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From the 7th of October and for 2 weeks Extinction Rebellion is calling an International Rebellion. The aim is to use peaceful direct action to persuade governments to act on the Climate and Ecological Emergency many have already declared. We’re supporting the London Rebellion by supplying food for their kitchens. Josiah explains why... |
A few weeks ago I spoke about Hodmedod at the Byline Festival in Sussex, afterwards I was asked an extraordinary question which I’ve been thinking about ever since: How did you feel when you first heard about climate change and the extinction crisis? It’s not a question I could answer, I can’t remember a revelation or awakening. I’m only 45, climate change and habitat loss (the main driver for species extinction) have been increasingly present in my life for decades and for the last 25 years have been a key part of my work.
But on reflection it’s clear that for many, including my questioner, the depth of the climate emergency and the extent of the extinction crisis is new and disturbing news and that scientists, campaigners, businesses and politicians (I include myself, Nick and William in that) have utterly failed to communicate the enormity of the challenge and the rapidity with which it now has to be addressed.
Nick, William and I founded Hodmedod in 2012. The idea for the business emerged from work we’d been doing with East Anglia Food Link and Transition City Norwich (part of the Transition Network) since 2008/9. The Norwich group had asked us to help them understand what a more climate resilient, less destructive food system might look like for a city the size of Norwich and to help them demonstrate parts of that new system. With them we established a community supported agriculture scheme called FarmShare, worked with a baker and local farmers to create a Norwich loaf and ran a trial – The Great British Bean Project – to see whether people would be prepared to eat more locally grown peas and beans.
Pulses, we quickly realised, are a key element in any more sustainable food system; they’re not especially resource intensive to grow, build soil organic matter and benefit other crops in a rotation, and are a nutritious addition to our diets. For the last seven years our purpose has been to increase the amount of pulses grown and eaten in the UK and to advocate for more diverse arable rotations that use pulses and other crops to provide us with nutritious (delicious) foods whilst leaving a lighter ecological footprint.
Our time as Hodmedod has been very rewarding, but often incredibly difficult and exhausting - physically and emotionally. We’re a very small business attempting to do something new and huge, not only managing the day-to-day of sales, crop production and processing but communicating our wider vision for better food and farming in the face of an ecological crisis.
We’re not alone in this work. As well as fantastic support from our farmers and customers we’ve benefited from the publication of numerous (and increasingly frequent) scientific research papers that have lent credence to our purpose. At the same time organisations such as the Soil Association, PGRO, Eating Better, WWF, the Land Workers Alliance and the RSA have carried out research and initiated campaigns that have brought news and positive ideas for change to a wider audience.
And yet still there are many for whom climate change and extinction are problems for tomorrow. Not least politicians who seemingly don’t feel they’re being given a clear enough mandate to act by civil society - all of us.
Extinction Rebellion appears to be changing all that by clearly defining the challenge and focusing on three demands (below) made in a way that has inspired millions and caught the attention of government and media. It's been a breath of fresh air and has immeasurably helped us as we tell our story about better food and farming.
For that reason we're very happy to be supporting the London Rebellion through the donation of a tonne of yellow split peas. We hope that for a few days our peas, a symbol of the changes we need to make, will keep the Rebels fed as they help create a space to discuss the kind of radical changes our government needs to enact now.
The team behind the catering are planning to produce 15,000 hot meals a day (you read that right) and will not only need food but also help cooking and moving the cooked food to various locations across London. Please do use the contact details here if you'd like to help.
And if you happen to be a food business like us and would like to offer a donation please do either email us or tweet a message to @OctSustenance
Tell the truth. Government must tell the truth by declaring an climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
Act now. Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
Beyond politics. Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.
Love this! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for supporting XR. I am a member of its sister organisation Animal Rebellion, whose goal is transition to a plant-based food system. One of the criticisms often encountered is that a plant-based diet is heavily dependent upon imported products, so British businesses like yours will be very important in the future we foresee. I wondered what challenges you and the farmers you work with face and whether there are potential incentives from government that could support your efforts?
Thank you! I ate the peas on the roundabout by Lambeth Bridge- I did not know they were yours at the time!
I am cheered to know that people such as you are reacting positively to the climate emergency. Hodmedods, growers, researchers, experimenters, marketers and distributors producing crops that are nutritious, delicious, and grow well in our country are needed!
I particularly favour the organic crops you produce. I hope this side will expand. What about growing linseed, and buckwheat? Both have been grown in this country historically. I bought organic linseed recently that came from Canada…( air miles!!) and could you branch out into organic British rape seed oil? I can buy organic – from Italy, or non -organic British, but neither is quite what I want.
Great to hear you are doing this. Have you thought about giving online customers the option of buying one extra item from you which you then donate to a foodbank (or other project such as a community food scheme/breakfast club or the ER campaign)?
Thank you, Josiah and Hodmedod’s. I too look forward to being sustained by Hodmedod’s peas in London. My diet and that of my wife and daughter’s been enriched so much by the delicious and local food you provide (My youngest calls chia seeds, dinosaur eggs!)
With love and rage!
thank you for your statement supporting the Extinction Rebellion.
It is very heartening to know your commitment to producing food in a far more sustainable way.
I have been spreading word about your wonderful peas and beans since I discovered them a few years ago.
It’s just great to have our own home produced pulses.
Josiah, I’m an old man who has been hoping for decades to see the awareness that you represent, and, more than awareness, the decisiveness to act. I wish every blessing on your work and on that of the even younger rebels who will stand up for our common home.
Thank you Josiah and Hodmedod’s for this article and for voicing your support for Extinction Rebellion, and making your support real and practical in the form of your generous donation, I hope other businesses feel motivated to do the same. I’ve loved Hodmedod’s products since they first showed up in my local wholefood shop a few years ago, and I’m inspired to learn a bit more about the Hodmedod’s story. Look forward to eating your peas in October alongside many thousands rebelling for the future of life on this extraordinary, bountiful and beleaguered planet.
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Josiah Meldrum
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