The Transition Town Blandford Forum group held a well attended meeting recently
aimed at encouraging the consumption and growing of more food locally. The room
was filled with complimentary oohs and ahs as people tasted the samples on
offer, including honey, fudge, chutneys, jams, breads and cider. Meat and
vegetables from local farm shops, and other local produce was also available to
buy.
There were talks on how to start keeping bees, making cider, and vegetable and
chicken co-operatives. These were followed by extracts from films on local
food-growing.
The meeting ended with a lively discussion on actions to take to pursue these
ideas further. It was decided to start by investigating two disused orchards
within Blandford to see if either of these could be resurrected and used by the
local community. If this is possible then an open meeting will be arranged at
the orchard.
The transition movement is inspired by concern about shrinking supplies of cheap
energy (peak oil), climate change, economic downturn and a recognition that our
massive environmental impact cannot go on indefinitely. Action to start
rebuilding the resilience of local communities is needed now by supporting local
food production and small scale local industry, encouraging gardening and DIY
skills and finding local solutions to transport issues. Transition Town
Blandford is making a start and would welcome new members and their ideas.
