As everyone probably knows, the Copenhagen Climate Summit (otherwise known as COP15, which by the way stands for the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties) took place towards the end of 2009. As part of the public activities, FoEI (Friends of the Earth International) organised a march called ‘The Flood’ to raise awareness about the need for a strong climate change agreement and to put pressure on the COP15 to deliver this. As part of this, thousands of people from Friends of the Earth groups all over the world travelled

Wonderful Copenhagen

Continued on Page 12

3 - Campaigns Digest

4 - Coming Soon to Birmingham FOEcycle

7 - General Election: What to ask your Candidates

8 - Birmingham’s First Community Supported Bakery

9 - Appeal for Volunteers

10 - Don’t just talk the talk

12 - Wonderful Copenhagen

16 - Aceh on my mind

19 - Great Support for Farmers’ Market

20 - Volunteer in the Spotlight

21 - Diary

22 - Membership Form

23 - Contacts

2

3

Transport In 2010 the group are starting the next phase of their campaigns on local transport issues. Having handed in hundreds of signed letters collected in 2009 calling for 20mph default speed limits and better bus services in the campaigns run in coalition with West Midlands Campaign for Better Transport, the group will now focus on building a coalition of community activists to help bring further pressure on the council for safer streets and better public transport for all.

A meeting of community groups to talk about 20’s plenty was scheduled for the end of January, news of which can be found on our website, blog or in the next newsletter. With a grassroots campaign we hope to prove that the support is really there for a default speed limit of 20mph across all residential areas in Birmingham to bring it into line with the best practice in European cities as well as British pioneers, such as Portsmouth and Oxford.

We are also participating in a consultation exercise for the next Local Transport Plan for the West Midlands. A response was submitted to the “Vision” stage and we await further detail following on from that.

With changes happening in Birmingham City Council and a new cabinet member for transport to be appointed, the group are hoping that this will be an exciting year.

Local Shops & Food With the election coming up, the focus now changes to prospective and sitting parliamentary candidates in our campaign to get a bill passed on planet-friendly farming. We are looking for a commitment from all the major parties in their manifestos that legislation will be passed to prevent farm animals in the UK being fed soy grown in areas that were previously pristine rainforest and support sustainable farming with feeds grown here in the UK.

Energy and Climate Change The group continue to push Birmingham City Council to provide an action plan for delivering CO2 emissions reductions of 60% by 2026, which will build on and go

Campaigns Digest

4

further than the much-trumpeted “Birmingham Declaration”, which was produced before the Copenhagen summit.

There are also continued efforts to get businesses and other organisations in Birmingham to sign up to the 10:10 campaign to cut emissions by 10% this year. Letters have been sent out to supporters and local politicians to ask them to push more people to join this campaign.

New Campaigns At the general meeting at the start of the year we discussed the possibilities for starting a new campaign action group this year and a few ideas were put forward, including a tree-planting and preservation group, Green

Economics, freecycle/exchanging clothes, plants etc and a regular crafting group. If anyone is interesting in helping to lead these groups, please get in touch.

Faith and Climate Change Faith and Climate Change supports and encourages Faith communities in Birmingham to look and respond to environmental challenges. We are looking forward to our first workshop of 2010 – in March we will be running a workshop on the international context of climate change and following this workshop with many others every other month for the rest of the year. If you are interested, then find out all about it and more on our website, www.FaithAndClimateChange.org

Campaigns Digest continued

I have always believed in the cliché one man’s trash is another man’s treasure! After the success of BFOE’s freecycle stall at the Green Christmas Fair it seemed natural to try running the stall regularly.

FOEcycle, based on the hugely successful freecycle (now freegle), will be a regular stall which will be appearing monthly in Birmingham (location yet to be confirmed). Hopefully, people will bring things that they don’t want to the stall and

take away things they do, with no money having to change hands.

Coming Soon to Birmingham: FOEcycle

5

I hope that it will help people realise in a practical way something I feel passionately about - the need to reuse more and consume less. In a world of dwindling resources and growing quantities of manufactured items, it seems natural for us to redistribute what we don’t need for reuse. The stall will also be taking donations for BFOE and promoting the activities of BFOE in Birmingham, letting people know

what we are up to and how they can get involved.

