Can Britain feed itself?

Can Britain feed itself? This was the provocative title of a speech given by Patrick Holden of the Soil Association to a packed St Mary's on Tuesday 26th January.

For a slideshow of pictures from the day, click here here.

The event was staged by Ealing Transition as part of its continuing focus on local food.

Mr Holden sounded a warning about the current food system, which has both stripped the soil of its most important nutrients, and stripped us of our ability to fend for ourselves. How would we cope if this highly centralised system were to fail? And how might be become more self-reliant?

He went on to commend the practical local initiatives of the Transition movement as 'the antidote to waiting' for our politicians, and explored a range of ideas from growing our own fruit and vegetables to clubbing together to 'adopt a farm'.

He also spoke of national programmes such as Food for Life, which aims to get young people excited about growing and eating local, seasonal and organic food in schools up and down the country.

The Soil Association is founded on the simple premise that the health of soil, plants, animals, people and the planet are all connected.