The Transition Network
Modelling local community ‘foodsheds’
Geofutures is working with the Transition Network to help communities map their individual ‘foodsheds’ – the land required by a community to feed itself from its local hinterland, taking land types and food requirements into account.
Taking an estimate from the work of permaculture expert Simon Fairlie that one hectare of agricultural and forestry land can feed 4.4 people, Geofutures founder and MD Mark Thurstain-Goodwin first mapped simplified circular ‘food footprints’ around settlements.
This is a useful starting point in understanding the extent of land required, overlaps and potential resource conflicts, but more insight is required.
In response to the twin challenges of Peak Oil and climate change, each Transition community aims to create an Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP), including schemes for re-localising its basic food production.
This research models potential food production for the very first Transition community, Totnes in Devon, and the aim is to refine it and make it into an easy-to-use online tool available to the whole network of Transitioners.
Mark is working with Transition founder Rob Hopkins to define the next stage of the project and secure funding. This will be an online version of the GIS model, allowing all communities to benefit from the technology in planning their foodsheds, and enabling planning for food production on a larger scale.
An important aspect of this is allowing Transition communities to share their local data safely, easily and in a way which is meaningful to everyone.
