Tuesday, 31 March 2009
From the Independent
Miss Universe had a 'lot of fun' in Guantanamo
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Reuters
Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza
One Rule for One...
Previous in this Blog I noted that Supermarkets feel they should not give up the right to retrospectively change contracts..... something that they do and put farms out of business. It's different in banking... contractual arrangements...
It's not just Fred Goodwin: ex-Fortis chief paid £5.8m as bank floundered
Sacked chief executive, Jean-Paul Votron, is 'contractually' obliged to get massive payment from Fortis
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 31 March 2009 14.55 BST
- Article history
Jean-Paul Votron (left) pictured with Count Maurice Lippens and Fred Goodwin in 2007. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/Guardian
Fortis, once one of Europe's top 10 banks, today revealed it paid its former chief executive €6.3m (£5.8m) despite his role in bringing it to the brink of bankruptcy.
Jean-Paul Votron, sacked in July last year, was a co-architect with RBS's Sir Fred "The Shred" Goodwin of the €70bn purchase of Dutch rival ABN Amro in 2007, just before the sub-prime crisis erupted,
This forced Fortis into a €28bn loss for 2008, which compounded investors' worst fears when it was reported today.
Monday, 30 March 2009
From Democracy Now
-
A 21st Century Hooverville: Seattle's Homeless Population Builds "Nickelsville," a Tent City Named After the City's Mayor
As the nation’s economic and housing crisis worsens, homelessness is also on the rise, and an increasing number of people are setting up roving encampments or shanty towns that are popularly known as tent cities. Seattle’s newest tent city is called Nickelsville. The encampment is made up of over 100 fuchsia tents and is named to protest Mayor Greg Nickels’s policies toward the homeless. [includes rush transcript]
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Sustainable Seattle: City Launches New Compost Pickup Program as Part of Zero Waste Strategy
We speak with Richard Conlin, one of the leading voices in the movement to build sustainable cities and reduce waste. Conlin is president of the Seattle City Council and a co-founder of the organization Sustainable Seattle. [includes rush transcript]
-
Citing Failed War on Drugs, Former Seattle Police Chief Calls for Legalization of Marijuana and All Drugs
Norm Stamper is a thirty-four-year police officer who retired as Seattle’s chief of police in 2000. He now supports the legalization of marijuana and an advisory board member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and a speaker for the 10,000-member Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. [includes rush transcript]
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Linux Business Model - From Sam
articles about the Linux business model (haven't really read them properly yet)
Time to un-chain the Yeoman
As such, yeoman may refer to several general meanings:
* A man holding a small landed estate, a minor landowner
* A freeman, or man born free
i.e. the dream of many..
Time to free farmers from Agri-business?
Trouble is 75% gone in the last 25 years ... Average age in the 60's...
--
Therefore we need a new generation of Yeoman to learn from the old, before its too late.
We need our talented young growing food in freedom and balance with nature.
Ensure a level playing field economically and it will happen
Stop corporate monopoly
Innovation comes from
Free people
And once again the Yeomanry of free men can help Britain great?
Or it will be 1984 for ever...........
Saturday, 28 March 2009
From the FT
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| | The following email has been sent to you by tim@churchfarmardeley.co.uk Community approach to create a dream farm enterprise By Annie Counsell Published: March 28 2009 02:00 | Last updated: March 28 2009 02:00 For some people, running their own business is a dream. For others, it is a mission. In Tim Waygood's case, it is both. Nestled in the rolling hills and fields of Still in its infancy - the cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, geese and ducks arrived just a year ago and the organic gardens and new orchards have yet to bear fruit - the farm buzzes with human activity and the livestock graze contentedly. Schoolchildren arrive to feed the chickens and pigs, located near the bucolic village centre of Ardeley with its historic church, thatched cottages, pond and village stall selling the farm's eggs. On first appearances, it seems to be a rural idyll, but much more lies behind the scenes. Waygood was driven to establish the project - along with other like-minded locals, family members, friends, and backing from organisations (such as the Waygood wants to involve households and investors to help create a secure, affordable, sustainable lifestyle which is an alternative to supermarket dependence. He is passionate about finding an alternative to agribusiness, supermarkets and the corporate food industry. "I am dreaming with my eyes open," he says. "Things can happen, and there is room and enough money in the food chain for us. Tesco, for example, has to pay for HR (human resources) departments and run huge offices. It also incurs massive freight costs. The wheat cost of a loaf of bread - at farm gate prices - is only five pence. We can compete." Waygood is a social entrepreneur - and one part of his big picture is already taking shape. "Agrarian Renaissance