Organising for Food Sovereignty

cork | environment | press release

Sunday February 08, 2009 22:56

by Cork Foodweb - Cork Foodweb

A Remedy for Recession?

Cork is biting back at the recession with a new web-started community which aims to get us outside working together to grow our own food. Cork Food Web imagines a network of community gardens, allotments, urban and rural farms and food parks all over Cork city and county run autonomously by local communities and linked by the shared need to feed ourselves and mind our environment. The website is a ‘social networking site’ so allows users to create their own profile, get to know each other and form groups. In just a few months of existence membership has grown to 154, with members from the city and all across Cork county forming online interest groups, exchanging information and skills and creating events together.

Current groups that have been set up include Allotments; Community Gardens; Foragers; DIY Health; Guerrilla Gardeners; and Poultry People – there are 19 groups so far and any member can set up a new group.

One of the site’s founders commented on what Cork Food Web means to her. "The idea that I am part of creating a vessel that allows people to meet, to create, to change, to do what they want - that is very exciting. Creating the web site, organizing events, doing all of that without a hierarchal structure, bottom up, not pushing an agenda but being attentive to where the energy of the people flows being part of a wave, something that I believe is needed in the world. To see the faces of people meeting for the first time and going through the barrier between the protected digital world to the physical world, taking a chance and putting their energy to mix with others, with people that they don't even know, that is simply magic."

Another member added, "I haven’t a clue about gardening though my family would have always grown fruit and vegetables and known how to preserve them – this is a great chance for me to learn how to be more independent and to work with the community to make Cork a lot more sustainable. As the world economy crashes I expect to see groups like this all over the place, I’m proud that Cork’s leading the way and to be a tiny part of that!"

The format for the website is freely available online and could be used by any group of people with a shared focus to organise themselves and their knowledge. Act now while the internet still exists!

The next event held by Cork Food Web will be a Valentine’s Day Seed Swap which will be held on February 14th at 5.45pm at Blackrock Castle Observatory. Members and anyone interested are invited to come and meet each other, bring food to share, discuss possibilities, exchange tips and swap seeds for sowing.

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Comments (10 of 10)

great

by Conor.M - S.E.E.D

Sun Feb 08, 2009 23:26

liberalconormurphy at ymail dot com

Amazing, well done... I feel proud for some strange reason, even though I have nothing to do with it and its the first Ive heard of it. Dublin next?!?

Food .Your only Man.

by We the People

Mon Feb 09, 2009 14:41

The only sure 'investment' in this era,is Food.

You may remember the old Indian saying....'.......not until the last tree is standing will man realize that he cannot eat Money.

It's getting that time again.

Below is a good Food source in Co.Kerry that will sell Food in bulk or in small quantities on Saturdays just in case you cannot wait for it to grow. Irish seed savers in Scarriff Co.Clare are another great source for indigenous seeds. It is great to see People making moves in this way towards growing their own food , the necessity of which may be sooner rather than later.

http://www.iihealthfoods.com/index.php?t=2

the way to go

by sam - sinn féin bantry

Mon Feb 09, 2009 15:28

samsimpson at utvinternet dot com

This is a great idea, I think it's time might well be come already.
There are many things we need to do to create a viable and sustainable society, and far greater self-sufficiency and co-operation between communities at a grass roots level is definately crucial.
Maith sibh!

Badly needed

by ECO Guy

Wed Feb 11, 2009 18:17

Theres no reason why this country cannot provide all its citizens with top quality affordable organic food given the tremendous natural resources Ireland has in terms of world class farmland, climate variety of soil types etc. Sadly this is being stymied by the state, IFA etc. pandering to the interests of big agri-business, large multiples like Tesco, developers and speculators all of whom dictate that farming and farmland is simply used and abused for the benefit of those in the golden circle.

No more feckin new zealand apples

by dunk

Thu Feb 12, 2009 14:29

No more feckin new zealand apples, with all their oil miles and killing off local organic food markets.

Yes, to seedsavers apples, cork food network apples, dolphins barn garden apples etc....

like the seed, planted, it grows...

In this time of crisis, there is the opportunity for a radical reshape of how we live, work, eat....

G´on da rebels...

cork food web - seed planted, roots growing, enjoy your fruits

Thu Feb 12, 2009 14:36

Again, the rebels show the way..

