Category: Climate Action (Page 1 of 2)

Bye Bye Bicycology

We are sorry to hear that Bicycology has reached the end of the road.
 
We have enjoyed working with, and been inspired by, this activist cycle project on many occasions.
 
 
Bicycology is/was a UK-based collective that was formed after the 2005 London to Scotland G8 Bike Ride. It was a non-hierarchical non-profit organisation which aims to promote cycling as part of a wider focus on social and environmental sustainability. [wikipedia]
 
In 2016 Indymedia reported that the Bicycology bike tour traveled from London to Lancaster (via Nottingham), before heading to the Climate Action Camp. It visited Nottingham on Saturday 19th August:
 
Bicycology is a collective formed by riders who wanted to build on their shared experience of the 2005 G8 Bike Ride and organise future events of a similar nature. By focusing on cycling we aim to persue our vision of a just and sustainable world through a combination of education, entertainment and creative direct action. The collective was formed during a weekend meeting at the Sumac Centre, here in Nottingham, in November 2005 with 15 original members.
 
 
At the Big Green Gathering in 2017 Bicycology offered the usual selection of information and energy trailer amusements, and a multitude of bike jewellery and Tetra Pak wallets. The wallets and their Tetra Tool Kits are featured on Veggies Tetra Pak Craft Recycling website.
 

 

The Climate Camp connection continued when Bicycology headed up a cycle rally from the site of the 2007 Heathrow Airport camp to the 2008 site at Kingsnorth Power Station. Veggies supported the mission by taking a parallel route to provide vegan catering at each stop. Veggies was an active participant in Climate Camp catering from 2006 to 2009 – as their Action Resources Blog says:

… the United Nations has reported that “livestock is a major threat to environment” all food is vegan, mostly organic and locally sourced to minimise food miles, provided by communal neighbourhood kitchens, many associated with the Social Centres Network.

“We were in the campaigns area of the Green Futures Field, sharing a space with Veggies (the Nottingham based vegan catering campaign), an art exhibition and Rubbish DJ’s (turntables and amps mounted in a rubbish cart). The art exhibition and DJ setup were in the marquee which was closed up at night. Each morning we opened it up and laid out our Bicycology stall at the front. We had taken a load of old tyres and chains for making belts and bracelets – people could either make their own or buy them ready made from us with all the money going to 56a Infoshop in London.”
 

 

Whilst Bicycology on the streets may be just a happy recollection, hopefully their online resources will continue to inspire; their guide to building the Bicycology Energy Trailer, is a great resource for any Critical Mass Bike Ride or action camp , as seen alongside Veggies Catering at Peace News Summer Camp:

 
Image result for bicycology site:veggies.org.uk
 
And finally their “All About Food” Guide:
 
Front of Bicycology Food Guide
 
Back of Bicycology Food Guide

Comment on this story on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Veggiescatering/posts/1685850651453053

 

 

Farming for a Future

Farmer Jay herd at Hillside BBC


News in 2017 that the Vegan Society is working with Bradley Nook Farm in Derbyshire to transition from beef to vegan organics was the icing on the (vegan) cake of all our years of campaigning. It shows the great value of networking both within the vegan movement and with movements beyond in the wider world. 

Veggies met up with farmer Jay when catering at Northern Green Gatherings at his inherited family farm. The farm near Ashbourne, Derbyshire is also one of a number of locations used on rotation for Earth First! Gatherings. As vegan campaign caterers Veggies has catered for EF! since the very first gathering in 1991, helping in a small way to maintain a vegan ethos in the grass roots eco-action movement.

It was through the involvement of long term Veggies member Cathy in another Vegan Society project (hospital catering) that the opportunity​ came about to mention in conversation the potential to veganise Jay’s farm. The rest is, as they say, history, and hopefully a turning point in the transition of many more livestock farms to the compassionate and efficient farming of Food for a Future.

