This post was first published on our sister blog, At the Grassroots. As part of the project of moving Stirrings from below onto a different footing, with more posts looking at what can be done to change things in the here and now, I'm re-posting it here. We all know we're fed up with the way things are. It's time to put more effort into to working out how things can be changed for the better, by taking action at the grassroots.
On Saturday, September 21, we attended the Avon Fest which was organised by We Are Avon. We wrote about this project here: This project ticks a number of our boxes:) 10.9.24:
This is an interesting project that ticks a number of our boxes. What really grabbed our attention was a) the desire to decentralise and localise food production in the Avon region – something that’s very dear to our hearts – and b) the desire to clean up the waters of the Avon and her tributaries. On that basis alone, we’ve given this project an entry in The Directory.
On Sunday, October 6, Bath Area Growers are organising this event - Growing Our Local Food System:
SUNDAY 6th October 10am to 4.30pm
St Mark's Community Centre, Widcombe, Bath
Bath Area Growers is a network of community-focused projects rooted in the values of local food, regenerating nature and the power of community for systemic change.
Our aim is to nurture a culture of collaboration, support and creativity across Bath and the surrounding bioregion. By visioning together, finding shared purposes, and nurturing the amazing range of projects that already exist around Bath, we can take further steps towards a fair, inclusive, nature-restoring local food system. We can find collective power and create resilience in the face of unfurling crises.
This gathering will focus on GROWING OUR LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM. We’ll be spotlighting some amazing local work and exploring different themes that can together support local growing and food access, taking care of people and planet.
The invitation is to come and get involved. There will be speakers, workshops, reflection, song, creativity and delicious food!
We've reserved a place at this event and one of us will be attending wearing two hats - At the Grassroots and also, Keynsham Community Veg Plot in the Park. This promises to a productive, useful and inspiring event. Not least because when we're working at our community plot, we know that we're part of something bigger. Something that has the potential to be greater than the sum of its parts.
Going all the way back to our Alternative Estuary days when we used to live in Essex, we've been banging on about the need for grassroots groups to network with each other. This is so they can learn from each others experiences - that's both the successes and the failures. As well as this, it was about sharing and pooling expertise. Also, when needed, it was so they could offer each other help with their respective projects. Mutual aid and solidarity in action and all that. It sort of happened when we were back in Essex but, not to the degree we would have liked. With a few people, there were issues with egos that got in the way of genuine co-operation.
So, having been living in Keynsham for just over two years, you can imagine how we're feeling about We Are Avon and Bath Area Growers, because they're doing exactly what we love to see - building strong networks at the grassroots. If we're going to build a better, saner and more sustainable world, we have to start at the level of the community and link up with other like minded groups operating at that level. Genuine change has to start at the base in our communities, it's not something that can be imposed from the top down.
Decentralising, localising and ultimately, democratising our food supply is one way of bringing power right down to the grassroots. As we've said many times before, 'whoever controls the food supply controls the population'. Taking control of how we produce and distribute our food is the first step towards taking power and control from the centre, and bringing it back down to the level of the community. Which is why we lend our support to any local initiatives that are working towards bringing control of the food supply down to the grassroots.
The two of us behind At the Grassroots have reached the point in our lives where we're fed up with the kind of activism that ends up in taking to the streets. Granted, it may suit some people, and it does give those who presume to rule over us pause for thought on occasions but, does it actually change anything for the long term? We much prefer prefigurative action these days:
Prefigurative politics are the modes of organization and social relationships that strive to reflect the future society being sought by the group. According to Carl Boggs, who coined the term, the desire is to embody “within the ongoing political practice of a movement […] those forms of social relations, decision-making, culture, and human experience that are the ultimate goal”.[1] Prefigurativism is the attempt to enact prefigurative politics.
For sure, it does feel as though the world is becoming ever more dysfunctional and dystopian. However, with what's happening at the grassroots across the Avon region, despite all of the doom and gloom, we're feeling reasonably optimistic. That's because there are active networks of people working away at building the saner, more just and sustainable world we desire, in the here and now. Sure, it won't always be plain sailing and inevitably, there will be some setbacks. However, if we can learn the lessons and stick together, then we're on our way to something that will really start to make a difference to our lives.
Resources
In The Directory there’s a list of all the grassroots community projects across Bath, Bristol and the surrounding settlements that we’re currently aware of who, each in their own way, are doing their best to make the world a better place to live in. These include a fair number of food growing projects and also, resources on how to organise your own project.
The Directory is a work in progress that is constantly being added to. Any help in doing this or suggestions as to how we can improve The Directory will be greatly appreciated:) Each of these projects has a different story and background we can all learn from. One of the aims of setting up At the Grassroots is to encourage these groups to talk to each other to exchange experiences, ideas and skills with the hope that what emerges is considerably greater than the sum of its parts.
Just keep in mind that the adage, "whoever controls the food supply, controls the population", is only part of the story.
When a controlling person feels that they are losing control of a situation, they will resort to violence.
Don't neglect the need for physical defence.
To provide encouragement, know that the same thing is happening where I live in North Queensland Australia