Sound ventures – like ELC – can and should ‘scale up’ spreading far and wide
There are ELC small-holdings in six different parts of England. Read more about them here.
Shaun Chamberlin writes: “The Ecological Land Co-operative (ELC) develops affordable, low impact, smallholdings for ecological agriculture. The high costs of land and rural housing make it nearly impossible for new entrants to farming to establish a farm business. By providing affordable and secure smallholdings, we are helping to address this crisis”.
This cooperative of intelligent, ecologically aware young people aims to free us from the devastation of the Gates generation’s chemical-intensive agribusiness, by restoring the ruined soil’s ability not only to store carbon through sustainable regenerative and organic techniques and maintaining a beautiful human-scale and wildlife-filled countryside, but also growing natural, healthy food in place of the processed junk which is making us sick and obese.
A hyperlocal/regional answer to more resilient food supply chains
Brexit, Covid-19 and most recently the Suez Canal debacle have all highlighted the fragility of long, convoluted supply chains with numerous middlemen. Environmentalists add concerns about the greenhouse gas emissions currently generated by air and sea transport.
Hyperlocal supply chains “oriented around a well defined, community scale area with a primary focus being directed towards the concerns of its residents” with a built-in regional buffer would lead to enhanced food sovereignty and food security, not increased vulnerability, with:
- simpler distribution,
- lower transport costs,
- less food waste
- and no need for plastic packaging.
In the newsletter Tracy Worcester draws attention to Sustain’s local food campaign:
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