Hosting camps & gatherings can provide a useful income stream for vegan landowners. We will actively encourage the gatherings at which we cater to consider holding events at Bradley Nook Farm. As participants in the Northern Green Gathering (NGG) held there each August, we will urge the organisers to encourage other caterers at the event to honour the compassionate stance of the farm by highlighting vegan options. We know this to be a popular position to take as Nottingham Green Festival has declared a fully vegan ethos from 2017.

Meanwhile Jay has already discussed plans for his new ventures with Derbyshire Dales District Council.

He said: “We’ve got a huge range of brick buildings on the farm which are unused. We’re hoping to turn those into a vegan restaurant, a vegan teaching kitchen and accommodation for people who would like to come and help on the vegetable growing. A vegan holidays sort of thing.” (Derby Telegraph)

STOP PRESS – July 2020Bradley Nook Sanctuary  – the UK’s first Refarm’d partner farm, for local ethical production of organic oat milk.

Since 1984 Veggies Catering Campaign has saved hundreds of cows by simply selling, with vegan attitude, possibly half a million Veggies Burgers. All those lives were unknown to us, but the path has led to 73 individual living, breathing lives that you can now meet at Hillside Animal Rescue:

 

Farmer Jays Cows at Hillside The cows are now being cared for by Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norfolk which is fundraising for their keep

Please sponsor Hillside to help the cows – please click here or telephone the Hillside Cow Rescue Helpline on 01603 736200 (9am to 10pm).Please Help the Cows

or by bank transfer donation to…
The Co-operative Bank
Account No: 69668302
Sort Code: 08-92-99

 
Or by post to Hillside Animal Sanctuary
Hill Top Farm, Hall Lane, Frettenham, Norwich, NR12 7LT

Vegetarian Farmer Jay article in Vegan Trade Journal
Read the full story in the Vegan Trade Journalfree download here
 

Visit freefromharm.org to read the inspiring stories of other former meat & dairy farmers that became vegan activists.

The story of Farmer Jay is also featured in / at / on:
 

 

BBC News 13 June 2017

A vegetarian farmer has given his herd of cows to an animal sanctuary to protect them from the slaughterhouse.

Jay Wilde, 59, who farms in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, sent [73] cattle to a Norfolk rescue centre as he could no longer bear to send them to be killed.

Mr Wilde, a vegetarian for 25 years, grew up herding cows and took over the family farm when his father died.

“Cows have good memories and a range of emotions. They form relationships. I’ve even seen them cry,” he said.

“It was very difficult to do your best to look after them and then send them to the slaughterhouse for what must be a terrifying death.”

The Hillside Animal Sanctuary near Frettenham said 30 of the cows are pregnant and all the animals “would live out their lives essentially as pets”.

Founder, Wendy Valentine, said Mr Wilde is not the first farmer to have donated his herd.

She recalls a couple who “could not bear to continue dairy farming and kept their cows as pets with the help of the sanctuary”.

Mr Wilde, who switched from dairy farming to organic beef production on the death of his father in 2011, said he always wanted to give up animal production because he “couldn’t believe it was right to eat them”.

He believes dairy farming is particularly hard because calves and cows would often become distressed on separation.

“I’m relieved to have made the decision to no longer farm animals, something which I always found quite upsetting,” he said.

His brother-in-law told him he was “absolutely insane” to give away cattle which could fetch up to £40,000 at market.

He said “a lack of imagination” had previously stopped him switching to arable farming.

Mr Wilde will now be running a vegan organic market farm supplying garden produce without using animal products or fertilisers.

 


Farmer Jay Independent
 
 
A herd of cows from the East Midlands will be mooing a sigh of relief thanks the kindness of their owner, vegetarian farmer Jay Wilde who has sent them to live out their days in an animal sanctuary.

 Leaving their old cattle sheds at Bradley Nook Farm in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, the 59 cows were rehomed in Norfolk at the Hillside Animal Sanctuary on Monday.

A vegetarian for a total of 25 years, Mr Wilde told The Times that he found it “very difficult to do your best to look after them and then send them to the slaughterhouse for what must be a terrifying death.”

