07-21-2015, 10:16 AM
They're just two different approaches to distributing resources, one trades time and the associated expertise of the person, the other is about communities coming together to create shared food resources for their own towns using community land or disused space - for example, there's an incredible edible garden near me at a train station, you can freely pick herbs, greens, rhubarb and strawberries on your way home.
Another initiative local to me is being piloted by the hospital, encouraging people to plant veg gardens for health & exercise reasons and to tackle food poverty which exists in many of the more rural villages where there is no local shop. That particular initiative is about empowering communities to relearn skills of food production and preparation that were historically commonplace.
Money on its own doesn't fix a lack of infrastructure or food production. Creative approaches and communities working collaboratively does, and in so doing lessens the dependence of those communities on supermarkets and large scale food production. In turn, this leads to improved food security and stronger community cohesion.
When people talk of poverty or lack, these are very complex terms that are not simply solved by financial resources. Where there is societal lack, my impression is that it requires a societal / community led approach to develop a solution, and, similarly to individual lessons, those community solutions will often be unique to the area in which they are rooted.
The social democratic political approach in the Scandinavian countries is a good example of this, and it's something Scotland seems to be aspiring towards - the Common Weal (common good) for example http://www.allofusfirst.org/. I don't believe it requires an abundance of national wealth to start achieving this, instead I think it requires a paradigm shift in how we perceive resources - I would WANT to pay higher tax to fund better social provision for those with less than I have, if I was reassured that those resources would be responsibly managed for the benefit of wider society.
Another initiative local to me is being piloted by the hospital, encouraging people to plant veg gardens for health & exercise reasons and to tackle food poverty which exists in many of the more rural villages where there is no local shop. That particular initiative is about empowering communities to relearn skills of food production and preparation that were historically commonplace.
Money on its own doesn't fix a lack of infrastructure or food production. Creative approaches and communities working collaboratively does, and in so doing lessens the dependence of those communities on supermarkets and large scale food production. In turn, this leads to improved food security and stronger community cohesion.
When people talk of poverty or lack, these are very complex terms that are not simply solved by financial resources. Where there is societal lack, my impression is that it requires a societal / community led approach to develop a solution, and, similarly to individual lessons, those community solutions will often be unique to the area in which they are rooted.
The social democratic political approach in the Scandinavian countries is a good example of this, and it's something Scotland seems to be aspiring towards - the Common Weal (common good) for example http://www.allofusfirst.org/. I don't believe it requires an abundance of national wealth to start achieving this, instead I think it requires a paradigm shift in how we perceive resources - I would WANT to pay higher tax to fund better social provision for those with less than I have, if I was reassured that those resources would be responsibly managed for the benefit of wider society.