exists to create replicable models and therefore create change," he says. The furthest forward is "Rural Care" which involves former drug addicts, mentally ill patients and the disabled who come to the farm for work/therapy and interaction, as well as imbibing the whole picture of nature and wildlife. This generates income from Social Services, engages people in the project, provides positive benefits and contributes to the community as a whole. "With care farming, this is one example of a win-win model and an early success," he says. "We intend to lower the entrance hurdle for other farmers, growers and/or therapists from £50,000- £100,000 to £5,000-£20,000 to set up. "This division has become cash positive after four months and we expect it to provide an income of between £15,000 and £20,000 for others who take up this 'social franchise'. Work is in progress, but we will not be rolling this out until late summer." "Overall, we have invested over £800,000 to date, financed by remortgaging my house, cashing in all Peps and Isas and a bank loan. We aim to raise up to £20m over the coming 25 months," he adds. The figures look daunting, but Waygood has a background of success and a hard-nosed business instinct. He jokes that he managed to get a degree in agriculture from While doing a paper on "rural diversification", Waygood was busy putting it all into practice, hence not attending lectures. He established MotivAction - a team-building/corporate entertainment company on the farm premises that his grandfather took on in 1958 - Church Farm. Waygood says that it took from 1987 to 1994 to make a profit, but then turnover went from £2m to £10m in a few years as people bungee- jumped on board. The venture even included Russian cosmonauts. A stint at So Agrarian Renaissance was born in 2007. Waygood's mission is to reduce carbon inputs - "we are eating oil and nitrates" he says. "Taxpayers are paying to clean up the mess." The first year has not been easy - but people, investors and other interests are buying in. However, future projects are much more capital intensive. "The returns to myself and others as major investors and lenders to the enterprise are capped - loans, for instance, are capped at 4 per cent above base rate," says Waygood. "We are recruiting and looking for a 'magnificent seven' team of interested investors and entrepreneurs to help create and prove viable, sustainable and ecological alternatives to the existing supermarket/agri-business mono-culture." Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009 This article can be found at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d540a300-1b37-11de-8aa3-0000779fd2ac,_i_email=y.html | |
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Matthew Taylor Report
Agrarian Renaissance particularly highlighted the necessity to provide rural communities with opportunities for a mix of employment and adequate housing provision:
“Reduced opportunities for rural communities to evolve and thrive, and to maintain a life (and economy) of their own, means rural areas are in danger of becoming mere dormitories, with reduced mutual interaction and potentially no reason for anyone to travel to those areas other than to go back home. This reduces the viability of public transport links, which in turn reduces the potential for a certain type of mutual interaction with other places, and a vicious cycle of steady isolation and decline is in place”.
Friday, 27 March 2009
Eating Fossil Fuels - food - war
The use of fossil fuel energy for nitrogen fertiliser accounts for 37% of the total energy used by UK agriculture.
Fertiliser and pesticide 50% of fossil fuel input.
No oil - we starve - therefore we need secure oil suppliers.... therefore....
No oil - we starve - therefore we need secure oil suppliers.... therefore....
The need for an Agrarian Renaissance
- The need for sustainable agriculture far less reliant on fossil fuels for fertilizer.
- The need for far more local food production and consumption.
- The need for local, sustainable heat, water and power delivered on-farm.
- The need for zero carbon, and affordable housing, for people to work the land part and full time.
- The need for less travel to and from work and to use sustainable resources.
- The need for financially viable farm diversification to provide food not commodities.
- The need to retain and enhance the gene pool of traditional breeds and seeds suitable for organic and traditional farming.
- The need for renewing traditional country crafts and farming practises, integrating them with sustainable modern research The need for restoration of our rural community heritage, inspiring farm buildings and traditional farm environments.
- The need for local dwellings and jobs for local people.
Cheap Food is not CHEAP !!!!!!!!!!!
1.We pay tax and the EU distributes £30billion in proportion to acres owned as a “subsidy”
2.We pay for Nitrate Pollution in our water supply now for 1970 and in 40 years for today
3.We get pesticide residues in plants. Antibiotic resistance in animals.
4.50% of women and 66% of men overweight / obese costing NHS huge sums.
5.We have broken the “ancient contract” with animals, debasing them and us.
6.We eat young but sick animals generally kept intensively and bred to be freaks.
7.Frankenstein foods, additives not proven to be safe.
8.Nutrition from vegetables to milk to meat reduced and dangerous.
9.Destruction of Countryside & Wildlife – from Bees to Lapwings
10.Loss of farmers and skills. Average farmer now in 60’s.
