Rhys Evans' contribution was most stimulating. In following this debate
I've been thinking about how to say something about gardening,
sustainability and agriculture. I can't say this is incredibly well thought
through but here goes:
In UK agricultural policy discourse gardens, small-holdings and allotments
are regarded as something distinctly different from 'agriculture'. The
productivist ethos of the post-war period, and now the drive to make
European agriculture competitive in the increasingly 'free' global market
means that planning policies related to the desirability of activities in
the countryside are realated primarially to profit. Indeed size and
commercial purpose are what defines qualification for planning exemptions
for agricultural activities in Planning Policy Guidance Note (PPG) 7. It
cannot be emphasised enough what a complete change this was from wartime
ideas when gardens, allotments and small-holdings contributed hugely to
providing the whole nation with fresh vegetables and fruit.
Despite what Rhys (and Mel) have said about commercialisation of gardening,
which is certainly true, there is another trend related to grassroots
efforts to create sustainable agriculture. This movement, variously known
as 'permaculture' or 'forest gardening' attempts to reintegrate growing
food, and other useful crops, with the everyday processes of living (it is
not only 'permenant (in the sense of 'sustainable') agriculture' but
'permenant culture').
There are increasing numbers of people attempting to put this into practice
around the country, among them the Tinkers Bubble collective in Dorset, and
'Plants for a Future' in Cornwall. However these people have come up
against the restrictive and pro-agricultural planning system, which
effectively prevents them from living a low impact lifestyle on their own
land, creating a sustainable living system, effectively because i)they are
not doing it for commercial reasons, ii) because the planning system also
discrimiates against poor people moving to the countryside, and iii)
because they are largely ex-travellers and eco-protestors, and therefore
not welcome in the 'purified space' of the countryside (see for example,
the work of David Sibley and Keith Halfacree).
There is avery interesting and clear book on this by Tinkers Bubbler (and
former 'Ecologist' editor) Simon Fairlie (1997) "Low Impact Development:
planning and people in a sustainable countryside" (John Carpenter Books,
Charlbury).
In addition, 'The Land is Ours', the land rights movement for Britain, has
just published its new criteria for sustainable planning and permaculture,
which should be available online soon: www.oneworld.org/tlio/latest.html
Interested parties should also check out their own publications and
research index: www.oneworld.org/tlio/research/index.html
Garden against the system!
David.
David Wood
PhD Student ('The Rural Peace Dividend')
Department of Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Tel: 0191 222 6615
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|