“I’m relieved to have made the decision to no longer farm animals, something which I always found quite upsetting,” Mr Wilde said.

“Cows have good memories and a range of emotions. They form relationships. I’ve even seen them cry.” 

The herd, worth £40,000 at market, will avoid the abattoir to join the sanctuary’s 300 cattle and 2,000 horses, donkeys and ponies. Mr Wilde has kept ten as “pets.”

The founder of the sanctuary, Wendy Valentine, said Mr Wilde’s cattle could now enjoy their full 25-year lifespans rather than reaching the slaughter age of two to three years. 

The sanctuary was started in 1995 to draw attention to the effects of factory farming and needs to raise a minimum of £5m per year to continue to care for the animals. 

The donation was organised by the Vegan Society and Mr Wilde now plans to farm organic vegetables free of animal products and fertilisers to sell in the flourishing vegan market. 

Tom Kuehnel, the Vegan Society’s campaign officer, told The Independent: “Jay is a real pioneer, which we hope will inspire other farmers to move towards more compassionate and sustainable farming methods that don’t involve animals.”

… full story …

Food for a Future

Food for a Future imageFor over 20 years at Glastonbury Festival, Veggies has invited different groups to campaign alongside us, including Camp for Climate Action, Bicycology, Animal Aid, Indymedia, Calais Migrant Solidarity and many more.

This year we were going to invite ‘Food for a Future‘ to work with us, but their proposal was so amazing we think it would be lost in Veggies cafe space.

We suggested that they go it alone and pitch their ideas directly to the Green Fields team. They said “YES”, so we are excited to look forward to seeing a unique new campaign space at Glastonbury Green Futures, which we think would add something exciting and new to the great diversity of things that already take place at the event.

As well as running this space at Glastonbury Festival, we are keen to invite the Food for a Future team to work alongside us at our many other other green-orientated events on our tour, including the Green Gathering, the Northern Green Gathering and Nottingham Green Festival

They say:

“Essentially we would like to empower people to make green lifestyle choices through what they eat, something simple anyone can do at home that would have a positive impact on the environment. Current estimates for the global greenhouse gas emissions for animal agriculture are at least 20%, which is more than all the world’s transport combined.

Therefore a green cookery, talks and workshop space would be very appropriate for an ethically-minded event such as Nottingham Green Festival. We would like to show people in a creative and interactive way how ethical food choices can create a greener, more sustainable planet.

All workshops and resources will be available just by donation, with any proceeds likely going to Vegfam, a registered humanitarian charity that helps people overseas by providing funds for self-supporting, sustainable food projects which do not exploit animals or the environment.

“We have a large recycled canvas tent, which would be an ideal space for hosting talks, workshops and environmental documentaries. We would like to put together a programme of activities including ‘Ethical Eating Cookery Workshops’, which would teach people how to cook creatively with plant-based foods and reduce food wastage, raw food demos, and ‘Greener World Talks’, which would include talks by eminent nutritionists, green athletes and green campaigners about how a plant-based diet is the most healthy and sustainable for the planet and the issues surrounding this.

“The ultimate aim of our space is to give festival goers a fun, creative experience, combined with information and skills to lead a greener, healthier and more compassionate life. The leading of such a life will benefit the individual, the planet’s rainforests, oceans and air, and its animals.”

We look forward to hearing your feedback.

The ‘Food for a Futures’ campaign team.

Weirdigans Tent

Follow Foodforafuture on Twitter and on Facebook


Veggies Summer Tour

Between now and the end of August, Veggies has eight weekend camping events, as well as several single day events.

Veggies Action CateringWe recommend you to check out all these events with view to attending / supporting them.

Even better, if you are attending any of these events you might like to help with Veggies Campaign Catering.

Please contact us if you might help in any way.

Warmest wishes and motivational ‘Go Team Veggies!’

