Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
of creating healthier and more sustainable food in its call for a more integrated
policy on food supplies by 2030 (DEFRA
2010
). So the Transition Town approach
of supporting more local food production may be justified as an important local
employment generator and supplementary supply resource that provides an impor-
tant back-up which would be useful in emergency situations if transport systems
are compromised, whether by energy constraints or disasters from natural hazards.
Yet some argue that it is impossible to return to the days of greater local food
production. However, it is worth remembering that major changes have taken place
within the life-time of many people. For example, in Britain the loss of imports
in World War II due to the depredations of the German U-Boats led to a national
decision to increase local food production within the country. In 1940 the govern-
ment set-up 476 districts to co-ordinate agricultural re-orientation, for much of the
productive land had been placed under pasture as grain and other crops were im-
ported. Gardiner's (
2004
) survey of war-time Britain showed that food production
increased by 91 % by 1944, with 19.8 million acres under production compared to
the 12.9 million in 1938, helped by the creation of 'land armies' staffed by females
who came from towns to replace the men in uniform. It was also estimated that
10 % of food crops in this period came from the expansion of production from
allotments and gardens, issues discussed in Chap. 4 (Green Cities). This shows
what a determined effort to increase local food supply backed by government can
actually achieve. The big question is whether such an emergency will occur in the
future because of higher transport costs and limited supplies. Consideration of such
a question means that issues such as lower comparative food costs, total energy use
and emissions on the one side, versus increasing local food supply employment,
agricultural opportunities and fresher food on the other, are not the only factors that
should be considered in evaluating the merits of local food supply.
7.4.3
Economy and Livelihoods
One consequence of the spread of capitalist practices and large corporations, from
banking to supermarkets, is that most aspects of our local economies involve own-
ership, inputs and outputs from, and to, ever more distant places, with the result that
the circulation of money is dominated by outward flows from smaller towns. Our
integrated food economy, dominated by big supermarket chains, means that much
of the money generated and spent locally soon disappears into the larger economy.
However there is evidence that local ownership leads to more money remaining in
the area. For example a comparative national study in the U.S.A by concluded that
“independent, locally-owned businesses of all types and sizes recirculated a sub-
stantially greater proportion of revenue to the local economy than did their chain
competitors” (CivicEconomics
2012
, p. 14). For the retailers and restaurants as a
whole, the advantage was 3.3 greater for local firms compared to the others, although
the proportions varied between various categories of stores. This type of evidence
is enough to encourage the growth of local businesses as a way of increasing local
resilience. Support for this idea and concern with the decreasing distinctiveness
