(Prompt notes of 30th Jun. 2009 for talk “LOCAL RESILIENCE REQUIRED” given to W.I. (Womens Institute, Knighton,UK)

* Problem = Urban sprawl ‘virus’. More tarmac/ More buildings = less land = less natural habitats = less food production areas

* 50% of UK’s food is now imported – we no longer ‘Dig for (our) Victory’

* Saw “Inconvenient Truth” film (Knighton Hotel). One person said global changes are natural not a result of human activity – does it matter who or what’s changing it?

* UK importing short-haired Bumble Bees to pollinate our crops – ours can’t survive the environmental changes (?)

* CAN WE SURVIVE the environmental changes?

* “What goes round comes around” A healthy environment breeds healthy, fit people. The great plague started in an unhealthy London – what great problem starts on an unhealthy Planet?

HAVE WE GOT a healthy environment now?

* We hide the problems – dumping at sea – on our own doorstep = local landfill … the Great Heyope tyre dump – an ongoing water pollution problem for centuries(?)

WE ALL NEED TO TRY and APPLY solutions on our door step:

* LOCAL FOOD = Sheep/Cattle but also Allotments (Knighton/ Knucklas) … more and more local growing schemes.

BRINGING LOCAL FOOD SECURITY – lower ‘food miles’ (Transition Town movement/ Farmer’s Markets)

LOCAL RESILIENCE REQUIRED
* Communities culture their survival skills = culturing food BUT ALSO culturing local traditions/ skills

* Members of the W.I. do this naturally – baking, preserving, crafts. We need to culture THESE SKILLS and MORE – ALL Communities must win and possibly fight to win – but it’s a new friendly enemy we’re fighting – “ourselves”.

The Environment we share with everyone on this planet is under friendly enemy fire – we are shooting ourselves in the foot – happily supporting the growth of global economics …

* For example, how many of us have friends living on the coast who visit a supermarket to buy fish – fish that may have clocked up air and road miles from Vietnam/ New Zealand? Why? Because the UK sea environment gets fished using industrial fishing methods – sucking out more than Nature provides – an IMBALANCE.

THE BALANCE MUST RETURN

As the World’s Human population expands, so grows its thirst and hunger. This puts stress on Nature’s Larder so farming is born. Farms need to produce more than Nature’s soils will yield naturally giving rise to inorganic farming methods which stress soil structure and can kill soil biomass.

Humans have a thirst and hunger for energy, food, water, knowledge and fun – but there will be no fun or anything else if the quality of the environment falls.

(Talk by Siggy + Grant)

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[Notes posted by Grant 30 June 2009]