TACT - Towards a Community Transition

"The Transition Movement is about communities responding to the challenges and opportunities, of ecconomic crises, Peak Oil & Climate Change. Rob Hopkins, Transition Network founder
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"Bring and Share" Food Challenge

When:  The last Friday of each month, starting 6pm (No one expects you to get there early, we just tell you that so you have time to be fashionably late!)
Where:  Elephant & Camel, Bowness on Windermere

This started as a month long challenge during 2010 focussed around what we were eating and where it came from.  We all enjoyed it so much that we started it up again as a monthly "Bring and Share" dinner party where we can get together, share local food ideas, our success (and failures), recipies - and some great food! 
Not to mention the good company! 
Anyone and everyone is welcome, we plan it early for those families who come along - but don't have an expectation as to what time you arrive.  Musical instruments are welcomed, and we ask that everyone who comes along supports Kerry from the Elephant and Camel by buying at least one drink! 

How it works: 
  • Cook a dish to share.  Try see how local you can source the ingredients - your garden, exchanged over the fence with your neighbour, the local community shop... Maybe even Fairtrade...
  • Bring it along - and share it.
  • Share the story of how you made it, and where the ingredients came from.
  • Hope to win the prize...This could be anything from chocolate to pink bubbly - and it gets donated randomly each month from different members who "have something lying around in the cupboard".

You may even want to have a look on the TACT blog for a recipie for the glut of courgettes you have at the end of summer, or how to make natural yoghurt.  Send your recipie in - or post it yourself on the blog!  And, just to really get ideas flowing - you could always join Sonny Khan for one of his Wild Food Walks ...

Part of the intention with this challenge is about raising awareness about where our food comes from, and looking at how sustainable we really are locally with regards to our food sources.  A great many of us, if asked what was edible within our local landscapes would be unable to answer, nor would we know who was growing - or even how to grow our own food.  This Bring and Share Dinner party appealed to us as a way of raising that awareness - and having fun!

This challenge originally started off with a family in the States, living in Cleavland, but is growing and expanding outwards from there... Interestingly, the original challenge took place - to a large degree - within the boundaries of the city - growing areas were small!


"Watch your packaging"

Packaging awareness - being aware of what packaging is going into your shopping baskets and trolleys, with regard to food. 
See how much you can buy that is NOT packaged...

Some suggestions to help you achieve success with this:
* Take your own plastic bags shopping.
* Set a new trend - use a wicker basket instead.
* Buy your veg from the local green grocer or direct from a farm stall.
* Buy loose fruit and veg from the supermarket - don't use the packaging provided
* Try out a local veg box delivery scheme.
* Buy in bulk, share with neighbours, friends or family members.
* Take your own containers (or a plate if you are close enough) to the local fish and chippy to get your take-away.
* Use your own containers to shop at the local Deli.
* Buy from shops who offer refill oppertunities

"Local, organic, Fair Trade"

How local can you go with your food?  Do you know your local fruit and veg suppliers? 
Can you taste the difference between an organic tomato and one that isn't? Why would you choose Fair Trade over other brands?

Some suggestions for this:
* Find out from your green grocer where those tomatoes come from.  Or the potatoes, carrots, and peas you just put into your basket..
* Look into any local community supported agriculture schemes there might be.
* How is the veg box scheme you signed up for last week working out for you?  How much of it is local?



"Grow your own, share with your neighbours and community, forage for your food"

Why do this?
Well, its one way of really connecting with your local environment!  There's so much food out there - and we just tend to walk by a great deal of it - without even knowing we can eat it... Add to that, a great many of us have no idea how to grow our own food (and really, its not all that hard...)  There is that sense of satisfaction in sitting down to a meal where you've grown a large percentage of it yourself.  Or the knowledge that part of it comes from your neighbours garden... and that bread has the hazelnuts you collected just yesterday baked into it...There's a great deal of satisfaction in being able to forage, or simply know your food sources well enough to know what's edible and what's not locally.
And - its great fun!
Add to all that - knowing your food is a great way of learning to understand and respect nature's balance.  Take too much from any one food source and you might find it missing the following year when you come back...

Suggestions for this:
* Try a local wild food foraging walk with Sonny Khan (One of the local foragers who is prepared to take folk out  - though I do know other people who are foraging - they're just not sharing their secrets at the moment..)
* Get growing - there's even a local Windermere group that supports this (they'll be at the Big Green Event if you want to have a chat and start planning for next year...)
* Find out who is growing locally, have a chat with them.
* Turn part of your garden over to growing veg - mix it in with your flowers permaculture style.
* Garden share with other folk who maybe know more / have bigger gardens / wilder gardens / need extra hands in their gardens.
Awareness of:
* Do not eat any foraged foods that you are not 100% certain of the identification of. 
* Please be aware there are some areas that are sensitive. If you forage - and take all of the plant there will be none left for the following year.  Always leave some behind to regenerate (and for the wild animals who may be eating it too.