Biomimicry specialist, architect and designer Michael Pawyln wove a story of magic possibilities that he shared with the Do Lectures in 2009.
One of those ideas, the Sahara Forest Project, has moved a big step closer to the production of fresh water that’s been distilled from the sea by sunlight and gravity – and then used for algae, irrigation and drinking water
Gerald Miles, spoke from the heart at Do 09. He grows vegetables the same way. This bag is full of 7kg of parsnip, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, leek, kale and swede. All for £7.50 as part of the Caerhys Organic Community Agriculture project. Activism on a plate
Bread is a staple.
For thousands of years, it was made the same way: Flour. Water. Yeast. Plus a little salt. And plenty of the most important ingredient: Time.
Then in 1961, they found a faster way. It’s called the ‘Chorleywood Way’. More yeast. And a new ingredient: Fat.
Fat increased the shelf life and the sponginess of the bread. It also produced healthier profits for all parties. But not healthier customers.
When we eat the things we trust like bread, we don’t think that someone has changed it to make more money.
We don’t expect 3 slices of some bread’s to have as much fat as a chocolate bar. They call this ‘stealth fat’. And, literally, it’s a growing problem as our population is becoming overweight.
So what can we do?
Well, you can ask your supermarket for some ‘Chorleywood Free’ bread.
Like any business, if enough people ask for something, they will listen.
A simple handwritten letter is a more powerful tool than you think.
Or, even better. Bake your own.
The ingredients are simple enough.
The main one being a little time.
(We just got this complete starter kit from Hobbs House Bakery – It has a 55-year-old starter, which normally you just can’t get your hands on for love or money. Magic stuff.
Yesterday my sister told me about her experience of setting up a community raised bed plot on the housing estate where she lives in Stoke Newington, London.
She got some funding for labour, tools and seed through a great scheme called Capital Growth (www.capitalgrowth.org) which is trying to set up 2012 food growing sites in London by 2012.
She then got the council to build a raised bed.
She needed more space so then built another herself out of reclaimed free scaffolding boards.
Then she got asked to move it because someone didn’t like it being too near their house.
She took it down and rebuilt it.
Then she got asked to move it because someone didn’t like it being too near their house.
She took it down .
She then discovered that from some councils you can obtain recycled kitchen waste/green waste compost for free (from those little green bins for food waste some councils collect).
There is a catch. You can only get it free if you order it in 15 tonne loads.
Sometimes one of the biggest impediments to change comes down to a process of dwelling too much on the reasons why something may be a bad idea rather than a good one.
She weighed it up ( though not really having a clue of 15 tonne measures) and ordered a load from the council.
When she found the 15 tonne, stinking load dumped on the Stoke Newington pavement, in the light of her recent run ins with the locals, she knew she was in a spot of bother.
She was then rung up by the council because all the neighbours had complained.
She had to do something and fast so having used what she needed for the beds, she put it on free cycle, a web-site advertising things for free as long as you come and collect them.
To her huge relief a gaggle of very grateful people, (the first she had seen in a while) immediately appeared out of the London ether, with vans, wheelbarrows, trailers and sacks. In a week it was gone.
There is now a raised bed plot on smalley road estate and Barley, my sister is on good, if not notorious, terms with the neighbours.
You too can obtain 15 tonnes of muck from the North London Waste Authority for free! To someone who views the stuff as black gold, I find this quite exciting. However please do this at your own risk and make sure you have somewhere to put it. Otherwise it may not be free for long and we may all be evicted.
There’s not many better things than having a week’s worth of fruit and vegetables arrive on your doorstep. Muddy potatoes and fragrant oranges that keep fresh for at least a week, and often taste better than anything experienced previously. Bags of leafy and unknown greens, paired with random Jerusalem artichokes and chunky pumpkins.
Having been lucky enough to be able to enjoy Guy Watson’s vegetables from Riverford, it came as a shock when we moved house. Now that we are living right next to a market, and in a fourth floor apartment I am currently contemplating if and how I can still make the veg box work.
