Village shuns supermarket to grow their own

Ah, The Good Life. You've got to love it. Titter at Barbara and Tom's attempts to life a sustainable life and scoff at Margo as she despairs at what is becoming of her suburban life.

But was the 70s sit-com ahead of its time?

The villagers of Martin in Hants definitely think so. After posting my blog yesterday about the amount of doom and gloom we hear about the future of our villages, it was great to read a real feel-good story in The Telegraph. The village of Martin is trying to break its dependence on supermarkets by growing its own meat and vegetables. They work on a rota rearing their own chickens, lambs and pigs plus producing garlic, onions, chillis and veg to sell at the village market every Saturday. Of the 164 families who live in the village, 101 have signed up for Future Farms, although anyone can buy the village’s produce.

Think it’s a flash in the pan and will never last? Well, so far the co-operative, which is VAT-registered and launched in 2003, had a turnover of £27,000 in 2007.

Nick Snelgar, the originator of the idea, says:

“The nearest supermarket is six miles away. Of course people still have to go there for things like loo roll and deodorant and fruit you can't grow in Britain. So we aren't boycotting supermarkets entirely but we are gradually weaning people off them and as a result are reducing our carbon footprint by not using carrier bags and packaging."

Sounds idyllic and is a good example of a village trying to take its fate in its own hands, much like Totnes, the UK’s first transition town which we feature in our next issue. Of course, I hear the cynics cry, it’s ok for small villages with a handful of people support themselves, but how could cities the size of Bristol or Manchester do such a thing? I guess that’s the point. Have our urban cities become so bloated and sprawling that they could never embrace a sustainable life? Perhaps, villages and small towns are the future after all…

Is rural britain rotting away?

According to a report from Oxford University our towns and villages are losing what have always been considered basic services at “their fastest rate ever.” Researchers found that 45 per cent of English neighbourhoods – 14,493 out of 32,439 – have become what it calls “geographically deprived” since the last study in 2004. Cutting through the jargon, this means the distance people must travel to use such amenities as doctor’s surgeries, shops, schools and post offices has increased dramatically.

You have to wonder how much more gloom and doom the countryside can take. When reading about these particular findings I immediately thought of the news report in issue six of Countryfile magazine in which we found that 2,489 schools in the UK may face closure as they cannot fill their desks or the news from the British Beer and Pub Association last week that pubs are closing at the rate of 27 per week nationally – that’s nearly four every single day. Add to this the recent claim from Stuart Burgess, the government’s rural advocate that one million people – equivalent to a city the size of Birmingham - are living in poverty in rural areas and surely we’ll be running out of nails to slam into the countryside coffin.

Of course, the opposition has been quick to jump on these figures to claim that Labour is effectively leaving the countryside to fester. Shadow communities secretary Eric Pickles has been particular quick to point the finger; "Under Labour, local neighbourhoods and villages are losing access to essential local services, as shops, pubs and schools close at probably their fastest rate ever. We are witnessing the slow death of community life.”

But is this more than just a political situation? Have we culturally lost sight of our rural roots? After all, we’re currently coming to the end of a Year of Food and Farming which aimed to put right the problem that many of our children didn’t even know what a carrot looked like. Could anyone imagine that situation 50 years ago? And is it too little, too late? The majority of our population has shifted from rural to urban communities and the countryside is seen by many as now just being a playground for those desperate to get a bit of greenspace at the weekend. Our food is free of mud and dirt and packaged in clean and tidy plastic, with the organic movement dismissed by many as being trendy, middle-class types. The rural infrastructure seems to be entropically crumbling and there seems to be very few silver lining to the gathering stormclouds. Depressed much, anyone?

So,is rural Britain rotting away forever and can anything really be done?

The 'new' trike

I'm back in the office for a rest. The last weekend saw my daughter celebrating her second birthday and our home is beginning to return to normal after an invasion of grandparents, uncles, aunties and other toddlers. It's far to say that I am cream-crackered.

A highlight for me, amidst the jelly, pinapple-and-cheese on sticks and birthday cake, was nipping down to the park so Chloe could try out her new trike.

I must admit the trike had been a bit of a quandary for me. We bought it from a friend and for a while I struggled with the idea of giving Chloe a second-hand toy as her main present. OK, there wasn't anything wrong with it and after a wee bit of scrubbing it came us as good as new but I felt a little guilty. Surely as a loving father I should be providing my little one with shiny, brand new gifts.

Of course, I shouldn't have worried. Chloe didn't care that another little bottom had sat in the trike's seat before. All she cared about was bombing around the park hitting as many muddle puddles as she could. So we had made her day while also being a little more environmentally friendly but reusing something someone else had finished with. Plus, there wasn't any packaging to get rid of! Result!

The entire thing made me rethink my own outlook to consumerism once again. As I admitted on our latest podcast my eco-sin is being a bit of a shopperholic at times, but once again the sound of Chloe whooping as I pushed her across the grass reminded me that we don't always have to buy new to feel good.