…… and it’s no longer cheap … it is expensive
…….business as usual is not a good option
notes on Church Farm Ardeley
We realise that there is value outside of food production that comes from a mixed farm. Diversity and wildlife conservation enables us to enjoy seeing wildlife that has been renewed through the construction of ponds, woodland and hedgerow habitats combined with 20 years of no pesticides. An enhanced environment creates enhanced value by enabling;
–Uplifting working environment with an interesting mixture of tasks and challenges in an inspiring setting.
–Events, studies, enjoyment of wildlife flora and fauna. From Badger watching to wild food foraging.
–Leisure, rest and relaxation benefits that come form being in glorious countryside.
–Resilience – a mixed harvest of farmed and wild produce is a more resilient long term system.
–Ethical and moral control and benefits of healthier more nutritious food that is sustainable and enhances the environment.
We aim for;
–Traditional mixed farming that is Ecological Rational Sustainable
–A reputation for high welfare and exemplary treatment of animals
–Low Food Miles. On farm food storage and preparation
–Opportunities for society, volunteer and community members
–100% Traceable food with minimal packaging
About Church Farm, Ardeley,
Church Farm, Ardeley is a 175 acre farm that was planted with a grass clover ley in 1990 and been “set aside” since then. The present landlord, Roger Waygood moved to the farm with his father, William Waygood in 1958. Prior to this there it was dairy and arable, from 1958 to 1990 the farm was used for wheat, barley, seeds hay and sustained a herd of 120 sows and battery laying hens.
Considerable effort has gone into habitat creation and maintenance. Projects include: 2 new ponds with wetland habitats - providing water for animals, birds & wildfowl – mallard, tufted duck, heron, cormorant, geese, dragonflies, swifts, peewit's & swallows.
In 1999 15 acres of native hardwood was planted and in 2002 created another 8 acres of woodland. Mature woodland on the farm extends to 10 acres. Over the past 15 years the woodland has been managed to let light into the bottom. Bluebells cover at least an acre either side of a public bridleway through this wood – an ancient hornbeam coppice woodland spring.
Grey partridge have recovered after 20 years of no pesticides, brown hares are common again, the first snipe has been spotted, and field fares, cuckoo, woodpecker, barn owls, little owls and a plethora of songbirds are commonly spotted. Deer include muntjac & fallow. There are also at least three badger sets.
We plan to prove our concept here. We will ecologically grow farm crops and livestock in an integrated system building up long term benefit through excellent husbandry.
Reconnecting Food, Land and People
Seems to me the possible positive outcome.
If we are to have a better life, for less, then we need to collaborate and create value.
This impressed me today...
Linking drivers and passengers to share the cost of travel... Saves you money, helps other people and reduces pollution.
| About Freewheelers Freewheelers is free and only available via the Internet. It provides an online database for people offering or requiring lifts. Going to an Event? Hook up with people travelling to work, festivals, gigs and sporting events. Travel to WOMAD Charlton Park, Buddhafield Festival, Healing Field Gathering, Big Green Gathering, Sunrise Celebration, Eden Project, Earthwise Gathering and Glastonbury Festival and many many more... You tell us! | Low Cost Travel Search through the Freewheelers travel database. Request and Offer lifts. Login and Travel To access contact information for other Freewheelers lift sharers. But you must register below first. List your own events and places Let us know about events and places you want to travel to any where in the world. |
The start of the "Summer of Rage" - received via email
STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER
No. 1087 25 March 2009
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
Tel: 020 7801 2768
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk
In this newsletter:
1) GET READY FOR A WEEK OF PROTEST
2) SAT 28 MARCH: PUT PEOPLE FIRST DEMONSTRATION
3) MON 30 MARCH: PUBLIC MEETING: MEET THE RESISTANCE
4) TUE 31 MARCH: STOP THE WAR PRESENTS LOWKEY
5) WED 1 APRIL: YES WE CAN DEMONSTRATION
6) THURS 2 APRIL, 11AM PROTEST AT THE EXCEL CENTRE
7) APR 3-5 NO TO NATO INTERNATIONAL DEMONSTRATION
*****************************************
1) GET READY FOR A WEEK OF PROTEST
Stop the War's main event at the G20 is the YES WE CAN
demonstration which starts at the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square
at 2.00pm on Wednesday 1 April.
But we have a week of protest coming up at the G20 and NATO
(details below). It is crucial we make sure the world's
leaders can't escape the massive opposition to the wars they
are waging.
