that the issue of land ownership is crucial. If you ignore it, you may well end up with a new society of large land owners and a new class of basically serfs who are entirely dependent on their employers for food. Please tell me you’ve addressed the issue in the book? Surely the ownership or control of the most basic resource that we have is fundamental to who eats and how?

]]> By: Timonie http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64352 Timonie Sat, 05 Sep 2009 10:12:43 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64352 Thanks for doing this important work to promote local food, and for mentioning Paul Hawken's book Blessed Unrest. To connect the global environmental, indigenous, and social justice movements, Paul founded WiserEarth http://www.wiserearth.org a free global online community. There are thousands of people and organizations collaborating sustainable agriculture on WiserEarth: http://www.wiserearth.org/aof/3 And many active Transition Groups: http://www.wiserearth.org/group/search?q=Transition Hope to see you on WiserEarth! With thanks for the important work you do. Thanks for doing this important work to promote local food, and for mentioning Paul Hawken’s book Blessed Unrest.

To connect the global environmental, indigenous, and social justice movements, Paul founded WiserEarth http://www.wiserearth.org a free global online community.

There are thousands of people and organizations collaborating sustainable agriculture on WiserEarth:

http://www.wiserearth.org/aof/3

And many active Transition Groups:

http://www.wiserearth.org/group/search?q=Transition

Hope to see you on WiserEarth!

With thanks for the important work you do.

]]> By: Rob http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64335 Rob Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:29:06 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64335 Kevin. The book is mostly UK-focused, but the principles and the ideas have a wider application. For the rest of the world it will be useful in terms of 'how to' stuff and the models, just that it is illustrated by examples from the UK. Hope that helps. Kevin. The book is mostly UK-focused, but the principles and the ideas have a wider application. For the rest of the world it will be useful in terms of ‘how to’ stuff and the models, just that it is illustrated by examples from the UK. Hope that helps.

]]> By: Kevin Wilson http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64332 Kevin Wilson Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:31:49 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64332 How UK-focused is the book? Is it going to be useful of simply interesting to the rest of the world? Not that "simply interesting" is bad, just that useful as well is even better :) How UK-focused is the book? Is it going to be useful of simply interesting to the rest of the world? Not that “simply interesting” is bad, just that useful as well is even better :)

]]> By: Building Materials Supplies http://transitionculture.org/2009/09/04/my-introduction-to-local-food-how-to-make-it-happen-in-your-community/comment-page-1/#comment-64326 Building Materials Supplies Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:11:40 +0000 http://transitionculture.org/?p=2917#comment-64326 I think there will be a indcreased use of allotments, also people will be having a vegtable patch in there garden. The promo book looks good! I think there will be a indcreased use of allotments, also people will be having a vegtable patch in there garden.

The promo book looks good!

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