this is what Occupy want to preserve ...

 It is astonishing how the supermarkets shun locally grown food - even when it's readily available.

Local, seasonal food is healthy, cheap and environmentally-friendly. It supports British growers and reduces air-miles.

But in a survey by the Independent last year, researchers took 10 foods that were grown in the UK. They found seven major supermarket chains were importing these foods from as far away as South America.

Asda sold asparagus from Peru, strawberries from Spain and cauliflower from France. Marks & Spencer sold beans from Guatemala and broccoli from Spain.

These were foods that were in season in the UK!

It all comes down to costs and sales. It's better for supermarkets to buy some imports because of cheap overseas labour. If their customers keep buying this stuff instead of the local version, there's no reason for them to change.

This is an example of how we should be leading the supermarkets, not the other way round. After all they're not charities or environmental agencies - they're just businesses trying to make money.

So it's up to us to use our purses and wallets to make them change - force them to deliver what we want.

trees - your time is coming

Amazingly British orchards are in decline. It seems incredible that something as important as our trees can be neglected in this day and age. Trees are going to be our lifeblood in the future, for food, fuel, building and controlling climate change. The reason British orchards are in decline is because the chavs and the supermarkets are working in collusion to destroy the British apple market.

It won't work. Supermarkets are beginning to source food locally. This has nothing to do with environmental responsibilty but everything to do with economics. Transport costs are rising and are only set to rise faster and faster as the cheap oil vanishes.

Now is the time to start planting. Trees take a long time to grow but even our two year old apple tree, less than five feet tall, is absolutely full of apples this year. We've only room for three trees in the garden, but one advantage is that they have a very small footprint and tou can grow other things underneath them.

In fifty years wood will be everywhere. It will heat our homes, the trees will produce tonnes of fruit and nuts, even our steam trains will burn wood rather than coal. Houses, furniture and carts will be built from it, and there will probably be hundreds of other uses we haven't even thought of yet.

idiots

There's been a parade of idiots this week! A couple of days ago a group of real skanky humourless looking chavs took a petition to 10 Downing Street claiming that fuel prices were too high and would the government kindly subsidise their anti-social behaviour and spread its costs on to general taxation. Morons. Listen you fucks - petrol and diesel is incredibly CHEAP. Make the most of it because prices are going to skyrocket over the next decade and most of you will not be able to get fuel at ANY price. Get used to it.

Whilst here in Bristol a bunch of equally chav dinosaurs were celebrating our spineless council's pathetic attempt at keeping the past going by authorising a new Sainsbury's supermarket. The chavs are some football team supporters who seem to think that this is a green light to build a new stadium. Miles from the railway!!

The best thing about Ashton Gate is that it has its own railway station, currently unused but easy to reopen (it's on what will be the extremely busy and profitable Portishead line) which is obviously Sainsbury's main criteria for grabbing this site at a knock down price. Not that supermarkets have a long term future, but it may keep customers coming for a few more years after oil, and will of course make it easy to bring in fresh stock.

All in all a bit of an anachronistic week!