For more information on any of these events please contact the
Stop the War office on 020 7801 2768 on or check the
website www.stopwar.org.uk
*****************************************
2) SAT 28 MARCH: PUT PEOPLE FIRST DEMONSTRATION
Stop the War is encouraging its supporters to join this
demonstration called by the TUC and NGO's calling for Jobs and
action on poverty and the environment.
We will be forming an anti war/solidarity with Palestine
contingent on the demo. Look for the Jobs Not Bombs banner,
meet at Temple Tube 10.30 am.
http://www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk
*****************************************
3) MON 30 MARCH: PUBLIC MEETING: MEET THE RESISTANCE
THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE & JUSTICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Come and hear elected representatives from the resistance in
Palestine and Lebanon.
Speakers:
HUSSEIN EL-HAJJ HASSAN MP
Lebanon’s Loyalty to the Resistance Parliamentary Bloc
HASAN KHREISHI
Vice President of the Palestinian Legislative Council
JEREMY CORBYN MP
Stop the War Coalition
JOHN REES
Vice President (Europe) Cairo Conference
DYAB ABOU JAHJAH
International Co-Ordinator of the International Union of
Parliamentarians For Palestine
SUKANT CHANDAN
English Chair of IUPFP
Time: 7pm
Date: Monday 30th March
Place: Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, London (nearest
tube, Euston or Euston Square)
Entrance £2
*****************************************
4) TUE 31 MARCH: STOP THE WAR PRESENTS LOWKEY
Tears to Laughter, a benefit and launch party for Lowkey's new
single and for the G20 protests. Featuring Faith SFX and
Shadia Mansour.
8pm, Vibe Bar, Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, E1 6QL 8pm.
Contact the Stop the War office on 020 7801 2768 to book your
ticket.
*****************************************
5) WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL: YES WE CAN DEMONSTRATION
Troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, End the Siege of Gaza,
Make Jobs not Bombs, Abolish nukes, End Arms Sales to Israel.
Assemble 2pm US Embassy Grosvenor Square.
The demonstration will start by handing in a message to Barack
Obama at the US embassy. We will then march through central
London at the moment the world leaders' arrive and Obama meets
Gordon Brown at Downing Street.
3.30 RALLY IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE. Speakers include Tony Benn,
Arthur Scargill, Daud Abdullah from the Muslim Council of
Britain, anti debt campaigner Susan George, and Keith Sonnet
from UNISON. Performers include Palestinian singer Reem
Kolanai and rapper Lowkey.
*****************************************
6) THURS 2 APRIL, 11AM PROTEST AT THE EXCEL CENTRE
Details to be announced.
*****************************************
7) NO TO NATO INTERNATIONAL DEMONSTRATION
FRIDAY 3 APRIL: 6am Victoria Embankment. Join the coach for
Strasbourg No To NATO protests. Book online at
www.stopwar.org.uk or by phone on 020 7801 2768
SATURDAY 4 APRIL: NO to NATO International Demonstration,
Strasbourg
SUNDAY 5 APRIL: Strasbourg Counter Conference
Thursday, 26 March 2009
From Press TV
| US shanty towns spread like wildfire Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:11:32 GMT | |
"They just popped up about 18 months ago," said homeless advocate Paul Stack, according to a New York Times article released on Thursday. "One day it was empty. The next day, there were people living there." While Americans residing in big cities like Los Angeles and New York are already familiar with tent cities, the number of homeless is spreading like wildfire across the US. "These are able-bodied folks that did day labor, at minimum wage or better, who were previously able to house themselves based on their income," said Michael Stoops, the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless -- an advocacy group based in Washington. In Fresno, California's fifth largest city of 500,000 people, there are now an estimated 2,000 people without shelter, according to Gregory Barfield, the city's homeless prevention and policy manager. Barfield claims that drug use, prostitution and violence are quite common in tent cities. "That's all part of that underground economy," he said. "It's what happens when a person is trying to survive." Asked recently about growing shanty towns, President Barack Obama said that it was "not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours." RB/AA | |
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Tuesday, 24 March 2009
From the Ecologist
Quality food production and biodiversity protection
Ecologist 13/03/2009
Animals grazed on biodiverse pasture produce better tasting, and healthier, meat
A new study by researchers at the University of Essex has confirmed that not only does meat from animals grazed on rich, biodiverse pasture have a better nutritional profile, but it tastes better too.
The scientists examined the pastures at 40 different beef, lamb and dairy farms, and then analysed the meat produced in a laboratory, through a taste panel and focus groups.
They discovered that lamb from biodiverse pastures contained more vitamin E than lamb from ordinary pasture, as well as having higher levels of healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).
