Counting On … – Page 70

Counting on … day 1.075

18th March 2023

Growing your own food can mean survival for some people. In Africa many people are what one might call indigenous farmers, people who grow traditional crops using traditional methods. The plants they grow are often well suited to the local soils and the local vagaries of the climate. It is a type of farming that has little in the ways of cost inputs – no artificial fertilisers, no highly mechanised equipment, not even expensive seed. Rather seeds are collected from one season to use at the next or to swop with neighbours to improve fertility. In Kenya 80 – 90% of farmers use and share indigenous home grown seeds.

However the Kenyan government wishes to control the quality of seeds by prohibiting the sale of exchanging of any seeds other than those that have been licensed Licensing is expensive – only 20% of the seeds regularly used have been licensed – and this has limited the number of legal seeds sellers to a few large concerns. Often these seeds suppliers are also in the market of selling fertilisers and pesticides, and may opt to sell seeds that need such additional inputs.

It is now illegal to sell or swop unlicensed seeds in Kenya with the potential punishment of 2 years in jail and or a fine.

Greenpeace Africa is challenging this law.

For more information see https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/publications/51807/whose-interest-does-the-kenyan-seeds-law-protect/

Counting on …day 1.074

17th March 2023

Drawing on both home grown food and OddBox food, earlier this week we had a ‘foraged soup in that I foraged the garden for green things and the remains of the OddBox, thus-

3 cloves of garlic and 3 shallots all sliced.

1 beetroot, 1 parsnip, 1 apple all diced

All these I softened in some rape seed oil. Then I added,

A jar of cooked split green pea

A handful of red lentils

A teaspoon of miso

A colander of young dandelion and nettle leaves.

I added water and left to simmer. Once cooked I liquidised everything to create a thick nourishing soup.

Counting on …. Day 1.073

16th March 2023

Growing our own food keeps us in touch with the reality of food production and helps reduce its carbon footprint if only minimally. Growing delicate crops such as salad leaves and herbs would be the best win win. Salad crops can include simply growing mustard and cress on a paper towel.

For those without a garden – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/24/how-to-grow-your-own-veg-without-a-garden?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

And for those with – https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own

Counting on … day 1.072

15th March 2023

Food that is wasted – whether that it is on the farm (perhaps being ploughed up because there is no longer a market for it or it has become damaged), between the farm gate and the store (too many or too little of too mis -shapen), or in our kitchens (because we have bought too much or let what we have go ‘off’) – accounts for 8 to 10% of the world’s carbon footprint. Reducing food waste saves resources, limits pollution and ensures more people are better fed.

This week OddBox which diverts food that would go to waste into a weekly veg box delivery issued its annual report – https://www.oddbox.co.uk/blog/our-do-good-report-2022

Counting on …1.071

14th March 2023

“Cutting meat and dairy products from your diet could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by two-thirds, according to the Oxford study, published in the journal Science.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46459714

Major institutions are helping people make this change in lifestyle by serving less or no meat in their canteens. In 2022 Stirling became the first UK university to ban the sale of meat in its campus food outlets. This year Cambridge University has voted to do likewise. Newcastle Hospitals has meat free Mondays, which is an approach followed by various schools and colleges.

A different world is possible!

Counting on … day 1.070

13th March 2023

“Campaigners warned [2019] that the clear waters of the Wye, one of Britain’s best-loved rivers, were being blighted by thick green algae blooms linked to poultry production. Many of the intensive chicken farms in the catchment area of the Wye supply Avara Foods in Hereford, which is the third largest poultry producer in Britain and is jointly owned by the American food business Cargill. It is claimed that vast amounts of manure from chicken farms supplying Avara and other food businesses are washed into the Wye, contaminating the water with excessive phosphate levels that fuel the growth of algae blooms…

Cargill has operated in the UK since 1955 and purchased a major poultry processing plant in Hereford, more than 40 years ago. In 2013 it announced a £35m investment in the plant to increase production of fresh chicken, and five years later it combined its fresh chicken operation in the UK with poultry business Faccenda Foods to form Avara. New intensive poultry units – each housing at least 40,000 chickens – sprung up to meet the demand, and between 2013 and 2017 the number of birds in Herefordshire increased from 13 million to 18 million.

