Sites of Resistance

How many of us know about the struggle for land in England after its theft by the Norman invaders? The Diggers the Levellers movements, the enclosures, the loss of common land, the poor laws, and the allotted Field Gardens for the working poor so that they might avoid the workhouses. How many of us know of the Council’s obligation to provide allotments have been enshrined in law for over 100 years.

Earlier this week I went on a masterful journey through history with Pat Bowen a renown local story teller, but also someone with a fine grasp of social history on the fight for land in England. She showed the struggle that so many of our ancestors had to have access to some land over the centuries and how a small elite denied land, food and self-sufficiency to them.

Liberating the land.

Fascinatingly the movement for allotments, for allotted garden fields, began in 1790s but only took off in 1880s once the right to vote was extended beyond a narrow group of landowners. Today once again the right to allotments may be diluted as the government seeks to minimise “red tape” and Council responsibilities (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/gardening/exclusive-the-end-of-the-good-life-2277463.html) However the rights that we still have to demand and receive allotments is often unrealised today.

Under legislation, local authorities are obliged to find land for allotments, when 6 or more people petition for this as was wonderfully exposed by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall in recent TV campaign. He had the oxygen of publicity and public humiliation to support him, most of us only have the law. In Brighton we see that justice delayed is justice denied, with waiting lists extending over 3 years that are then often “closed” to new applicants.

Apparently my allotment at the Weald is about 120 years old, it used to be twice the size, and it came about by a local campaign by the new electorate of Brighton. Now you will be lucky to have your legal rights granted after years of waiting by a miserly half a plot- not enough to feed a family.

All our struggles.

This meeting held by the World Family organisation, showed how the struggles today in Africa for land owned by families and communities and for self- sufficiency in food, mirrors some of the historic political struggles in the UK. We easily forget that historically land was stolen from the people by the Normans “might was right” and “right to food” was at the squires behest. Many were left in abject poverty.

Today this right to food by communities in Africa might only be realised if the hedge funds of the West or the buyers from the East – our new global squires- allow it. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

World Family, a small Brighton based organisation, acts to create solidarity, support and information networks that benefit small scale, ecological farmers both in UK and Internationally. It also tries to facilitate dialogue between small scale farmers and the wider community.

Sites for resistance showed how to think globally and act locally. May be we should also think locally and act globally. May be we should support those parents who need liberated land to provide good food for their families.It might prevent many of the deaths of the 30,000 children who die each day. These are today's sites for resistance and the places to liberate our land and their land.

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