Bristol Mayoral Candidate Speaks Against Severn Barrage Plan

Tidal Barrage (Photo credit: frachon)

The controversial proposal to build a £30 billion barrage across the Severn Estuary has been criticised by LibDem mayoral candidate Jon Rogers, who has expressed concern over the scheme's impact on thousands of jobs at Avonmouth and Portbury docks.

Dr Rogers is quoted in South West Business as saying:

"A report was published in 2010 which said a barrage would cost too much for what it would gain and therefore everyone was far more relaxed about future investment in the port. But if it were to go ahead, then it could have a very negative impact on the port which I want to see protected."

The Bristol City Councillor claims that alternative sources of clean energy to the barrage could include tidal fences, lagoons and tidal reefs - all smaller-scale schemes with less environmental impact.  He also believes that local firms could develop and build these technologies, thus developing global influence leading to long-term exports.

The Bristol Port Company directly employs about 600 staff, with about another 8,000 workers dependent on the port for their day-to-day living. 

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Courgettes: the Answer to Everything

Image via Wikipedia

My initial introduction to the humble courgette was not a positive one.

Presented as an over-cooked, soggy item, stuffed with other over-cooked oily vegetables, the courgette was, when I first met it, assigned a place on the only-eat-if-desperate list of foodstuffs.

All that has changed this summer as the Trym household have harvested their first crop of the dark green vegetable and have discovered that it is not only as versatile as the potato, but is quite likely to be the answer to world peace as well.

Part of the squash family, and therefore originally from North America, the courgettes (or zucchini as the Americans and Australians call them) sold in shops are typically around 8 inches long. Readers can only imagine my surprise, therefore, when the Trym vegetable patch starting producing monster courgettes between two and three feet in length.


These marrow-sized squashes (courgettes are technically a fruit, for reasons I don't fully understand) are a wonder to behold and at times the Trym kitchen has resembled the scene from Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit where the villagers are holding their over-size vegetable competition.

I appreciate the efficiency of the courgette. With the exception of the small external stalk, the entire thing can be eaten. No pips to remove, no core, no skin to peel off. 100% pure nourishment.

Not only do the courgettes seem to like Westbury on Trym's limestone soil, the finished product can be used in a wide range of meals from soups to casseroles, meat, lasagna and pasta dishes, as well as stuffed and baked or as a side dish in their own right. 

Last week I made and froze a lake of spicy courgette soup that will keep the household fed through the winter. The recipe is here, should you be so inclined.

One word of warning: the plants themselves grow to a huge size. The mature plant reminds me of the pods placed in suburban gardens by the aliens in the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (I refer of course to the 1978 remake starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams and Leonard Nimroy).

Cinematographic comparisons not withstanding, the courgette is a marvelous plant and should be planted and consumed by all those seeking a sustainable and tasty future.

Thank you. 

 






  






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Learning from the Past

It's a romantic picture, obviously, but the following short film from American producer James Fitzpatrick should be of more than passing interest to those seeking ways of creating more sustainable cities.

Of personal interest is the emphasis on local food (in this case, fish), individual small businesses (in the flower market) and the widespread use of allotments.

Not to mention the cycles. Notice that they are treated as a means of transport, not a sport. No excessive bobbing up and down.

It seems that sometimes we have to look backwards in order to move forwards.

Thanks to The Slow Bicycle Movement for this gem.

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Urban Farming: a Working Model

I've been convinced of the need for urban farms for some time - as a response to the environmental crisis which is fueled in part by the long supply chains between field and table which are characteristic of factory food and the supermarket business model - but I have limited experience in how they might work in practice.

Which is why the following site was a wonderful eye opener. The photos say it all - a community food growing project on a council estate in north Paddington based on growing crops in builders' grow bags.

Check out the site.

This project will be national news by the autumn and everyone will be talking about it.

How about here?

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Responding to Mr Glum

Here's a fun video from some lively chaps in London.

You never know, it all might catch on here.

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Food, Glorious Food

At 30 pages, it's not a quick read and I I certainly haven't read it all yet, but intend doing so.

If you are remotely interested in the issue of local food, its role in reducing environmental damage and in contributing to healthy communities, the draft Sustainable Food Strategy for Bristol is an important document.

The following statement from the document is one I wholeheartedly agree with:

"in the context of peak oil (and fossil depletion more generally) and climate change - global sustainability rests on the re-localisation and de-industrialisation of our food system."

Happy reading. Let me know if you finish it before I do.

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