Agent of change.

Wow done it. Taken the big step of working at the mercy of the market. Feels like more of an experiment in personal behaviour change and resilience. Is it possible to pay the bills, have a good work life balance to life and actively work for people and planet as if the future matters?

I believe deeply in a shift to a one planet economy that can still enhance the economic, historic, natural and cultural qualities of our places we love. While ending exploitation of the weakest, harvesting and not mining our resources. However, I also believe in a decent work life balance and challenging a system where it is expectable for campaigners to regular burn out fighting for this future. As Gandhi once said, “we need to live the life we want to see in the world”.

Over the last few years I have also noticed the exclusivity of many of the issues I have been campaigning on. I have therefore been working to test new ways to break out of the ‘progressive’ silo the environmental movement is often accused of inhabiting. Having recently developed critical audience insight into how we communicate about climate change to centre right audiences. I am now looking for partners and funding to test the same approach to a wider pro-nature public narrative.

Wish me luck and even better book me for a consultation session to discover how you can help me to help you.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-lloyd/

Sustainable Farming in the Cotswolds

<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/124890450″>HOGGET – FARMING THE NATURAL WAY</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/groweatgather”>GrowEatGather</a&gt; on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a&gt;.</p>

Jonty and Mel are really inspirational farmers who care deeply for the land they organically farm in the Cotswolds, They are actively rebuilding the soils and wildlife while ensuring the future of breads with real provenance grass fed and raised organically. Great thing about Conygree Farm is you can buy directly from the farm. They even deliver to my workplace in an organic wool insulated reusable box.

As an environmentalist I would be the first to advocate that we can all eat less meat, but it it is stories of people like this that stop me being a vegetarian. Even though many a vegan friend has tried to convince me otherwise. It is examples like Conygree Farm who need our support to show others there is an alternative way to farm the land.

Rebuilding the soils destroyed by many years of over intensive agriculture; supporting and helping the rich tapestry of biodiversity back on to the land; and building real local economies, food security and resilience into the local area while working with the spirit of the place.  A real future for farming we can all believe in.

They demonstrate that in the digital era farming does not have to be enslaved to exploitative supermarkets and their choice editing. They offer real choice helping to keep the rare breeds on the land they were bread for.  If you plan a head and buy seasonally like the Hogget in the video, the cost is  affordable. Together with a growing number of people choosing to buy locally, more people in more places will benefit. Buying direct from the producer not only support for real farmers, their families and the land they steward, it also helps other farmers to have the confidence to take the risk and follow in their footsteps

So when you are next shopping online, why don’t you bookmark your a local sustainable farm to buy meat direct? Only takes the click of a couple of buttons.

If you’re not convinced, read this truly inspirational blog about Mel and Jonty’s work as an example to us all to be more ambitious about the meat we eat and why we need to demand restorative agriculture.

http://groweatgather.co.uk/meet-the-farmers-jonty-mel-from-conygree-farm/