Beth Fisher

Further Information

Please contact Beth at fisher_woman@live.co.uk

6

Sales, service, repairs, accessories. Bikes also built to your own specifications.

Open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am-4pm

0121 633 0730

SPROCKETCycles

Established over 15 years ago in the Friends of the Earth Building in Birmingham The Warehouse Café has a reputation as a quality provider of vegetarian and vegan food in Birmingham.

“Real people serving real food with local, organic and fair trade leading the way” Guardian Unlimited.

To see the delicious menu go to www.thewarehousecafe.com

For bookings and enquires

Telephone 0121 633 0261

Email info@thewarehousecafe.com

• 100% vegetarian and vegan• A Large selection of organic

and fairtrade products, most supplied and delivered by a workers co-operative

• Vegan owners - no meat or dairy products sold

Open Monday to Saturday, 10am-5pm

The shops and companies here have all come together because they are dedicated to working towards a healthier, more organic city.

So if you want to help make Birmingham a cleaner, greener place to live, or you just want to eat some good vegetarian food, then come to The Warehouse and see what’s going on.

7

General Election: What to ask your Candidates

The general election is looming and now is a good time to start thinking about what questions to pose to anyone standing for election as an MP. The environment remains high on the political agenda and, at least rhetorically, the main parties are keen to out-green each other. As voters we should be able to extract definite statements of policy as to how we will be represented in the next parliament. Press candidates in your area to answer questions on the following key issues:

Energy Reduction

Birmingham Friends of the Earth is supporting the national 10:10 campaign, asking individuals and groups to cut their carbon usage by 10% during 2010. This will be a good first stage towards a 40% reduction by 2020 as we ask for in the Get Serious campaign. Ask your candidates if they plan to sign up to it in a personal or professional capacity, and also if they plan to push for the House of Commons to sign up to the campaign. If they are signed up, ask what steps are in place or planned to actually make this reduction.

Ask how they plan to meet their legally binding targets for energy reduction - what specific measures do they support and how much difference are these forecasted to make? Do they have plans for carbon budgets and retro-fitting

houses? Do they support a Green New Deal? Would they vote for more green taxes? How do they intend to make renewables cost-effective? Do they intend to curb aviation growth?

Transport

Ask if they support making the default speed limit for residential roads 20mph and, if they do, what they plan to do to put this into practice. Although BFOE is putting pressure on the Council to implement this at the local level, the more support and pressure that can be gathered at all levels, the better.

Food Chain

FOE is working on the national campaign to ‘fix the food chain’ and has pushed for an Early Day Motion to this effect. The election provides a great opportunity to get this subject into a bill contained in manifestos. Ask your candidates to put pressure on their party to get the bill into their own party’s manifesto and ask them to pledge to support this if they are successful in the election.

There are many other vital questions that we should be asking our prospective representatives. When corresponding with them make it clear what your priorities are and that you expect a clear answer; this should help you to make an informed decision in the ballot box.

Roxanne Green

8

Birmingham has become the first large city in the UK to get a ‘community-supported bakery’ as Loaf Community Bakery launches this January. Loaf is the brainchild of nutritionist, foodie, and artisan baker Tom Baker, who is director of the Birmingham-based bakery and cookery school. Loaf has adopted the innovative community-supported bakery model, meaning that bread is sold to individuals who pay a monthly subscription upfront in return for a loaf of bread each week.

Loaf Community Bakery follows in the footsteps of trailblazers in the field of community bakeries such as the Handmade Bakery in Yorkshire and the Oxford Bread Group. Subscribers to Loaf’s ‘bread

club’ pay £11 a month for a weekly loaf of Revolution Rye or Cotteridge Sourdough bread, that are made with UK-grown organic flour. Loaves are collected from Tom’s home in Cotteridge, South Birmingham on a Friday evening, although a Saturday morning collection point is also in the pipeline. Sourdough bread uses ‘wild’ yeasts instead of commercial bakers yeast and a long fermentation process that yields a tastier and more nutritious loaf than yeasted manufactured bread. Sourdough bread also keeps for 5 days without any of the additives used in manufactured bread, and all for the price of a pint of beer!

