August 10th 2011 ~ UK riots - Police say neighbourhood allotment scheme has halved instances of local trouble
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Landshare initiative is making a huge difference, it seems. According to the Radio Times, a particular success story is in Leigh in Wigan, where the scheme began.
"According to local police, the communal allotment on Melrose Avenue has had a huge impact on life in the neighbourhood.
"This has been a wonderful project that gives children something positive, healthy and educational to do," said PCSO Wendy Walters. "The allotment has undoubtedly contributed to a staggering 51 per cent reduction in antisocial behaviour on the estate in the last year."
And local residents agree. "The estate has seen a great improvement in antisocial behaviour since the allotment started," said one. "The site gives children somewhere to go and something to do."
Having a stake in your community means not wanting to trash it. The article is quick to say that it would be "simplistic to suggest that allotments are the answer to society’s ills" - but growing food as a communal activity must surely be an even better investment for the uncertain future than trying to go it alone. (More on Landshare on this page)
September 1st 2010 ~ Other countries want to share Landshare
Requests have come from Europe, north and south America, Canada, South Africa, Asia and Australia. www.landshare.net/
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Landshare UK invites partners with ethical and/or green movement connections in territories outside the UK to take up a territory-wide license and start up and build a Landshare community website in their country."
(See previous posting about Landshare from June 2009.)
June 4 2009 ~ In rural America "increasing numbers of farmers are considering taking their lives"
"... compared with the same period last year - a 20 percent increase.
.. really started with the change in dairy prices, as they fell last fall... economics and inclement weather have crippled operations, pushing countless farmers to the emotional breaking point, say industry experts. .."
Gary in Kansas, who sent the link, adds:
"..My friends and neighbors aren't happy people anymore. We live on a paved farm-to-market county road - traffic isn't anything like it used to be...Home and farm impovements are put on hold. Bankers aren't lending any money...."
It is distressing to chart the demise of farming just at the time when the growing of food is so vital for the world. As Vandana Shiva said in an interview last May,
"..food ultimately is not produced in the speculation and commodity exchanges controlled by Cargill in Chicago. It is produced by hard working women and men working with the soil and sun. And if you destroy the capacity of the people to work the land and the capacity of soil to produce, you're going to have hunger..."
Ordinary people are more and more interested in growing their own. Schemes such as "Landshare" and the Transition initiative also have to be "home grown" when those who might have been thought to be able to help seem less and less respected, more and more irrelevant.
June 4 2009 ~ Landshare. How it works
The waiting list for council allotments is now running at 40 years in some areas of the country. The Channel 4 website devoted to "Landshare" allows you, whether landowner prepared to lend land or grower looking for land in which to grow your own food, to find growing partners. The Scotsman - Extract:
"....Fearnley-Whittingstall is a bona fide, full-time food campaigner. Whether he's petitioning Tesco to improve the conditions in which its chickens are kept, convincing us all to grow our own organic veg, or setting up a collective that will allow people across the country to swap land to grow things on, Fearnley-Whittingstall appears passionate, genuine and somehow more approachable than most of our foodie TV personalities. You get the impression he really cares about this stuff..."
Channel 4 yesterday told the story of the first ever Landshare 'match' on "River Cottage - Landshare" and BBC1's The One Show also mentioned this inspiriting initiative.
May 7 2009 ~ A 'dating agency' for landowners looking for livestock to graze their land and for livestock keepers who need pasture
Like Manchester's giant allotment idea and LandShare, here is another cheering, timely and excellent idea. Natural England and the East of England's Grazing Forum have introduced the Grazing Exchange - and the website explains its service which is completely free of charge and open to everyone. (Read in full)
The grazing livestock industry may be small and very fragmented in the Eastern Region, but its importance is disproportionate to the numbers of animals involved - since it is these animals which not only safeguard the landscape and its biodiversity but also underpin the local food chain, particularly farmers markets, farm shops, village shops, pubs, hotels, and so on.
March 27 2009 ~ Plan B is already being implemented by down to earth opinion
The prescient professor, Tim Lang, spoke last May of
"...fundamental problems about oil dependency, water shortages looming, growth of population, changes of diet, all the things that are beginning to emerge on the international scene..."
adding that the UK really does need
"to re-learn the gardening skills it lost a century ago and to change its diet to one that includes less meat, fewer dairy products and more fruit and vegetables"
The far-sighted action of the Transition Town movement involves ordinary people at grass roots level and has immediate and comprehensible appeal - while initiatives such as LandShare aim to help everyone to help themselves.
February 19th 2009 ~ The National Trust is to release enough land for up to 1,000 allotments across the UK by 2012.
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The land on some of the most famous country estates in Britain will be available for individuals or community groups in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The release will be organised through the Landshare website, which matches growers with available land.