Friday 18th to Sunday 20th July
Peace in the Park – Oxfordshire

A Buddhist event at the Global Retreat Centre with a mix of music, talks and meditation pavilions. Events and activities will include ‘Mindset Talks’, new ‘One Question’ events, woodland activities for children and adults, story-telling from ancient lands, an open air chill-out meditation lounge, sacred music in the grounds, and the hugely popular ‘Meditation & Music for the World’ event.

See: http://peaceinthepark.globalretreatcentre.org/


Friday 18th to Sunday 20th July
and Friday 25th to Sunday 27th July
Goddess Camp – Bestwood Park, Nottm

Women, men and children are welcome for a weekend of celebration, ritual and workshops at the Goddess Camp at Bestwood Country Park.

See: http://peakspirit.wix.com/goddesscamp


Thursday 24th to Sunday 27th July
Northern Green Gathering
Derbyshire Dales, Nr Ashbourne, Derbyshire

A small volunteer-run environmental/educational gathering, a 4 day event on a beautiful new site, focussed around sustainable living and green campaigns. There will be environmental workshops & campaigns, permaculture, organic veggie cafes, stalls, healers & alternative therapies, kids space, theatre & circus workshops, and a showcase of environment living in action, including solar power and wind power.

See: http://www.nggonline.org.uk/


Thursday 31st July to Sunday 3rd August
Green Gathering – Chepstow, Wales

At the Green Gathering you can rediscover ancient skills and explore
pathways to future sustainability; talk with key speakers from the Green movement and engage in lively debate at the Green Forum venue and inform yourselves about current issues and causes with groups in the Campaigns area, which will include a Co-ops Camp, co-ordinated by Radical Routes.

See: http://www.greengathering.org.uk/


Thursday 31st July to Monday 4th August
Peace News Summer Camp 2014 – E.Suffolk

Event to help build a radical movement for the future by building a living community today, with local activists – top trainers – revolution – non-violence – learning from other movements – community – glorious countryside.

See: http://peacenewscamp.info/


Thursday 7th to Monday 11th August
Animal Rights Gathering – Notts/Derbys

The Animal Rights Summer Gathering exists to promote cooperation and to spread information between the various groups and individuals working throughout the UK to stop animal abuse.

See: http://www.argathering.org.uk/


Thursday 14th to Wednesday 20th August
Reclaim The Power – location TBA

August will see thousands ‘Reclaim the Power’ and stand in solidarity with communities opposing fracking. Camp will be a hub for skillshares, workshops, entertainment and direct action. There will be a probable Veggies Cafe space & action catering.

See: http://www.nodashforgas.org.uk/


Thursday 28th to Monday 1st September
Earth First Summer Gathering

The Earth First! Summer Gathering is the place where people involved in radical ecological direct action – or those who want to be involved – get together for five days of time and space to talk, walk, share skills, learn, play, rant, find out what’s going on, find out what’s next, live outside, strategise, hang out, incite, laugh and conspire. The workshops, networking and planning of actions at this low impact eco-living camp is organised non-hierarchically.

See: http://efgathering.weebly.com/


During this period we also have these one day events:

Community Circle

Tuesday 22nd July &
Tuesday 19th August
Details from http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=555

Cycle Mania

Friday 8th August
Details from http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=994

Brinsley Animal Rescue Open Day

Sunday 10th August
Details from http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=423

London Vegan Festival

Sunday 17th August
Details from http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=269


Much more on Veggies Events Diary

More on Veggies Catering for Gatherings

Frack Free Nottinghamshire


April 26th
Frack Free Fun Day
Ducks not Drills

Daneshill Road,Sutton-cum-Lound,nr. Retford, same road as Daneshill lakes

*Come and see the Drill and site where they are drilling for coal bed methane
*Get information to make your own mind up.
*Have fun- bring family and friends
*Meet the campers trying to protect this lovely place
*Enjoy beautiful Daneshill Lakes and woodland

ACTIVITIES so far
Face Painting
Natural arts and crafts
Tree climbing with harness
Tight rope walking
Rebel Clown Army fun
Spiral Dance
Inspiring songs
Decorate the Gate with pictures of the future we want…happy children beautiful countryside etc,
Painting

BRING YOUR SKILLS. BRING YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
… and bring
*food and drink to share,
*acoustic instruments, poems, songs, dances,
*all the things you need for any activities you want to run.
*water bottle (no running water at camp)
*camping gear if you want to stay

Transport from Nottingham 11am from back of Fade Cafe, Mansfield Road.
Must contact jeanniethompson2@aol.com to book.