76% of people eat bread every day, and 80% of our bread is produced by just 7 industrial bakers, churning out millions of sliced, wrapped, additive-laden

Birmingham’s First Community

Supported Bakery

The wood-fired earth oven in Tom’s garden used to bake some of the loaves. Credit: Jane Baker

9

loaves from automated factories each day. Supermarkets account for 15% more of the market, where many of the loaves are part-baked and frozen out of town, and then finished off in store. Buying bread from a craft bakery or a small community bakery like Loaf can help to drastically change the way we eat and is a small step on the journey to fixing the food chain. We need resilient local food systems as we face the challenges of climate change, and using small craft bakeries are one way in which we can reduce food miles and food waste.

Further Information

If you’re interested in subscribing to Loaf Community Bakery you can find more information on www.loafonline.co.uk, or by emailing tom@loafonline.co.uk. Tom also runs bread making and other cookery courses from his home in Cotteridge. For more information on the many issues surrounding our daily loaf, visit www.RealBreadCampaign.org

Tom Baker

Do you enjoy writing? Do you share Birmingham FoE’s vision of a cleaner, greener city and world? Would you like to express this to more people?

We are looking for people to contribute opinion pieces for our blog. Articles with a local angle are especially welcome, but any articles on environmental themes fit the bill. You don’t need any great computer skills to do it, just either send your articles to our Campaigns Support Worker by email and he’ll post them, or you can request to have author status on the blog.

Contact: Campaigns@BirminghamFoE.org.uk for more details.

Appeal for Volunteers

10

Don’t just talk the talk... Now you can walk the walk

On September 18th, Birmingham Friends of the Earth, in conjunction with Heart of England Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA), are organising a marathon length walk/run called the “Birmingham Canal Canter”.Challenge walks can raise big money – Oxfam’s 100k Trailwalker over the South Downs raises in excess of a million pound every year. Our more modest target will raise a percentage from everyone’s entry fee and give the option to be sponsored. It’s not every day you walk/run a marathon and hopefully friends and family will back the achievement with hard cash.A fundraising pack using the website “Just Giving” (http://www.justgiving.com/) is in the process of being produced. Imagine if a hundred people each raised a hundred pounds... that would make this BFOE’s top fundraising event.Nationally, the LDWA have the expertise in organising challenge walks but locally are not sure of the required 25 helpers needed for the event. Without the 10 volunteers BFOE have promised to man checkpoints and prepare food, Heart of England would not have considered running the event. This collaboration will bring tangible benefits to both parties. If you would like to be one of the ten, please email me at davedirect@hotmail.co.uk. You will be fully briefed and it should be a fun day.

Starting and finishing at Alexander Stadium Perry Barr, the 26.2 mile route takes in the Tame Valley Canal Grand Union Canal, Cole Valley Way, Stratford on Avon Canal, Worcester Canal and returns on the Grand Union and Tame Valley Canals. The route is almost completely off-road with barely a crossing to make and very little ascent, which should make it a fast event for the runners and a good entry level event for those new to challenge walking.It passes Brindleyplace, where the new NIA and Convention Centre contrast to the human scale of the 18th century buildings and canal furniture that lines the central hub of what was then Britain’s thriving empire, now centre of the cappuccino culture. It runs by Sarehole Mill, inspiration to Tolkien’s middle earth adventure, the mill featuring as Saruman’s attempt to industrialise and enslave the shire. Twice it passes the dark bowels of Spaghetti Junction, which would surely have given the young Tolkien’s imagination a new take on Mordor. Here under this 20th century temple to the motor car, the degradation, the fumes, and the noise make Fritz Lang’s metropolis seem like a utopia. Surprisingly, though most of the route is rural, linear arms of the countryside penetrate like lungs deep into the city. It’s amazing how quickly nature reclaims things; don’t be surprised to see herons, kingfishers foxes and other wildlife. Never

11

dull, this walk explores the familiar landmarks of Birmingham but not as you’d know them. Cadbury’s, Birmingham University, even Selly Oak all look different to the façade they present to the street.