The meat also had lower levels of skatole, a chemical produced in the rumen which can adversely affect the food’s smell.
Similar results were found for beef, which contained higher levels of beneficial fatty acids and, depending on breed, more tender and flavoursome meat.
From the Herts Mercury - Emma , Lambs and School
By Gemma Gardner
YOUNGSTERS flocked to Church Farm in Ardeley to witness one of spring's natural wonders - lambing time.
Hertfordshire Mercury - Ardeley pupils see wonders of spring.
Pupils at Ardeley School visited the farm to witness, if they were lucky, the birth of a lamb.
The youngsters also had the opportunity to feed some of the orphans rejected by their mothers.
Church Farm specialises in providing locally grown, organic produce from traditional English breeds and is keen to involve the local community in its drive to produce both healthy food and a healthy environment.
Headteacher Christine Gibbard said: "It's not the first visit to the farm for the children, who have also helped with tree planting in the orchard and gathering eggs from the free range chickens.
"We take every available opportunity to let our pupils experience life outside the classroom and it's marvellous that our children can see first-hand how food is grown and produced on the land in a way which considers both people and wildlife."
PICTURE AND VIDEOS CLICK HERE
Sunday, 22 March 2009
'Ponzimonium' - from the Guardian
Collapsing markets expose 'Ponzimonium' of scam artists
* Andrew Clark in New York
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 20 March 2009 00.01 GMT
* Article history
Financial authorities in the US are investigating "hundreds" of individuals and entities over suspected Ponzi schemes as turmoil on the global financial market exposes fraudsters, whose ill-gotten gains have remained undetected for years.
The commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Bart Chilton, warned today of "rampant Ponzimonium". He was speaking as the biggest Wall Street fraudster on record, Bernard Madoff, failed to gain release from prison. A federal appeals court ruled that the 70-year-old must remain incarcerated until his formal sentencing in June, when he is expected to be committed to prison for the rest of his life.
Chilton said that regulators are uncovering more Ponzi schemes in the wake of high-profile cases such as the Madoff debacle and charges filed against Allen Stanford.
"Regulators are certainly seeing more of these scams than ever before," said Chilton. "Although some of the crooks are so accomplished that they are hard to detect and remain below the radar for years."
Chilton said that in the last month alone the CFTC had gone after fraudsters in seven states. "These guys are relentless - sending out bogus statements, slick monthly portfolios," he said. "One even used an imposter to pose as a successful investor who gave glowing testimonials."
He added that many of those responsible led high-profile lives. "It is incredible what they think that can get away with. One crook bought an expensive teddy bear collection while another bought - can you believe it? - an entire drag-racing team."
After three months under house arrest in his Manhattan penthouse, Madoff was jailed after pleading guilty last week to 11 criminal charges including fraud, theft, money-laundering and perjury.
A three-judge appeals panel said today that he must stay in prison because there were grounds to consider him at risk of flight. "The defendant has a residence abroad, and has had ample opportunity over a long period of time to secrete substantial resources outside the country."
Agrarian Renaissance :5 Founding Insights
1) Food and farming must change. (This is stronger than an assumption, it is an observed fact)
2) There are high-enough margins in the current food system that, if they can be captured directly and efficiently by a farm, a different kind of farming can be viable now.
3) A way of doing this is to expand our idea of what a farm can be, and to start to think of a farm as a service rather than a producer of commodities.
4) The infrastructure which is needed for all this can be self-financing through appropriate development, which can also act as a wider catalyst for rural renewal.
5) If this can be done once, it can be done again......and indeed be replicated in many parts of the UK.
A key element is that farms can, and should, play multiple roles in addition to the food and farming core. These should include some or all of the following;
Business premises and support
Community facilities
Housing provision
Leisure and social opportunities
Energy Generation
Carbon Sequestration
Agrarian Renaissance will provide information, assistance and capacity to farmers, landowners and others who want to develop businesses in line with this vision.
An introduction to Agrarian Renaissanc
Rural communities and UK agriculture can and must play a vital role in achieving a more sustainable society and economy. Agrarian Renaissance aims to have a national impact by making a local difference – starting in East Hertfordshire – addressing peak oil, climate change and food security.
We aim to help revitalise the UK’s rural way of life with innovative systems and business models. These will enhance energy and food security and minimise future climate impacts.
We see a current and future opportunity for rural areas to rediscover their identity and purpose, and to tackle long-standing issues. These include; economic decline, social isolation, poor services and facilities, the cost of living, the lack of affordable housing, threatened wildlife, an ageing population and the numerous difficulties facing UK farmers, trying to produce safe sustainable food.