Let Helen know if you want to organise an activity: hvm76@hotmail.com


Right-click Twitter Image to Print & Display Poster



Veggies @ Glastonbury 2013

Glastonbury 2013 was a big success for Veggies Catering Campaign, especially in terms of our vegan campaign outreach.

Veggies 2013 Glastonbury Gallery

On arrival we found that Veggies was sited at a key location at the entrance to the Green Futures Field, right off the Old Railway Track crossroads.

This was great to catch the people going up the track…

Glastonbury 2013

… and those coming back down:

Glastonbury 2013

Glastonbury Panorama

Click here for Lakeside view

Info for Action

Info for actonA big part of our mission was to encourage support for the many events that we attend, including Peace News Summer Camp, the Animal Rights Gathering and Reclaim the Power (No Dash for Gas) Action Camp. Veggies Catering Campaign has a unique roll in uniting movements for positive social change, catering at actions, camps and gatherings.

Other campaigns that we support, such as the Radical Routes network and the Movement for Compassionate Living were featured on impromptu displays.

Our location enabled us to highlight other activities in the Green Futures Field, such as the Speakers Forum, which featured the Lush Charity Pot Slam, and the main Green Information Point further up the track:

Glastonbury 2013

A special mention too to Zia Solar Systems that helped with the power to keep the foods as chilled as the crew!


Pulp Friction Smoothies

Pulp Friction Smoothie BikeWe were delighted to have been loaned a Pulp Friction bike to add d-i-y smoothies to the low-tech, low energy activities at Veggies at Glastonbury.

Festival goers enjoyed fresh fruit smoothies and shakes with Koko Coconut Milk.

Pulp Friction logo

Pulp Friction Smoothie Bar Project, from Nottingham, provides volunteering opportunities for young adults, taking their smoothie bikes to different community events – schools, youth clubs, playschemes, community festivals etc.

Pulp Friction Bike


Goody Good Stuff sweets – too Goody Good to walk on by!

Goody Good Stuff sweets combine the highest quality blend of ingredients including natural fruit juices and extracts which create a beautifully clear consistency and a superior taste experience. The entire line is vegetarian, fat-free, meat-free, dairy-free, nut-free, Halal and Kosher certified.


And yes…

We got to see some band…

Stones at GlastonburyStones at Glastonbury

… and slept for a week after!


To see how all this compares with our plans and expectations, see our glastonbury-badger-action-cafe posting from before the event.


Feedback

badgerOur crew are reflecting on ways to make this huge campaign outreach mission work even better in future. If you have and thought, please contact us.

– “Well, first and foremost, I think we should totally be giving ourselves a big pat of the back. Couldn’t really ask much more from a team. :)”

– Campaign space worked better than it ever has.

– In spite of some fantastic contributions to the Veggies aesthetic, our frontage and customer lounge still looked like the practical marqueue of a not-for-profit, grass roots, campaigning organization, rather than a slick professional venue (IMHO).

– Campaigning: We need to have recurring activities to draw people in like the smoothy maker, taste testings and other good ideas. They need to be on all the time as well, we had a great campaign space and people came when they could interact in some way, but when there was nothing to interact with the space seemed pretty quiet apart from staff 😉 (its Glastonbury they’ll find other things to do). We need to properly brainstorm interactive things we can have inside the space and practice them before the event (maybe use at regular events as well) and have them running as long as the space is open and draw lots of people in and get them educated or at least give them a leaflet.

