Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
An economy organised according to steady-state principles is one that nurtures the
soul of place in a way that is consistent with living sustainably within our animate Earth.
The growth economy, on the other hand, eradicates the unique qualities of place and
literally 're-places' them with the bland, soul-numbing homogeneity demanded by the
global economy and the corporations. Global fast food chains replace local restaurants
serving local dishes, giant multinational supermarkets replace small shops selling local
produce, and local organic farmers using ecologically diverse growing methods are re-
placed by agribusiness enterprises growing crop monocultures sprayed with toxic chem-
icals.
As the climate crisis becomes more apparent, and with the end of cheap oil (otherwise
known as 'peak oil') looming, a new grassroots movement is sweeping the world as
more and more people realize that action at the local level is of paramount importance.
The movement, known as the Transition Initiative, empowers people in towns and vil-
lages to reduce their carbon footprints and to build the resilience necessary to withstand
the powerdown of society that will inevitably result from peak oil. The key word in the
Transition Initiative is re-localisation—a re-discovery of how to live sustainably using
resources from as close to home as possible within vibrant communities fully linked in
to the natural rhythms of their bioregions.
Local community is of paramount importance because it is the source of wealth, soul,
human warmth and well-being, and so a truly sustainable national economy would have
to consist of a network of semi-autonomous local economies operating according to the
Gaian rules we have just explored. Profits would mostly be made and circulated locally
rather than being siphoned off into the pockets of distant investors, and currencies would
be locally created and locally distinctive, decoupled from the official national currency
so as to further protect the local economy from adverse outside influences. There are
now many experiments operating around the world in which community members offer
each other services paid for in a local currency without needing access to the national
equivalent.
Food would be grown locally by means of diverse organic production systems that
avoid massive fields growing vast acreages of crop monocultures, and that steer clear of
cruel forms of animal husbandry. Local people would know exactly where, how and by
whom their food was grown, and would be involved in the actual growing to some ex-
tent. This kind of practice already exists, and is known as Community Supported Agri-
culture, or CSA. The most common arrangement is for a local grower to make up 've-
getable boxes' for distribution to community members in exchange for some labour and
a guaranteed income. The practice promotes community when local people meet on the
farm to contribute their labour, or when they arrive at a vegetable box distribution point,
which is often a local household. Helena Norberg-Hodge, director of the International