Agrarian Renaissance is working on a model for the redevelopment of small and medium sized farms into multi-faceted rural hubs at the centre of reinvigorated low-carbon communities. These farms will be centres of traditional, mixed farming and localised food preparation and distribution. They will provide accessible routes on to the housing ladder for young families living and working in rural areas. They will encourage entrepreneurship, enable a range of facilities and services and, hopefully, catalyse wider engagement in a process of village and parish planning.
The core of the model will be a food and farming society with local membership benefiting from group discounts as well as social, leisure and lifestyle opportunities. Central to that model is a demonstration that this kind of farming can be financed and made profitable.
A community land trust will enable the financing and construction of the different built elements, and will ensure their ongoing management. Rural Care Farming (applying the principles of therapeutic horticulture and "green care" to working farms) is an integral part of the model, providing an additional income stream, reintegrating the farms socially, and helping to bridge the rural-urban divide.
We are working to develop a model at Church Farm which will act as a template for replication on other farms in Hertfordshire, the East of England, nationwide and perhaps further.
We aim to help revitalise the UK’s rural way of life with innovative systems and business models. These will enhance energy and food security and minimise future climate impacts.
We see a current and future opportunity for rural areas to rediscover their identity and purpose, and to tackle long-standing issues. These include; economic decline, social isolation, poor services and facilities, the cost of living, the lack of affordable housing, threatened wildlife, an ageing population and the numerous difficulties facing UK farmers, trying to produce safe sustainable food.
Agrarian Renaissance is working on a model for the redevelopment of small and medium sized farms into multi-faceted rural hubs at the centre of reinvigorated low-carbon communities. These farms will be centres of traditional, mixed farming and localised food preparation and distribution. They will provide accessible routes on to the housing ladder for young families living and working in rural areas. They will encourage entrepreneurship, enable a range of facilities and services and, hopefully, catalyse wider engagement in a process of village and parish planning.
The core of the model will be a food and farming society with local membership benefiting from group discounts as well as social, leisure and lifestyle opportunities. Central to that model is a demonstration that this kind of farming can be financed and made profitable.
A community land trust will enable the financing and construction of the different built elements, and will ensure their ongoing management. Rural Care Farming (applying the principles of therapeutic horticulture and "green care" to working farms) is an integral part of the model, providing an additional income stream, reintegrating the farms socially, and helping to bridge the rural-urban divide.
We are working to develop a model at Church Farm which will act as a template for replication on other farms in Hertfordshire, the East of England, nationwide and perhaps further.
Agrarian Renaissance :Action Areas
1.Rural Hubs
Rural community and enterprise hubs consisting of build elements including farm buildings, food preparation and processing, rural enterprise zone, community store and facilities and live-work dwellings. Energy, waste and water independent. Leveraging the hope value of land to rebuild the rural infrastructure needed for a local food economy. Innovative CLT based financing.
2.Food & Farming Society
A society of members coming together to co-operate, support the farm, benefit from social and leisure events, receive groceries, food and a full affordable lifestyle service with discounts of up to 20% off retail prices. Creating local ownership and links with the land.
3.Traditional Food & Farming
A lower fossil fuel input mixed farming system producing high quality and high welfare food whilst caring for animals, people and the environment. Potential to design farming systems that enable farms to be carbon sinks.
4.Rural Care Farming Franchise
Integrating “green care” and enabling a small number of disadvantaged, stressed and depressed people to receive purposeful and professional care whilst actively contributing to the farm and community. We are close to being in a position to roll this out in 2009.
5. Education & Learning – Ecological Food & Farming
Practical food growing, preparing and processing skills are disappearing - a renaissance needs and creates the demand for formal, informal, electronic, practical and real learning experiences. These will range from half day workshops through to masters level studies.
6. Campaign for an Agrarian Renaissance
Agri-business spend millions campaigning for GMO’s and industrial solutions to food security. We will counteract this professionally and effectively through communications, events and the internet. We will campaign by demonstrating alternatives and effective ecological approaches to food, farming and society, communicating the alternatives and insisting on level, free and fair markets.
From the Guardian Comments Page
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SocialSkeptic 22 Mar 09, 12:30am (about 16 hours ago)
Through increased surveillance, limitations on protest, the handing of ever more power to unelected bodies, and most importantly the shift towards pragmatism instead of principle, you and your Government are the biggest threat to Britishness and the British way of life.
