Organic Fortnight - 5-20 September 2009

http://www.soilassociation.org/Takeaction/Organicfortnight/tabid/244/Default.aspx


Organic Fortnight - 5-20 September 2009


Organic Fortnight is a nationwide campaign highlighting all the great
things about organic. Up and down the UK, people in shops, schools,
cafes, churches and farms will be hosting events and raising awareness
about why organic is the healthy choice, the best for animal welfare
and the right thing for the planet.


Organic values on a budget
As we all look to make each pound go further, organic offers genuine
good value. The benefits stretch far beyond great-tasting,
additive-free food and drink. If we want food, beauty products or
clothes which don’t just taste, look and feel good, but which are
environmentally-friendly, healthy and have the highest animal welfare
standards in the UK too, then organic gives us just that.


For more reasons why organic offers so much for your money, check out
our ‘five reasons to choose organic’. For advice on making your
shopping basket work harder and how to shop organic for less, have a
read of our guide to buying organic on a budget.


Get involved - Host an organic dinner
We’re all socialising at home a bit more at the moment, so if you’re
passionate about organic issues, why not raise awareness by hosting an
organic credit crunch dinner for friends? As Jamie Oliver said, ‘Pass
it on’. You can brush up on your organic facts and get ideas for
cooking organic for less by visiting our guide to buying organic on a
budget.


Visit the Dinner4Good website below for more details about becoming an
organic host. If you’re keen to support campaigns against the use of
pesticides and GM, you can also help raise money to support the Soil
Association charity in its work. If you fancy putting together
something on a bigger scale, check out our events planning guide for
ideas and tips on organising and promoting an event.


Organic food festival
http://www.theorganicfoodfestival.co.uk/2009/


Held September 12-13 at Bristol's scenic Harbourside, the Organic Food
Festival is organized in association with the Soil Association and
with the
generous support of Yeo Valley. It is Europe's largest showcase of the
organic community, with hundreds of organic products, cooking
demonstrations
with Raymond Blanc and other top chefs, childrens taste workshops and
a lively Street Food Bazaar and Organic Bar.

Knowle West Food Festival, Sunday 5 July, 11am-3pm

Please come to our 3rd annual:

Knowle West food fest

Sunday 5th July

11-3pm

Knowle West Media Centre

Highlights of the day include making our very own healthy fizzy drink!
A contradiction in terms you say, we say come and try it! We will also
be firing up the earth oven, running pizza making workshops with all
ingredients being locally sourced from Project Agricola, a community
campaign.

Local gardener and community campaigner, Mil, will be showing us how
useful our ole friend the potato is- do you know how many different
ways there are to plant a spud? Come along and find out, maybe you
have your own suggestion….prize for the most creative spud plant out!

Other activities include sugar free sweet making, cycle powered juice
making, and community swap shop, local and organic BBQ, big brother
diary room food confessions.

Finally, everyone can burn off the food
treats at a belly-dancing workshop run by local woman, Imane.

Local residents will be given an opportunity to creatively express and
share their skills on film. This will contribute to the development of
a new arts project "the University of Local Knowledge" with
internationally recognised artist Suzanne Lacy in collaboration with
Knowle West Media Centre and Arnolfini.

For further information please contact Misty@kwmc.org.uk or telephone
0117 9030444

Thanks to those of you who have already volunteered however we still
really need more help to make this event stand out on the Bristol
events calendar!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Misty Tunks
Carbon Makeover project Coordinator
phone: 0117 9030444 ext 211
http://www.kwmc.org.uk/carbonmakeover

Knowle West Media Centre Leinster Avenue, Knowle West, Bristol BS4 1 NL
Company No. 4358350, Charity No. 1092375, fax: 01179030 445

Events June 2009

Rent a meeting room at KWMC - Competitive rates available :email katie@kwmc.org.uk

Free Internet drop-in sessions - Every Weds morning from 10am-11.30 am
at KWMC

Mobile e-democracy workshops - Tell the council your views online and
affect change. Request workshops with your group / join existing ones:
email makala@kwmc.org.uk