As a challenge walk there’s a time limit of 10 hours. This may sound daunting but keep to a steady 3 miles per hour, avoid a long leisurely lunch and you’ll make it. If you’re new to walking longer distances some preparations are advised. Build up the mileage over the 4 weekends prior start on 10 miles, then 15, then 20, and take a rest the weekend before the event. Witch Hazel was recommended for toughening feet when I first started walking but I couldn’t stand the smell so I can’t comment on its effectiveness. Seriously, bring a spare pair of socks as the originals will have lost their bounce after 18 miles of walking or wear 2 pairs; a thin pair underneath a thick pair. If you’re likely to get blisters, “compeed” - a waxy cream - will cool the area and help delay their formation.Don’t forget to bring a mug (how

could we use disposable cups), waterproofs - bringing them will help guarantee good weather - and O/S Explorer 220 or Landranger 139 maps. There will be four checkpoints with refreshments provided, and a tally taken from entrants to ensure no one gets lost. A hot meal and hot drinks will be provided at the finish with vegan/vegetarian options. It’s suggested you bring sandwiches, although food will be provided at some of the checkpoints. Bear in mind that 10 hours walk could burn 3000 extra calories - a wonderful fact for most of us but if you don’t fuel the engine it could stall.On completion, a certificate is provided confirming and congratulating the achievement.Entry is £8 in advance (with a discount of £1 for LDWA members). For an entry form,

Email me at davedirect@hotmail.co.uk Go on line at www.ldwa.org.uk/heartofengland Or there will be a stock of them at BFOE’s reception in the Warehouse, Allison Street.

Places will be available on the day, providing the entry limit of 250 has not been reached, at a cost of £10. Good value when compared with other running events where only drinks are provided. This is not just another “race for climate change”, it’s the official non-nuclear one!!!Dave Powell

•

•

•

It’s amazing how quickly nature reclaims things

to Copenhagen to join in with ‘The Flood’ march and other climate-related events, of which I was one, travelling with other people from FoE England, Wales & Northern Ireland, as well as FoE Scotland.

So, on a cold Friday December morning at 4.30am we assembled at St. Pancras International station for our overland (no flying, naturally - it was Eurostar and coach) journey to Copenhagen. Despite a few delays, including a technical hitch with Eurostar, a closed motorway in The Netherlands, and two of our three coaches being stopped and searched at the Danish border, we eventually made it to our accommodation on the outskirts of Copenhagen at 2.30am Saturday (a couple of hours later for the searched coaches though).

Saturday morning beckoned, and we all set off to Copenhagen centre for ‘The Flood’. Much like ‘The Wave’ in London and other cities the week before, the theme was blue to symbolise rising sea levels. Thousands of people gathered close to the ‘Klimaforum’ (a people’s climate conference running parallel with the COP15) to start off on the march, with people from many countries evidenced by the variety of FoE banners. As well as those bedecked in blue there were many ingenious fancy dress outfits and props to add variety and a focused message, including some FoE Germany polar bears

and their ‘Save Our Kids’ message, some burping & farting cows and pigs highlighting emissions from livestock, and also some chefs with the message: ‘Don’t Cook The Planet’. Our arrival was greeted with one marcher crowd-surfing ‘The Flood’ in an inflatable dingy! All very funny and light hearted, but with the very serious ultimate message to ‘Demand Climate Change’.

As we marched through the Copenhagen streets there was much music, singing and chanting, with “Earth is boiling, who’s the chef?”, “What do we want? Climate justice! When do we want it? Now!” and “Leave the oil in the soil, leave the coal in the hole, no offsetting, climate justice now!” Of course there were also regular

12

Thousands of people gathered close to the ‘Klimaforum’ to start off on the march, with people from many countries evidenced by the variety of FoE banners.

Continued from front pageWonderful Copenhagen

Mexican Waves passing through the procession preceded by a wave of cheering. We also passed by the breathtaking ‘Ghost Forest’, which is an art installation of tropical rainforest tree stumps and root systems by the artist Angela Palmer. They are of a colossal scale, which really makes you appreciate what is being lost as part of rainforest destruction - more at www.ghostforest.org

Eventually we made it to the square adjacent to the Danish parliament, where the international FoE crowd gathered for a final giant Mexican Wave and the over-running of the ‘offsetting market’ which had been set up with its bluff carbon

traders. All part of the pressure to get a strong international climate deal that doesn’t include ineffective carbon trading and offsetting. After that it was some well-earned warming soup and bread which NOAH (Friends of the Earth Denmark) had kindly organised for us.

