[Pil-pc-oceania] taking Ronnies comments further

[mossmans]

In defence of Ronnie, I think they are suggesting that some of these items
are for our communities, eg Solar electricity that do cost money, and I
don't think they are necessarily suggesting this for those who are
permaculturists, but lets face it...
 
How many people practicing and espousing permaculture have everything .how
many even can eat from their own gardens (thank God the supermarket is a
close backup!!)  it is not cheap to do all those things and they are usually
part of a progressing plan within a household.  You still have other
financial and time burdens that must be met, so you do this small and add to
it as you can.
 
And ok, so we P people may have many of the elements,  but what about the
rest of the population??  
 
In todays (March 9) Sunday Telegraph, with the heading "One in five girls
are fat"  it goes on to say, "cash strapped parents are denying their
children vegetables, with almost one in three saying they simply cannot
afford fresh produce due to lack of time and cost of sports etc".
Probably paying off a McMansion mortgage and a tiny backyard makes it
difficult to grow a lot of food. But not impossible.
 
In a small 6 metre x 4 metre no dig garden patch we workshopped at Illabunda
EcoVillage in Winston Hills Sydney, the produce has been incredible from
that plot, as long as it is quickly replanted (succession).
 
So how are we Permaculture practitioners developing a plan to help support
our populations, and is this something we only do locally if there happens
to be a strong group, or are we doing this as a organized group eg like ACF,
with a game plan to make a difference on a national level.
 
This does kind of take me to the fact that I think we need to get our act
together if we don't want to fade into insignificance, while councils and
other organizations impact thinking.  So no matter how our 21st century
permaculture thinking may direct us as individuals we have no impact at any
other level.  So it is time we develop into the organization that we can be
-  to make a change so that in the future we can demand a place on 2020
discussions about where our nation goes, rather than just as individuals
applying and hoping to be chosen for this.  I suppose it is interesting that
an actress has more clout than some of the esteemed people in permaculture.
So lets stop hiding light under a bushel and get out there.
 
Cant wait for the APC9,  lets hope the discussion on the last two days will
lead us down an active and unified organizational level.
 
Sue Mossman
Progressing on the pathway
 
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