4 Jul 2008
Last week saw the launch of the 2nd Totnes local food directory, entitled “A Celebration of Local Food: Totnes guide to local food, shopping, eating out and places to stay”. The first directory was published around the same time last year, and provided shoppers with information to support their sourcing of local food and support for local shops. This second revised and updated directory, produced by Transition Town Totnes along with the Totnes Development Trust, was funded by an award from the National Lottery’s ‘Awards for All’ scheme and now includes bed and breakfasts, pubs and advice on what foods are in season at different times of year.
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2 Jul 2008
I have the great pleasure of being a Trustee of the Soil Association, and as part of a recent meeting, we visited St. Katherine’s School in Pill, just outside Bristol. St. Katherine’s is one of the 54 schools which have joined the Soil Association’s Food for Life Partnership (FfL). FfL provides a forum for schools and their communities to have a positive experience around food, reconnecting with local and organic food and farming.
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24 Jun 2008
Here is an article from one of our local newspapers published last Friday, which takes a Transition-tinged look at the current oil crisis.
Why Oil Crisis Could be Trigger for a Better Future. Western Morning News. 20th June 2008
Crude oil prices trading at a record 140 a barrel. Truck driver strikes leading to panic buying at petrol stations across the country. Saudi Arabia promising to pump more oil after desperate calls from world leaders. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the global economy’s third oil price shock.
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28 May 2008
Quite suddenly and almost by accident, a wholly new political movement has exploded upon the scene. It erupted in Totnes, an ancient town on Devon’s River Dart of only 7,500 inhabitants. Scarcely two years ago, a small group of its citizens took note of the announcement that the global supply of oil had ‘peaked’, (meaning that against a rapidly expanding demand for a resource which has been the basis of industrial development and economic expansion for at least 150 years, the supply would sooner or not much later run out or become unaffordable). So did a lot of other people of course, but the Totnes group were unique in deciding to do something about it. They realised that what was at stake was an urgent need to change an entire lifestyle, currently based on the availability of oil, to one based on local resources.
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27 May 2008
Graham Strouts over at Zone5.org recently posted a piece about the end of term at Kinsale FEC, and the graduation of another year’s permaculture graduates. It was particularly poignant this year because John Thuillier, the college’s Principal who initially got the permaculture course going, and his wife Margaret who handled much of the college’s admin, are retiring. To commemorate, Graham sent me a list of questions exploring the early days of the Permaculture course out of which what is now a 2 year full time course, the Kinsale EDAP and, ultimately, the Transition movement, grew. You can read the original here, and although it won’t be of interest to everyone, some of you might find a taste of the course’s history to be of interest.
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Last week saw the launch of the 2nd Totnes local food directory, entitled “A Celebration of Local Food: Totnes guide to local food, shopping, eating out and places to stay”. The first directory was published around the same time last year, and provided shoppers with information to support their sourcing of local food and support for local shops. This second revised and updated directory, produced by Transition Town Totnes along with the Totnes Development Trust, was funded by an award from the National Lottery’s ‘Awards for All’ scheme and now includes bed and breakfasts, pubs and advice on what foods are in season at different times of year. 
