NSL Blog

Those Incredible Edibles from Todmorden and further afield

October 12, 2013

People power in action

People power in action

A couple of weeks ago I headed north to a place called Todmorden, or Tod for those in the know. This is the homeland, of a particular beast called Incredible Edible. Incredible Edible has a mission to inspire and educate the world about food, local food, local food systems, locally gown food, local food economies, and how to lead a more resilient life that is also more fun.

I had seen one of the founders Pam Warhusrt speak at an event in Newcastle last year, and to be honest I was in love with her, and her mission within 10 minutes of listening to her speak (it may have been less time – probably seconds). What inspired me, listening to Pam was, that life is simple on many levels, but we must always look at life as a system that is networked, delicate, resilient and powerful if we work with it in the right way. And local life, community life, economic life starts with food.

Powerful words from Mary Clear

Powerful words from Mary Clear

So for the first time Incredible Edible invited some of its partners, brothers and sisters from around the world to commune together. I found myself listening to a wonderful Frenchman who explained that in France there as been an explosion of Incredible Edible initiatives. These efforts had then reached into Spain and other European countries. I also saw Mary Clear give an impassioned and moving speech about how common sense, and a sense of purpose has enabled them to create something of great value and potential, from this market town called Todmorden.

Her story is also about people, everyday people, the common people (as Jarvis Cocker might say), yet these people do extraordinary things. It was a wonderful event and I felt invigorated by just being there. As someone once said, ‘it just takes a village’. And yes we were in a unitarian deconsecrated church, with a congregation of sorts that were committed to doing something differently.

Here is a short video explaining the incredible story of the Incredible Edibles

Journey further

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