More marchers arrived in the square over time to join in the mass public march from central Copenhagen out to the Bella Center where the COP15 conference was going on, some 6km away. Having arrived with ‘The Flood’ march we were poised for being pretty much at the head of the big march, so ended up mingling with a whole host of diverse groups, including groups from Tibet and Australia. Being at the front of the march we also managed to avoid the small bit of trouble that seemed to be going on further back, where a handful of troublemakers got a bit violent with the police. Unfortunately this led to the arrest of nearly 1000 people, which seemed a little over zealous given that they released over 900 of them the day after - they apparently even arrested two people in a pantomime cow outfit! Anyway, enough of the over-the-top policing. A few of us tagged along with the Australian group and their inflatable kangaroos for a while and joined in their repertoire of Aussie songs, including: ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, cut that coal’ and the particularly funny ‘Sooty the coal kangaroo’. Jess

13

from Camden FoE had her guitar with her, so we added a musical accompaniment to “Sooty, Sooty, Sooty the coal kangaroo. Sooty, Sooty, coal’s gonna screw me and you!”

One thing I found particularly encouraging was the amount of support from Copenhagen’s residents. Unlike in London for ‘The Wave’, most people seemed to be joining in the march, or at least showing their support, rather than carrying on with the Christmas shopping. People hung out of their windows, and many had put up messages and banners of support. Overall the whole city seemed to be immersed in the issue of climate change, with a series of installations all over the city seeking to educate people about the issue and its solutions. This certainly wasn’t just a side event to the usual business of the city.

Finally we made it to the Bella Center (well as close as security would let us), where a stage featured a variety of speakers including people from countries already experiencing the impacts of climate change. Overall estimates put the crowd at between 20,000 (police estimate) and 100,000 (organisers’ estimate), although having been in the throng of it all I would definitely pitch it nearer the 100,000 mark. I for one found it amazing that so many people from so many different places, from different backgrounds, and

from all walks of life came together to put pressure on the COP15 to make Copenhagen count. It was a fantastic experience to be there and part of it all.

The rest of our two-day stay in Copenhagen was mostly taken up with regular visits to the Klimaforum, where there were a whole host of exhibitions and speakers giving talks on the many issues of, and solutions to, climate change, as well as a little after-party for the FoEI crowd on the Saturday evening. It was only a pity we weren’t there for the remainder of the week, as there was much more to get involved with, both in an activist way, and from an information perspective at the Klimaforum. It was an amazing weekend and I felt proud to be part of such a show of strength

14

It was an amazing weekend and I felt proud to be part of such a show of strength and concern about climate change

Continued from page 13Wonderful Copenhagen

and concern about climate change, as well as spending time with such a knowledgeable, dedicated and generally lovely bunch of people.

Unfortunately the weight of people pressure and 100,000 voices didn’t seem to penetrate into the Bella Center, where the following week little progress was made on putting together a treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. Only in extra time the following weekend did anything which might loosely be described as progress actually come about, with the basis of a general vague agreement being thrashed out. Whilst this was a major disappointment, especially considering the build up to the

COP15, it has at least not resulted in a weak ineffective deal being signed. Although there is much work to do, hopefully this will be a path to a decent deal coming forth at COP15.5 in Bonn this summer, or COP16 in Mexico towards the end of 2010. We certainly cannot afford to take pressure off our decision makers, and indeed we need to apply more, which BFoE will be continuing to do over the coming year. Meanwhile the lack of a fair and effective global climate deal should not stop us from taking action ourselves and asking others at a local level to do the same.

Take Action

As covered in the last issue of the BFoE newsletter, the 10:10 campaign (www.1010uk.org) is an ideal opportunity to show support and make real change this year, so let’s keep applying the pressure, writing letters, telling people the facts and taking practical action to make real change against climate change.

Ben Mabbett

15

We certainly cannot afford to take pressure off our decision makers, and indeed we need to apply more, which BFoE will be continuing to do over the coming year.