Having a vast array of random vegetables in the kitchen was one of the best thing ever. “Oh, I wonder what this leafy green thing is?” “Surely you can simply steam it and serve with oil and mustard seeds?” Plenty of conversations and dinner parties evolved around the random–and in-season– box content, making us aware what we should be eating at a certain time of year. It enabled us move away from the distorted view that supermarkets convey, where raspberries and mangoes are sold in February. It comes at no surprise that those goods are flown in, but it was even more shocking to me how meticulously packed and clean they were. Individually wrapped cucumbers, bite-sized cut carrots and leeks with not a grain of sand on them – it’s not a big surprise that a lot of city teenagers have no idea where food comes from and how it grows.
The other week I walked around the supermarket, trying to randomly select vegetables in a similar manner, making sure the cupboard is fully stocked with fresh food from which you can pick and choose. But with the carefully placed produce, scattered through continents and seasons it was impossible to judge what would be reasonable to buy, without having to read every tiny label.
It is great to see initiatives like Global Generation trying to educate the youngest of our society in growing vegetables, experiencing the seasons and learning the satisfaction of realising one’s potential. The not-for profit, based in the heart of London’s Kings Cross area, uses the available land as a tool to teach young people about bringing people together and learning from one another. Realising how important it is to be in touch with nature, to learn about the living organisms that surround us on a daily basis.
It is not much that we need to learn about food – the important part is the commitment, and the willingness to learn about and from nature.
Interesting bits on food
Founder of Ballymaloe Cookery School & Author Darina Allen
Grower Alice Holden
After you’ve logged on and caught up with what’s going on with the spending cuts, climate change talks and never-ending snow fall, why not click onto They Draw and Cook for a bit of light relief from all the serious stuff?
This lovely-to-look-at website showcases a collection of illustrated recipes submitted by artists from all over the globe and it’s full of seasonal suggestions. It’s such a great way to get people to mix up their talents and bring the food of different countries into one place. It’s also a nice change from all the celeb-based cook books lining shop shelves on the run up to Christmas. Scroll down the blog for some real gems like African Lemon Cookies and Rocket Ship Pizza.
Best of all, anyone with a talent for drawing and a recipe in their head can submit to the blog and there’s even a section for kids to get involved too.
Cooking is fun again. Enjoy!
This is Ken.
He is the elder who is helping Anna and Gary at Compovida bring these amazing gardens back to life.
I confess I have not seen a working garden quite like it. It was beautiful because it didn’t look like a working garden. ( I was thinking of Alice as we walked through it, this would have been her Nirvana.)
We walked in the rain. We walked with a glass of wine in hand.
(Everything in wine country is done with a glass of wine in hand.)
And we listened to Ken.
The Sage of sage. And basil. And rocket which was called something else.
And many more things I did not know even existed until this I arrived at this garden.
Ken got us to taste pretty much everything. Of course, everything was with a sip of wine.
It turns out the gardens were planted by a woman who won two Gold’s at Chelsea.
They say these are one of these are one of the greatest organic gardens in the Western US.
I am no gardener. But with Ken as our voiceover, I got to understand just how special they are.
Campovida is situated in an area called Mendocino. In some ways, it’s like Cardigan. An underdog county.
It has to fight like crazy to be heard against more popular neighbour’s. And yet, Mendocino was the first county in the US to ban GMO’s. This is old California where principles matter and communities come together to fight for them.
And like Cardigan, Mendocino was once a thriving and happening town.
But who say’s both these places can’t thrive again.
So here’s to Ken.
Here’s to Campovida. Here’s to Anna. And here’s to Gary.
Here’s to Mendocino. Here’s to Cardigan.
And lastly, here’s to all the underdogs in the World.
www.campovida.com/
Can it give us a high tide?
Can it draw moisture to the ground?
Can it draw sap from a tree?
If you doubt the theory, just take a sip.
(Mendocino Farms – Beautiful Biodynamic Red Wine. www.mendofarms.com)
A big thanks for the donation of two cases for The Do Lectures Auction.
Photo: The Legendry Bwthan Pub at fforest.
grow stuff.
it makes you feel good.
Do Lectures 2010 Day 1 – Great tea, great start. Thanks Tea Pigs.