It is now hoped stricter controls and new practices, supported by Cargill and other operators, will help reduce the Wye pollution. Some farms are installing biomass boilers to generate heat from chicken manure, while other farms are sending the poultry litter to anaerobic digestion plants.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/25/chicken-farm-giant-linked-to-river-wye-decline-was-sued-over-water-blight-in-us?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

How sustainable is our current meat focused diet? Is there scope for change that can create a better world?

Counting on … day 1.069

12th March 2023

Last September “Operation Noah today released a report that makes recommendations on ways to reduce and store carbon emissions to one of the country’s largest landowners, the Church of England, which owns approximately 0.5% of the UK’s land. The report … concludes that land owned by the Church of England is currently contributing to the climate and biodiversity emergencies ‘in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and limiting biodiversity within monoculture tree plantations and non-regenerative agriculture.’ While the Church of England has adopted a 2030 Net Zero target, its landholdings are outside the scope of the target. Yet this report finds that agricultural land owned by the CofE is likely to create more greenhouse gas emissions than all CofE church buildings combined; however, it adds, ‘there is also scope for considerable improvement if rapid and radical action is taken.’

The report specifically recommends a programme of tree growing, peat restoration, and providing better support and strategies to those who farm Church-owned land in order to reduce agricultural emissions and store more carbon.” https://operationnoah.org/featured/press-release-operation-noah-report-finds-church-of-england-land-contributes-to-the-climate-crisis-suggests-ways-to-reduce-and-store-emissions/

There is so much scope for change that will create a better world.

Counting on … day 1.068

11th March 2023

“ Haweswater’s wildlife is … being given the chance to make a full-throated comeback, thanks to interventions made by the RSPB, in collaboration with its landlords, the water company United Utilities. The project partners have reduced sheep numbers by 90%, from more than 3,000 two decades ago to about 300 today. They have also planted more than 100,000 trees, restored 400 hectares (988 acres) of peatbog, and “rewiggled” a valley bottom stream so it can reoccupy its natural flood plain. Webb resists the idea that Haweswater is a “rewilding” project, however. “It’s still a working farm,” says Webb of the site’s two farmsteads in the valleys of Naddle and Swindale. “We’re just doing it less intensively.”” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/10/haweswater-project-lake-district-rewilding-farming-jobs

A different world is possible!

Counting on … day 1.067

10th March 2023

“Livestock produce manure which, when mixed with urine, releases ammonia, a nitrogen compound. If it gets into lakes and streams via farm runoff, excessive nitrogen can damage sensitive natural habitats by, for example, encouraging algae blooms that deplete oxygen in surface waters.”

This is a particular problem in countries and regions where there is a high concentration of farm animals such as in the Netherlands. In December 2021 the Dutch government “launched 13-year multibillion-euro plan,[ which] includes paying some Dutch livestock farmers to relocate or exit the industry, and helping others transition to more extensive (as opposed to intensive) methods of farming, with fewer animals and a bigger area of land. It will start as a voluntary programme, with compensation offered to livestock farmers asked to leave. “In the end, it might be necessary to stop negotiating as a last resort, but the basis is voluntary,” said de Groot. The end result is expected to be close to a one-third reduction in the numbers of pigs, cows and chickens in the country.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/15/netherlands-announces-25bn-plan-to-radically-reduce-livestock-numbers?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 1.066

9th March 2023

In Scotland a local community has bought land from the Buccleuch estate in order to rewild the land restoring its habitat to support enhanced biodiversity.

THE STORY SO FAR

Who: Langholm Initiative: Margaret Pool (former Chair); Jenny Barlow (Estate Manager)
Where & when: Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, from 2019
What: Community buyout of former grouse moor to be managed as a nature reserve
How: Clearing conifer plantations; creating new woodlands; conserving precious habitats and fostering nature recovery, planning new sustainable economic activities
Future potential income: Tourism, educational and research activities, regenerative farming, possible renewable power
Ecosystem benefits: Nature recovery on over-grazed hillsides; conservation of rare valley woodland; peat restoration; wetland conservation; soil recovery; flood prevention. https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/explore-rewilding/meet-the-rewilders/meet-the-rewilders-langholm

A different world is possible!