Aceh on my mind

Aceh is a small forgotten country on the northernmost tip of the Island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Elizabeth I sent an ambassador to Aceh in the 16th century. It has a heroic history of resisting imperial designs on its territory including those of Indonesia. The 2004 Tsunami brought Aceh back to the world’s attentions. The presence of thousands of international aid workers in Aceh shamed Indonesia as these people became witnesses to a brutal war of exploitation at gunpoint. Aceh once again invites international attention for very different reasons.

After the Tsunami, peace negotiations were entered into, the result of which Aceh became an autonomous country with its own parliament. The Aceh government’s first statement to the world was to declare itself “Aceh Green” and to develop Aceh into an environmentally prioritized country. A brave enterprise in the face of Indonesia, which is the world’s third largest emitter of CO2 on account of its deforestation policies.

Aceh has the largest remaining tracts of tropical forests left in S.E Asia. Their conservation is Aceh’s first priority. Replanting of damaged forests is part of this. Upriver Projects has been nurturing a grass roots Eco-village movement with the religious school network. These villages/ religious

schools (Dayas), which are the very backbone of rural Achinese cultural institutions, are setting up tree nurseries for replanting forests in an attempt to preempt palm oil plantations. A nationwide movement is now underway and growing. The intention is to make every Pesantren (Religious boarding school) into a virtual eco-village.

During the war with Indonesia, the Indonesian army were responsible for cutting huge swathes of forested land and became rich with handing out logging concessions. There is much replanting to do. Upriver projects, in collaboration with IFEES, are preparing a plan to link up English schools, especially those with a majority of Muslim pupils, pairing them up with Achenese pesantren for forest replanting.

Aceh has an agricultural economy.

16

80% of the population still remains on the land producing food by traditional “sustenance farming” methods which are by default “organic”

17

80% of the population still remains on the land producing food by traditional “sustenance farming” methods which are by default “organic”. Farmers cannot afford chemical fertilizers but use water buffaloes and cows as fertilizers, crop rotations and other traditional methods of farming at which they have always excelled. In former centuries where agricultural wealth was a significant index of a nation’s success, Aceh was a world power. Aceh’s substantial agricultural products includes rice, coffee, caocao, coconuts, fruit and vegetables and lots of fish, both freshwater farmed and sea fish. The second priority of “Aceh Green” is to preserve this state of affairs while enhancing its food products to be acceptable to regional markets. Rich markets are at Aceh’s doorstep, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Australia. With global rises in food prices this policy promises success and a degree of prosperity.

Most importantly, Aceh still has a window of choice open to it. Having been at war, international capital has not yet taken over Aceh’s development. Industries requiring the Achenese to become city-based factory workers are practically non-existent and the land is still farmed by the people who live there and have not yet been reduced to being estate workers for capital intensive agro-business enterprises. The 21st Century struggle for Aceh will no doubt consist of how successfully it can resist the imperialism of our

day: International Big Bucks and Agro-business.

Yet the main threat to Aceh’s environmental balance is motor cars! Not Achinese motorcars but the motorcars of the rest of the world and the rush towards biofuels. George Soros’ has proved in the past to be a harbinger of financial misfortunes for entire countries. Remember, he was blamed for the S.E.Asia Economic crash in the 90’s with his speculative currency dealings. This same predator has shown an interest in investing in huge parts of Aceh’s depleted forests for palm oil. He is the first international potential investor to want to seek

18

direct invest in Aceh. Of course, the promise of big bucks is a tempting prospect for Aceh, impoverished by war, Tsunami and Indonesian economic exploitation.

At grass roots, farmers resist the spread of palm oil plantations. They know that although the price for palm oil exceeds the price for agricultural food products in the short term, oil palms impoverish the land and water resources, corporatise land ownership and remove village communities to make room for the plantations. In

addition, palm oil plantations are invariably owned by Jakarta based or Jakarta channelled international capital. Aceh benefits nothing from profits from the plantations. The high price of the crops benefits only the corporations and stock exchange boards. Imported Javanese workers usually comprise the labour force. This exasperates the greatest fear of the Achenese: that of being swamped by the Javanese through the transmigrasi policies of the Jakarta government.

