Transition: Moving from dependence on oil to local resilience
What makes us more resilient to sudden shocks? Is it conserving and preserving what we’ve got, or being able to adapt to change? Is it working alone to a single goal or working together for a common aim? Whilst things are genuinely tough for many, what strikes me most is the wiliness and ingenuity of the human spirit. You can see it in a film called ‘The Power of Community-How Cuba Survived Peak Oil’ or ‘Infuse Detroit - Urban Farming’ on YouTube. These films focus on communities struggling with either a major lack of oil or food together with considerable poverty. Detroit’s not-for-profit urban farming movement has been so dynamic and successful that it now has the [unwanted] attentions of commercial farmers.
The Blackdowns seems to have it’s own brand of ingenuity with work colleagues forming a lunchtime soup club in one office, sparing us from petrol station sandwiches. There are quite a few members, so it seems ages before it’s your turn to cook up a soup for all. Now is a good time to set up food or fuel co-op’s with your friends, your street or your parish. The idea is you get together and put in a big order for say, heating oil, rice or laundry liquid and negotiate a discount with your supplier.
And what about community food projects in our villages? We may not quite have the wastelands of Detroit, but we do have common land or council managed plantings in our parishes…..How about planting them with fruit trees and bushes? So many homes don’t have space for fruit trees, and yet we all need our 5 a day. Wouldn’t it be great to have a neighbourhood apple tree? Try some guerrilla gardening and reclaim your street.