Car Share Website - The environmental team at KWMC are proud to
announce that the South Bristol Car Share website is now live: http://www.southbristol-carshare.org.uk/

Please visit our website for further information on any of the above http://www.kwmc.org.uk/

Green Footprints website proves a successful example of community-design

News from Knowle West Media Centre, Leinster Avenue, Bristol, BS4 1NL

Bristol residents use design to sow the seeds of environmental change

Anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’ Residents of the Knowle West estate in south Bristol are taking steps to prove the truth of this statement, by using an interactive community-led website to encourage others to join them in tackling climate change and sharing their passion for home-growing.

Graphic and web designers based at Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC) have assisted local resident Mil Lusk [pictured] in setting up a website for her project Green Footprints, which acts as an online portal to promote and facilitate home-growing on the estate.

Through the website http://www.green-footprints.org.uk/ , Mil provides advice and guidance about sustainable living, as well as managing orders from budding gardeners, cultivating seedlings for them to grow at home. Mil commented, ‘it’s all about having fun and enjoying yourself’, and she encouraged prospective gardeners, saying: ‘keep growing until you find out what works for you […] everyone has a plant they can grow.’

Green Footprints developed out of the Carbon Makeover project run by KWMC, which saw 70 homes across the neighbourhood pledge to reduce their carbon emissions by making manageable alterations to their lifestyles. Mil is one of four Community Campaigners and, with the support of KWMC, she has become empowered to continue her work beyond Carbon Makeover. All campaigners attended a Digital Media workshop to help them utilise the digital technologies available to them and Green Footprints is one of three websites KWMC Design have developed for the project. With the help of a digital strategist, KWMC Design created websites addressing the specific needs of each campaigner, actively seeking the input of local people in order to provide high-quality, accessible solutions that can empower the community.

The Green Footprints website has provided Mil with a digital platform to manage her project and enabled the local community to access a range of services and information about healthy, sustainable living. As the result of her collaboration with KWMC Design, Mil has seen her website evolve from an idea into a vital resource that benefits both the environment and the Knowle West community.

For more information please contact Romy Purshouse (Design Programme Manager) on 0117 3532746 / romy@kwmc.org.uk or visit www.green-footprints.org.uk / http://www.kwmc.org.uk/index.php?department=2

Notes

Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC) is a Social Enterprise charity. The charity commands international respect as a producer of high-quality media work and as a provider of exciting experiences for young people in Knowle West, South Bristol – one of the country’s most socially disadvantaged wards.

KWMC Design is a professional print and web design team that sits within Knowle West Media Centre. The experienced designers use ethical and environmental design practices and any profits made go directly back into the local community. Please visit http://www.kwmc.org.uk/index.php?department=2 for more information.

Carbon Makeover is run by KWMC and aims to support local people, using media as a tool, to develop sustainable campaigns, projects and initiatives within the local community and reduce their carbon footprint. Carbon Makeover has facilitated the development of four community-led projects. Team FAB (‘Fight Against Bags’) are committed to making Knowle West free of plastic bags and meet weekly to sew reusable cloth bags. ‘Green Medicine’ promotes the cultivation and use of medicinal plants, whilst ‘Green Footprints’ encourages home-growing by selling seedlings to local people. ‘Project Agricola’ established a fruit and vegetable stall in an area of Knowle West that lacks a greengrocers, providing a hub for social interaction and the promotion of healthy, sustainable living.

For a full press toolkit for KWMC with images, background info, quotes, case studies, architectural and environmental information go to: http://www.kwmc.org.uk/index.php?project=42

Finding greener products

Where do you go to find greener products? Are they really that green? Here are a few places you could begin looking - though often the greenest option is just to consume all products less and share more!

http://www.green-providers.co.uk/

http://www.bristolgreenstore.co.uk/

http://www.biggreenswitch.co.uk/