The big ‘IF’ is whether the Aceh government can 1. Resist the palm oil invasion successfully, which is and will remain mainly a grass roots movement and 2. be able to tweak the presentation of its domestic agricultural production to be able to access regional markets at more international prices. This will also involve the development of ports for exporting its products. This issue can be compared to FoE campaigns to improve public transport in order to cut carbon emissions, as less people use their motor cars.

It is perhaps difficult to make “what can you do?” suggestions, short of recommending that you go to Aceh yourself and be inspired by efforts made there to retain Aceh’s environmental integrity by maintaining and enhancing the agro status quo or witnessing the ongoing struggle against palm oil. It is a struggle which the Aceh government has embarked on and, knowing the Achenese as a heroic people, they will strive to succeed. Keep an eye on Aceh.

See http://www.upriverprojects.org.

Ayman Ahwal

19

In January, Birmingham Friends of the Earth was shocked to hear that Kings Norton Farmers’ Market was under threat of closure as Birmingham City Council would no longer give it the necessary road closure licence. This news came out of the blue for the organisers with the communication coming from the top of the Highways department. Immediately, contact was made with people all over Birmingham who raised the alarm and started contacting relevant people, including gaining support from local MP Richard Burden.

However, it transpired that the notification was a mistake and that the road closure for the market was always to go ahead. Duncan Ross at Kings Norton Farmers’ Market said “I am relieved. Through this short campaign we realised that we have lots of supporters of the market around Birmingham.” It also made us realise how small decisions for the Council can have big implications on our farmers’ markets, with 10 around Birmingham now listed in this newsletter.

Kings Norton Farmers’ Market is fun and vibrant, and has also won the Midlands Farmers’ Market of the Year twice, been listed in the Times Top 10 Farmers’ Markets and the Independent’s Top 50 Markets. This year the market has been short-listed for the National Farmers’ Market of the Year competition. In

Birmingham we have a growing number of farmers markets which make a real difference to communities, so it is vital that the Kings Norton Farmers’ Market continues along with all the others.

Farmers’ markets are great because they offer fresh, often organic, fruit and vegetables and other more exclusive products that are not on your “local” supermarket shelves. All the fresh produce is seasonal and it is grown in the best possible conditions, maximising nutritional content and taste. The time between the moment fruit and vegetables are picked and the moment you eat them is minimal, making them fresher than the supermarket equivalent. And, even better, the middleman is cut out so the farmers profit directly from selling their produce.

While more and more traditional shops quit the high street, we must continue to support farmers’ markets and local shops. Rita Exner, the secretary of FARMA (Farmers Retail and Markets Association), said farmers’ markets were rapidly emerging as a significant, and sometimes crucial, source of income for the country’s smaller producers.

Mary Horesh

Further Information

To find certified farmers’ markets go to www.farmersmarkets.net

See page 21 for details of local farmers’ markets.

Great Support for Farmers’ Market

2120

Joe Peacock interviews Mark Brookes

How long have you been involved with BFoE? Since August last year.

How did you first find out about BFoE and what made you decide to get involved? It was through BVSC, where they have adverts for volunteer positions at the Warehouse. Work Directions recommended that I do some voluntary work for my CV, so I went along there, saw the ad and gave Phil a ring. I’ve studied some environmental philosophy before, so I had been thinking about green issues before.

What do you do at BFoE? I managed a project last year to sort out booking the coach for

The Wave and to make sure all the tickets were sold with costs covered, which did happen, luckily. I work on reception, meeting and greeting people coming into the building and helping out with meeting room bookings. I’ve also gone out on the streets dressed as Santa and as a panda, so all sorts, really.

What do you think is the most important environmental issue and why? The amount of waste we generate as a society is shocking. People need to think about that, really, and try to be less wasteful.

What’s your best green tip/advice? Just to be aware of what you use and realise that what you throw away doesn’t just vanish. A lot of what we throw out is reusable and still perfectly good for someone else to use, so they should be able to do so.