– One crew member in the multi-use space just didn’t really work in my opinion, you get pulled into a conversation about the badger cull, giving a milk taster round, prepping fruit for the pedal-smoothie, clearing up the space and sign-posting people to the trailer for their coffee. If you add to that trying to start a burger demo, re-organise the merchandise, checking the honesty pots, facepaint and clean up the relishes table, it makes it impossible for 1 person in a multi-use space to do any one of those things efficiently or effectively.

– People used the cafe space when trailer crew encouraged them to, same goes for campaign space. I think if trailer crew felt more joined up with the campaign space and had those quick conversations whilst burgers were waiting or coffee brewing, it would have got a masses more traffic. It’s the point of contact, if we miss that, we miss the person.

– Integrate not just the trailer into the campaign space but the crew and the whole approach – otherwise we really are just serving burgers to rich festival punters and raising funds for Veggies (which is valid but we can do more than just that):

– Trailer crew are resourced with whatever they need to make those conversations with customers possible

– The campaign period is shortened with 2 crew on it at all times or better seek funding or other support to be able to extend the campaigning for a full 12 hours each day.

– Much clearer continuity between the Veggies trailer and the ‘badger cafe’ – customers really didn’t get that it was the same space

– I also think we should have stayed open until 5am as between midnight and 4am everyone who normally camps out around the main stages is somewhere between Arcadia, Shangra La and the stone circle.

– An additional crew member might be be better used helping in kitchen rather than than trailer, so that more cake, bhajis, pizza, soups, meals etc could be made.

– Chrissy enjoyed cooking crew meals, and didn’t mind working through til 9pm most evenings. Surplus meals might be offered on an ad-hoc basis to customers, subject to availability.

– We absolutely should have had some frontage next to Groovy Movie. We were focussed so much on grabbing attention from the cross roads we were actually closing ourselves off from people coming back down from the stone circle, or in the Green Futures Field.

– We need to think about cake display – we should keep an eye out for a two or three tiered cake display with a cover. I also think we should have had cakes, pasties and cold drinks on a table in the marquee with an honestly pot for those who did come in asking.

– The Indian place down the track was already trading when we arrived so we must be open as early as possible. On the Tuesday evening we were the only people open and we were doing steady trade throughout.

– There were times before and after the main festival was running that crew were hungry and the conventional 3 meals a day hadn’t really been considered and planned in.

– I would have liked to have a daily meeting/briefing during which ideally all crew members get together to:
… communicate the ‘extra-tasks’ and priorities of the day, and designate people to action those so everybody knows what to do and how to help
… raise any relevant issues (concerns, worries, requests for help, big-ups…) in order to facilitate communication and relieve any tension amongst ourselves as well as celebrate our hard work 😎

– The festival officially finished on Sunday night. Some of the team arrived home late on Tuesday evening.

A major part of Veggies work involves supporting the public’s interest in all the new vegan products available. Whilst not able to do sampling we were able to encourage potential customers to taste test the foods on our menu, in particular cheeses and plant milks.

Vegusto with gusto at Glasto!

Vegusto taste test

Swiss vegan manufacturers, Vegusto have created a range of ‘cheeses’ based on coconut, rapeseed and sunflower oils, almonds, cashew nuts which really do taste like cheese! And what’s more, the cheeses are not only dairy free, but gluten free, soya free and egg free too.

Bute Island – just ‘bute’ for taste testing!

bute island bute island tasting


Sumac Centre – a future vision

In 1985 Veggies helped establish Nottingham’s Rainbow Centre, later taking on the co-ordination of the running of the space. In 2001 the support generated over the previous decades enabled the purchase of the Sumac Centre, a collectively owned space supporting a wide range of interconnected initiatives, including being the home of Veggies Catering Campaign.

Sumac ImageOn Satuday 8th December 2012 there is to be a discussion on the future of the Sumac Centre noting, amongst other things, its role as “a meeting place for politically motivated activists, a resource centre and library. Meeting place for vegans and animal rights activists/campaigners and a tool for their propaganda.”

This role hasn’t just happened in isolation.
It is due to Veggies and others being centrally involved in the running of Sumac from 15 years before it even existed. We may feel this role to be carved in stone, and this may well be the case.

