Self Sufficiency - Fact or Fiction
2012; Volume: 31; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1836-6600
Autores Tópico(s)Rural development and sustainability
ResumoI made the following bold statement on New Zealand Country Calendar TV program in 2005: is not possible or even desirable, community self-sufficiency is. The program told the story of eight partners, myself one of them, who had created an intentional communitybased organic commercial farm, the project had matured over 15 years, a producer of gold medal wines, olive oil, and lavender products. All products were organic and farm activity also included a high level of personal food production. The structure included elements of Maori landholding, individual commercial crop cost centres, shared common land, and simple entry and exit rules.This structure was designed to allow flexible participation in all commercial activities, discourage personal profiteering, and harness the collective individual talents of all partners to farm projects and administration. I was the only partner to live full time on the farm and derive an income, which was bolstered by my own savings. This put me in a unique situation to investigate the realities of self-sufficiency, whilst experiencing a community business.My preparation for entering a community-based farm had been as thorough as I could make it. Having no history or experience of farming or collective living was somewhat of an impediment. The foundation for wanting such an experience had been supported by a realisation that in New Zealand I could easily manifest such a structure and that my heart and soul needed the connection to Earth.Raised in a 1960s UK working class suburb, the closest I got was dad's oral history of back yard farming and grandparent's allotments. A corporate IT career had been my passport to the world. I have seen most of the planet working for a Middle Eastern airline, hopped around Europe for a cosmetics company, and enjoyed North America as a senior consultant. Australia and New Zealand were my last office days, board level and leading edge projects, headhunted, and finally dismayed by the machine, I left that security, shelter and familiarity. I walked an exciting and sometimes miraculous path through meditation, spirituality, counselling, and bodywork, and finally my realisation of what God meant for me. The grounding of my search for community was born on an advanced Permaculture course and I knew that my path was set.I began this new journey with a small home and workshop built from locally milled timber, using healthy home products, a homebuilt compost toilet and solar hot water system; a 0.5 kilowatt solar array, deep-cycle batteries, and an inverter; roof water tanks; a caravan and 4WD truck; an extensive range of tools; slow Internet connection, laptop, washing machine, gas cooker, and a rifle. No TV, generator, grid, close neighbours, fences, electricity and water bills, traffic, insurance, or bosses. Farm maintenance and rates were funded through a weekly levy to the farm account.Self-sufficiency, what is it?My own version was to arrive trained, with all the tools and materials, and see how all the inputs to our life could be replaced by self-creation on the land, and all the outputs could be reused.We had no set boundaries on 150 acres of regrowth Bush. Permaculture, Bio-dynamics, Building, Electrical and Plumbing, Feng-Shui, Dowsing, Meditation, Naturopathy, Beekeeping, Roading, Landscaping, Cash cropping, Preserving, Coppicing, Guitar playing, History.. . . to list a few of the many crafts we developed.The wake-up calls to self-sufficiency being impossible were many:- Slicing the end of a thumb and travelling three hours to the closest surgeon who saved it rather than amputating half of it- Choosing to connect to the grid after the third set of deep-cycle batteries failed, the solar panels were delaminating and the inverter had blown up- Getting caught in an open field with a family of wild pigs- Wildlife disappearing when we started eating them- Cash crops failing- Leaving the farm to do paid work- Becoming WWOOF hosts (Willing Workers on Organic Farm) to earn labour, and a second set of hands, and someone to talk to- Driving one hour to the closest video shop- Veggie co-op's, markets, swaps, clothes, repairs, road maintenance. …
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