Volunteer Spotlight

I’ve also gone out on the streets dressed as Santa and as a panda

21 21

Campaign MeetingsMonday Night Meetings – 7:30pm at the Birmingham FoE Warehouse, Allison St1st February – General Meeting8th February - Transport and Energy & Climate Change Action Groups15th February – Discussion meeting 22nd February - Local Shops and Food Action Groups

1st March – General Meeting 8th March – Energy & Climate Change Action Group15th March – Transport Action Group22nd March – Local Shops and Food Action Group29th March – Speaker Meeting

Other Events2nd February and March – Green Drinks, Locanta11th February - Birmingham Social media surgery15th February - Food Inc film showing at Star City14th March - St. Patrick’s Day Festival, DigbethSee Northfield Eco Centre’s website for a list of their many workshops www.northfieldecocentre.org/

Farmers’ MarketBearwood: 3rd Saturday of the month 9am-4pmBirmingham University: 4th Wednesday of the month 9am-2pmHarborne: 2nd Saturday of the month 9am-2pmKings Heath: 1st Saturday of the month 9am-3:30pmKings Norton: 2nd Saturday of the month 9am-2pmMoseley: 4th Saturday of the month 9am-3pmNew Street: 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month 10am-4pmSolihull: 1st Friday of the month 9am-5pmSutton Coldfield: 2nd Friday of the month 9am-3pmJewellery Quarter: 20th February 9am-3pm

We are the only organisation in Birmingham that campaigns on Climate Change, Transport, Local Shops, Planning, Waste and Recycling. You can help us do this in a number of ways;1.) By taking part in or our campaigns 2.) By joining us 3.) BothWhichever route you decide, you are helping to change your environment for the better. Making sure that those who pollute, monopolise or despoil locally, nationally or internationally are accountable. There are two ways to join us...

EitherI wish to become a Golden Supporter with payments by standing order of £2 per month or more.

OrI wish to become an Annual Supporter, paying by standing order / cheque (Please delete as appropriate. Note that standing orders are cheaper for us to process).

Annual supporter fees are a minimum of:

• £16 (waged) • £10 (unwaged) • £20 (joint/family)

Please return with standing order or cheque to: Secretary, Friends of the Earth, 54-57 Allison Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B5 5TH.

Contact Details

Full name: .........................................

Address: ...........................................

.........................................................

Town: .................. Postcode: ...............

Telephone: ........................................

E-mail: .............................................

Become a Supporter...

Standing Order Form

Sort Code (if known): .........................

Your name/ Account name: .................

Your account number: ........................

Bank Name/Address: .........................

.......................................................

Please pay the sum of £ every month/year (delete as appropriate) starting on ____/____/_________

To: Friends of the Earth Birmingham Ltd.,

Account no: 50 72 58 30 Sort Code: 08-60-01

Unity Trust Bank, 9 Brindley Place, 4 Oozells square, Birmingham B1 2HE

This replaces any previous standing order in favour of Friends of the Earth Birmingham.

Signature: ...................... Date: .........

Contact us:Friends of the Earth (Birmingham) The Warehouse 54-57 Allison Street Birmingham B5 5TH

Tel: (0121) 632 6909 Fax: (0121) 643 3122

E-mail: info@birminghamfoe.org.uk

Web: www.birminghamfoe.org.uk

Friends of the Earth is:- The largest international network

of environmental groups in the world, represented in 72 countries.

- One of the UK’s leading enviromental pressure groups.

- A unique network of campaigning local groups, working in more than 200 communities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

- Over 90% of its funds come from its supporters.

Birmingham FoE:Campaigns at a local level to effect environmental change (in ways which feed into national and international policy) through:

- Direct action

- Lobbying

- Education

- Empowering others to take action

- Participation and representation through public fora

Chair: Benjamin MabbettCampaigns Co-ordinators: Mary Horesh & Richard SagarCampaigns Support Worker: Joe PeacockGeneral Manager: Phil BurrowsTreasurer: Margaret LynchAviation: Joe PeacockClimate Change & Energy: Richard SagarMulti-faith and Climate Change Project: Rianne ten Veen & Maud GraingerWaste and Resources: Position currently vacantLocal Shops & Food: Mary Horesh & Nigel BakerPlanning: John HallTransport: Martin StrideNewsletter Editors: Katy BarryZoe WrightAntonio RobertsWebsite Editor: Phil BurrowsTalks: Joe Peacock and othersAll enquiries and callers welcome.Find us on page 74 of the B’hamA-Z, grid ref: 4A

23

Printed on 100% R

ecycled Paper Using

Vegetable Based Inks

Birm

ingham

Friends of the E

arth