However Sumac is simply the sum of its parts so we, as ‘vegans and animal rights activists/campaigners’ must continue to play our part.

If you are free on Saturday 8/12/12 (11am-6pm) please consider supporting the vegan status of the Sumac Centre and its role as a national resource for the animal rights movement.


This Saturday is a Sumac visioning day, a chance for all of you who come to the Sumac Center to bring your excitement, enthusiasm and inspiration in order to help shape the future of the Sumac Centre.

1) Intro

2) Use

– How is the Sumac used?

Meeting place, tat storage, music venue, peoples kitchen, food bank, a base for lots of varied campaigns/alternative cultures, bike project, fundraiser events, information and awareness raising events, film screenings, autonomous DIY infrastructure, ABC letter writing, gardening club.

– Is this the kind of useage we want to continue?

3) Purpose

– What is the current purpose of the Sumac?

A meeting place for politically motivated activists, a resource centre and library. Meeting place for vegans and animal rights activists/campaigners and a tool for their propaganda.

This will include a conversation about whether the sumac is there to engage with the local geographical community or the activist community. It’s a stable part of infrastructure for ‘our movement’.

– Is this the purpose we want to go forward with?

There will be lunch in the middle and we’ll all have a big ole delicous peoples kitchen at the end.

Hope to see you all there.

Sumac Visioning Poster
The Sumac Centre
http://www.sumac.org.uk
0845 458 9595
245 Gladstone Street, Forest Fields, Nottingham, NG7 6HX


The Sumac Centre is an independent community and activist resource centre. It is made up of a community cafe, social club, library, exhibition space, veggie catering campaign, filmnights, talks, meeting spaces and the residents. The centre is used by various campaign groups and collectives working towards social change and justice for all. Come and visit us!

_________________________________________________________________

Full details of Sumac Events (and more from like-minded groups):
http://www.sumac.org.uk/diary.htm

Veggies News: http://twitter.com/veggiesnottm

Save Our Farm!

Growing With Grace

Well, not actually ours, but Growing with Grace is looking for investment to save their stock-free organic farm!

Growing With GraceFormer Sumac volunteer, Eleanor Fairbrother has recently become a grower at Growing With Grace, an organic farm in the Yorkshire Dales.

The farm is an amazing place, with 2 acres of glass houses. It supplies organic vegetables to local people via its shop, box scheme, and wholesale to other retail outlets. It is committed to its stock free status, with all its fertility coming from an onsite composting scheme of the local green waste.

Growing With Grace is also committed to environmental stewardship, using biodiesel made on site in its tractors and delivery vehicles, and promoting biodiversity in the greenhouses with permaculture techniques, including a spectacular forest garden under glass (with peaches, figs, and nectarines!). It is also committed to co-operation and non-hierarchy, having been a workers co-op since its inception, and now being a community co-op.

The farm has been in financial trouble for 2 years, after a failed take over by a larger social enterprise, but it now has a bunch of new directors who have changed it from a workers co-op to a community co-op, reorganised the business plan, and are now doing a share issue to raise funds to save the farm.

Growing with Grace needs around £60,000 to make it financially viable and has until the end of July to get it!

They are asking individuals / groups to buy a £100 share in the farm (or more if you want!). You will then be part owner of the farm, and able to vote at AGMs etc. The farm will be able to get back on its feet, and will be able to get back to full production and profitability. Copies of the share issue prospectus, and an application form are available in PDF form on our website.

It is essentially an ethical donation, but technically you could withdraw your money in a couple of years, and you can also expect to get a small dividend on your money from around the same time. Until they have raised enough money that they know they are financially viable, your money will be kept in a holding account, and if they don’t raise enough money to save the farm, we will return it.

Veggies adds…

As a ‘stock-free’ farm no animal products such as blood, bonemeal or slurry from factory farmed animals are used. More information on truely animal friendly farming can be obtained from the Vegan Organic Network.

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