Lord Bingham expressed this superbly at the Convention on Modern Liberty:
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have heard much discussion in recent years about British values. Questions have been asked about whether such values exist and if so what they are. To our forebears of 1, 2 or 3 centuries ago the answers to these questions would have been obvious. What distinguishes Britain, they wouldve said - proudly and without hesitation - is that personal liberty flourishes here as nowhere else on the face of the earth. And they would, to a very large extent, have been right.
How times have changed.
From the Independent
Religulous: Borat-style satire on faith causes outrage
British release for controversial US movie will increase friction between atheists and believers
Sunday, 22 March 2009
- Print Article
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AP
The Pope caused global outrage last week when he suggested on a trip to Africa not only that Aids 'cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms' but that they 'even aggravate the problems'
From The Observer
Britain set to become most populous country in EU
Soaring population will force millions to flee water shortages in search of refuge - and, according to new figures, Britain will be one of the world's 'lifeboats'. On the eve of a major population conference, Science Editor Robin McKie asks: could the UK cope?
- The Observer, Sunday 22 March 2009
- Article history
Britain will become one of the world's major destinations for immigrants as the world heats up and populations continue to soar. Statistics from the United Nations show that, on average, every year more than 174,000 people will be added to the numbers in the UK and that this trend will continue for the next four decades.
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Its simple really
Thinking
Are we extinct, beyond tipping points.
Individually we are born doomed, no man,
Remembered for more than 3 generations.
So whether Gaia is over or not : We were and are always doomed sometime.
So
We might as well make the best of it. Now and our limited long term.
Deja Vu - The Indie
Richard Ingrams’s Week: Come the revolution, who will be there to protect us?
Saturday, 21 March 2009
My friend who keeps in close touch with the Army's top brass tells me that there is talk in the officers' mess of possible "civil disorder" in Britain with consequent demands on the military to suppress it. With the British Army scattered fighting unwinnable wars, that might be a difficult assignment.
There were similar mutterings in the 1970s when the country was faced with severe economic difficulties as it is now. Several VIPs – not just generals – became convinced that a revolution spearheaded by left-wing trade unionists was a real possibility and there was even talk of mounting a military coup in order to suppress it. "Feebleness has been this country's undoing," James Lees-Milne wrote in his diary in January 1974. "No national service, the exultation of godlessness, cynicism, the terrorism unchecked. I think it very possible that there may be fighting within four months."
There are precious few militant trade unionists these days but there is plenty of cynicism and terrorism, plus a growing awareness that politicians (with the possible exception of Mr Vince Cable) are out of their depth. You can't rely on the bankers and you certainly can't trust the police. So if there were to be civil disorder, which is not at all unlikely given the state of things at present, those generals might well start thinking that they could make a better job of keeping things in order than Gordon or Dave.
House Price : Pension 2
On the surface deja vu
TV interior, growing consumer.
Total escape,
From Trap to Trap.
Maybe Bob.. Its a Rat Trap.
And we have all been caught.
Friday, 20 March 2009
All I have learnt
I was 21 years when I wrote this song.
Dreams bust, future gone, credit crunched,
Sacked from first job part time, studying,
Agriculture, at the start of 20 years of devastation,
And our farm one knocked down in 1988,
The irony of the fightback, tongue in cheek,
Human Table Football, You get paid for this !
A life free from corporate, propagandga, work,
A business with purpose, purpose to be free,
And many roads, travelled, spiders webs of diversions.
And then the dead, still living, and maybe a chink,
There maybe common sense, a possibility of common purpose,
Out of the crunch, this wonderful recession, from pain, maybe,
Change.
Slowly andsuddenly, the lonely sane connect, fear is overplayed,
The internet enables. The truth
From the Independent -Read The first "reader comment" at the bottom
Whistle-blower urges Iraq war public inquiry
Former diplomat tells of 'fundamental failure of transparency' in government
Friday, 20 March 2009
Carne Ross: A lot of facts about the run-up to war have yet to come to light
From Mike - Treehugger
Permaculture
Way back in '06 Warren schooled us all on what permaculture is all about.
“Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems.” Now if that sounds a little too New Agey for you, think of it as William McDonough’s Cradle-to-Cradle concept, but applied to food. In nature there is no waste, the end life of one entity provides the the beginning for another. Think of it as Biomimicry for food.It was developed in the 1970's by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren on the southern Australian island state of Tasmania.
Their design sets out to create different agricultural ‘zones’, so that many productive edges are formed. But permaculture in imitating the complexity of natural systems, right down to how night air moves, defies simple explanation.
What is good about Permaculture?
It mimics nature, and works with what ya got. And once you get going it's almost all maintenance. When the shit hits the fan, I'm reaching for my back issues of Permaculture Activist. (I hope it's not too late.)
