August Beneath the Wisteria cancelled, freeing up people to attend Tatura environmental film festival

B

eneath the Wisteria scheduled for this month, Saturday, August 29, has been cancelled.

Those who would have been attending are urged to consider registering to attend “Your Town, Your Food” a day of films and conversations being staged that same day by Tatura Transition Towns.

Along with films depicting ideas on how people can add easily, efficiently and effectively to their food supplies, guest speakers, David Holmgren, Su Dennett and Dr Robert Salter will talk about how people do that.

Holmgren worked with Bill Mollison to create Permaculture, a simple but wonderful idea for growing food that has swept the world and Su Dennett, his partner, specialises in localism, while Dr Salter was the key player in the establishment Livewell Yarra, and idea through which people can support each other to live more sustainable lives.

The day of films and conversations starts with registration at 8:45am and then following morning tea, the first film is shown.

The festival, as was last year’s first event, will be held at the Gallery Café in Hogan St and at $35 each includes, beyond morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. The program ends about 4:30pm.

Places for the festival are limited and tickets can be secured by visiting Ticketbooth, or they can be bought on the day, although organizers prefer people to buy in advance.

The event, formally known as “A day of inspiring conversation and films” is a Tatura Transition Town project.

More details are available from Ross Musolino on 0407 845 247 or Mark Banting on 0458 900 256.

'Your town, Your food' for second Tatura Film Festival

“Your town, Your food” is the topic for the second annual Tatura Environmental Film Festival later this month.

And the keynote speaker for the Saturday, August 29, event will be a fellow who knows more about food security in challenging times, David Holmgren.

David, who along with Bill Mollison developed a process for growing food that became known as “permaculture”, will speak to a film, and explain the intricacies and wonders of permaculture.

With him will be Su Dennett, who understands “localization” and will also speak to a film.

Also speaking to films will be two members of “Livewell Yarra” group, Dr Robert Salter, and Darren Sharp.

The “Livewell Clusters” as they are called, are an action research project of the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living undertaken through Curtin University and supported by the City of Yarra and Yarra Energy Foundation.

Registration for the film festival at the Gallery Café in Hogan St, Tatura, is at 8:45am for a 9:30am start.

The program includes morning and afternoon teas, a light lunch and several challenging and inspiring films for an all up fee of just $35. Tickets can be secured at Ticketbooth.

The festival is being organized by Tatura Transition Towns,

Unlikely lessons from Cuba about food security

Cuba is an unlikely place from which we should draw encouragement when considering food security.

Bill Mollison (left)
and David Holmgren

The lessons learned in Cuba late last century should be heeded as the industrialized food system of the developed Western World begins to unravel.

The unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union in the mid-1990s left Cuba without access to oil and as America maintained trade sanctions, found it quite difficult, if not impossible to maintain the country’s food supply.

Aware that Australia’s Bill Mollison and David Holmgren had developed in the 1970s the ecological sound system of growing food known as “permaculture”, the Cubans quickly imported the idea.

Permaculture is: "A philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single project system.”

With their industrialized farming system in disarray, the Cubans embraced permaculture and within a relative short time much of the country’s vegetables were coming from the backyards, driveways, rooftops and any other space, no matter how small, that could be used for growing vegetables.

Permaculture and community gardens appear to fit together near perfectly and a recent story in US online magazine “Nation of Change” tells about the society building strength of community gardens.

Occupy Community Gardens tells about how gardeners exchange ideas and harvest their work and, along with that, help feed their families.