And if any of ye want to read a very inspiring story from Barcelana about food production and what it can lead to: rurbano_revolution
http://www.inthefield.info/rurbano_revolution.pdf
from the can masdeu collective, http://www.canmasdeu.net/

heres 2 gardens from the Barcelona transition movement (early stages)
http://lhortetdelforat.blogspot.com/
http://horteres.wordpress.com/acerca-de/

Came across Park(ing) today.... + BCN garden radio show

Fri Feb 13, 2009 13:36

Maybe might add to your productive and culinery fun and games in cork

3 page manual: http://www.rebargroup.org/projects/parking/src/PARK(ing)_Manual.pdf
web: http://www.rebargroup.org/projects/parking/index.html#
source: http://www.postoilcities.org/

Related vids on Transitioning from the BCN / SPANISH TI community, which surely park(ing) will soon play a part: http://transicion.ning.com/video/video

happy weekend, happy planting, tmrw we work more in our gracia garden and paint a mural, heres recent half hour radio show about our garden, enjoy, dunk

http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2009/02/12/the_gracia_community_garden_radio_doc-final.mp3

Embedded audio: http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2009/02/12/the_gracia_community_garden_radio_doc-final.mp3

Greening the city: Temporary urban green zones

by DUNK

Mon Feb 16, 2009 13:48

Furter by, and in connection with, Corks plans, dreams and actions. Here in Barcelona we are trying to develop deeper our urban food systems; to try to create TUGZ, maybe ye might be on there in cork, or dublin, or tralee, ardee....wherever to try the same...

Strange times indeed, but in this time of crisis, its our opportunity to let leash the eco, food, healthy, fun, revolution.... Its already well underway.

Greening the city: Temporary urban green zones

For some time here in Barcelona, and globally via email etc, many of us have been talking about an inititiave that is simple, practical, ecological, cheap to do and can be a massive benefit to healthy urban communites. Some precedents exist already: New York City is perhaps the best that I have heard of. Perhaps Erik might be able to provide links for this. Some say it is impossible to do it here, I disagree, I think it is not only possible, but that it is feasible, and as the “eco awareness” grows and the city looks for answers to its eco problems, this is a simple, small, nice step.

This mail is to propose the idea to you, see what you think, seek support, seek your knowledge, ideas etc. Its also an invite to learn about, visit, share experiences and learning with us in the existing catalyst and example of this idea, that is alive and growing as I type: the new community garden in Gracia, Barcelona.

The idea is to seek legal authorisation to turn existing unoccupied urban solars (the sites where buildings once stood, but now demolished and awaiting re-construction) in green zones, breathing spaces for the city. This could happen at a series of levels:

1- Simply, gaining permission to enter a “grey zone”, break open the concrete, open up the earth again, enter biochar to the soil, plant certain carbon storage planting…and let it grow untill time comes (if it comes) for the site to be cleared and built upon.

2- As above, but using the space as a food production zone, a community garden, along with all the beneficial affects involved with that.

Presently Barcelona has big problems; pollution, water crisis, lack of green spaces, hi electricity use in hot summers…all of these, to an extent are related to 2 big problems we collectively need to adress and start solving; climate change and peak oil. While this project would not solve all the problems, it might begin a process by which a strategy might develop and from that, eventually, the problems might be solved.

As things stand at present, BCN is a very dense urban city, very little greenery, all this adds to the effect of heat island, that makes it even hotter in summer, this project, initially would help alleviate that effect. Presently in Gracia, my barrio and where we are trying to develop a transition initiave, a new space has been opened; our lovely urban community garden, or in catalan, HORT COMUNITARI GRACIA. This garden, is 4 months old, has much support from and is used by the neighbourhood, all types of people. A half hour audio documentary about the opening of it can be listened to here. This solar had been abandoned for 5 years and now it is amazing and growing. The thing is that people have not asked to use the space, they have taken it, they have occupied the space, and with that it could be evicted and returned to a grey zone. If we manage to develop this project I am outlining, well then, maybe our garden, and more, far more, might exist for many years. The NYC garden, apparently, uses mobile gardens, so when they have to move, they can simply to the next vacant lot.

Arial view of BCN and the the solar which is now a (TUGZ) Temporary urban green zone

Mobile garden, Image from Gracia hort

TUGZ - Temporary Urban Green Zones

Mon Feb 16, 2009 18:31

If things get as bad as they can, as quick as they can, this type of thing will become quite common, quite quickly. See, for example, what happened to Cuba, when oil went, its peak oil period. many green dots, join up to make chains, CPULS (continous productive urban landscapes)....

This crisis: (y)our opportunity to green the city

read full transition handbook, now online: Transition Handbook: http://uniteddiversity.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/t...k.pdf

cuba film:
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (full film-53 min)
http://global-ecoforum.ning.com/video/2251574:Video:2743

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"the community garden thing is blimmin' exploding here. people and places popping up everywhere"

by belfast a bloomin' - dirty fingers of the world unite

Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:41

so goes news, via the lists, of greening the city action in belfast
http://eglantine-community-garden.blogspot.com/

here in BCN, tonight we have a party for all the garden groups of the city, see poster attached
http://horteres.org/?p=250

and we have finished editing the
The Gracia Community Garden Radio Documentary Trilogy
http://itsafunnyoldworld.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/tugz/...t-137

see yez soon

dunk

BCN garden party tonight, green zones sprouting there too!

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