What is bad about Permaculture?
It's a heck of a lot of work to start, and it doesn't fit into our current social paradigm.
More on Permaculture
Permaculture Association UK
Talking Permaculture with Joe Polaischer of Rainbow Valley Farm - Part 1
Permaculture: Spreading the Green Gospel
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Light Pollution
Wasted Light means Wasted Energy
You will find an animated link to Earth Hour at the top RHS of the HOME page.
If you want to understand how much energy we waste, look at the picture on the right.
Wembley today (7-7-2007) TURNED OFF its non-essential lights at the Live Earth pop extravaganza. You know that it makes sense? If they can do it so can YOU!
Turn OFF non-essential lights and Save Planet Earth for OUR FUTURE!
This is a satellite image that shows light pollution (LP) and hence nightly energy wastage. There would be less with fewer lights. It has been coloured as follows:
- Red/Orange - areas of high wastage and therefore bad LP.
- Yellow/Green - areas with moderate wastage and moderate LP.
- Blue/Black - areas of lower wastage and hence less LP.
This photograph shows the sheer amount of light that is going up into the sky. A colossal waste of energy that illuminates our night skies and confuses insects and animals. Breeding patterns are disturbed, food chains disrupted and vast amounts of carbon dioxide are generated by power stations to create the electricity that lights up the night sky.
If you are interested you can find images of England in the UK at night here - ................................ ... http://www.cpre.org.uk/campaigns/landscape-and-beauty/light-pollution/light-pollution-your-area.htm
From the Guardian - Clawback time?
Obama on back foot as representatives vote to tax bonuses amid AIG row
House passes emergency legislation to impose 90% tax on executive bonuses paid with bail-out funds
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 19 March 2009 21.24 GMT
- Article history
Congress today voted by an overwhelming majority to claw back executive bonuses amid mounting frustration at the apparent impotence of the Obama administration to deal with the scandal.
In the face of public outrage at bonuses paid last week to executives of the bailed-out insurance giant AIG, the House of Representatives passed an emergency measure to impose 90% tax on the cash handouts, which total around $165m (£114m). It passed by 328 votes to 93.
In a parallel with the row in Britain over payouts to bankers, the bonuses have become the focal point for simmering discontent in the US over the billions being paid to bail out struggling banks and financial institutions. Television bulletins have been dominated all week by the public backlash against AIG, which lost $100bn last year and has received $170bn in federal aid to keep it afloat.
Congress is pointing the finger of blame at the White House for failing to take measures to prevent huge bonuses being paid to executives of institutions being bailed out.
... and again, this is why we need an Agrarian Renaissance
From the Feeding the World Conference
From the Conference
www.feedingtheworldconference.org
This conference was held on 12 Nov 2008 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, London.
We are now publishing speakers’ presentations, follow-up articles and news here on the blog. Please visit again soon, and subscribe to our RSS feed.
Conference begins - Dr Jeremy Cherfas chaired the first session
Feeding the World
Are GM Crops Fit For Purpose? If Not, Then What?
This conference examined, searchingly and honestly, the claims and counter claims of one of the most critical issues of our time.
Defra Ministers recently declared their support for the use of GM crops and given opponents a year to come up with proof that they are harmful.
Yet, a major scientific study, the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), questioned the relevance of GM to food security and has called for a shift to agro-ecological food production.
But will that be enough? Is it possible to feed a growing population on a planet of finite and diminishing resources? Leading researchers and practitioners examined this question, together with the claims and counter claims about the potential and limitations of GM cropping, and the status of agro-ecological alternatives.
With the support and participation of charitable foundations, academics, researchers, NGOs, farmers and policy makers from the UK and abroad this conference brought a wide and challenging perspective to questions and issues that are too often mired in cliché and propaganda.
Presentations (PDF format)
SESSION ONE: Tackling the GM claims
Dr Michael Antoniou: The GM Transformation Process as Applied to Crops
Dr Brian Johnson: GM Crops and Biodiversity – is this solely a GM issue?
Eric Kisiangani: Why the GM route won’t feed a hungry Africa
Prof Jack Heinemann: Transgene flow (no PDF available)
SESSION TWO: Feeding the World
Dr Jeremy Cherfas: Nutritional Diversity and Food-based Approaches to Malnutrition
Prof Janice Jiggins: Systemic Risk in Food and Farming
Dr Charlie Clutterbuck: What is Feeding the World and Food Security anyway?
Dr Julia Wright: Success with Agro-Ecology; the Case of Drought Resistance
Sound recordings
These link to MP3 files, which may take a while to download.
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