Market Stall Display : Calais, France August 2007 (c) Rhys Jones
.....when those around are losing theirs and meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same.....words written in the 1930s by Rudyard Kipling. The last few weeks have shown that one can't take anything for granted. There's no easy answer as to how the world is going to recover from looks like an economic recession. Just an observation from me as someone who likes to keep things simple - if we concentrate on using just what we need and buying food from the locality in which we live and at the time of year that nature determines then we might put the brakes on food travelling 25,000 miles to get to our plate, lorries on the road day and night moving the food around , complicated cross-border currency transactions to pay for it and excessive profits being generated for multinational giant companies. We would perhaps return to supporting our local traders, only buying what we need. Less fuel is consumed, less vehicles could be on the road, less pollution could result and maybe over time it could really have an impact on global warming and also on our health.
Too simple ? maybe ? As an asthma sufferer I have certainly noticed a difference with less vehicles being on the road because people can't pay for the fuel and are also thinking about unnecessary journeys and alternative methods of transport.
3 comments:
Things tend to go in cycles and maybe it's time for local interests to once again become important. We have a local gastro pub that has speciality dishes from locally sourced foods. Likewise we have a small butcher and greengrocer selling only local foods. An free range egg man calls at our house each week, supermarkets bake on site (ok not quite the same as our local baker...) but things are swinging back and I, for one, am not disappointed.
I wholeheartedly agree with you, Rhys. Interesting that you already notice a difference re: your asthma as well.
Hope you've had a good weekend.
Thanks Carol and Susan
Carol, I agree with you that things tend to move in cycles and like you I hope we will move back to buying and supporting local traders. We are lucky in Swansea - there is a well established market selling fresh produce from the locality and other parts of Wales.
Susan, I've particularly noticed a difference in Swansea this year but also in London. When I worked there in the early 90s I had to go home from work on more than one occasion because my breathing was so difficult. I haven't seen any official figures that will back this up : I'll keep looking though!
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