Page 7 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2020

Sandra Hall opened the meeting at 2.00pm on July the 4th and welcomed our president Medwyn Williams and Patrick Lawrence from the Midlands Branch. It was minuted that Nick Anderson Midlands Branch Chair had resigned, and the Vice Chair Bob Bleasdale had taken over the role of Chair, thanks Bob. Patrick Lawrence has now become the Midland’s Branch Vice Chair and will be the Midland’s Branch’s Trustee Rep going forward, thanks Patrick.
Because of the ongoing Covid-19 situation, the Trustees had agreed prior to the meeting that they would use Zoom instead of the previously utilised conference call. However, Trustees were aware that there is a 40-minute time limit on free Zoom and three sessions were required to complete this meeting. The Trustees agreed to subscribe to Zoom for unlimited access for the next 12 months to provide a smoother meeting. It was noted that this subscription for the Society can
also be used for Branch meetings etc. (just contact Sandra Hall).
Fiona Shenfield reported that the awards committee had met earlier in the week via a zoom meeting to review the Society’s awards. The recipients have now been informed and the review meeting outcome has been written by Fiona, please refer to pages 46 to 47.
Even more of the Society’s business is
now being prepared ahead of meetings and usually in the format of a report which is circulated to all Trustees prior to the meetings. This enables fellow Trustees to study the reports ahead of any meeting and prepare questions etc as such, it also provides good records of the Society’s minutes, and is often referred to in the Trustees minutes as “see attached report”. Minutes and reports once approved by Trustees are freely available
to society members upon request via the Assistant Secretary.
Fiona Shenfield & Ian Stocks had produced a report prior to the meeting detailing the ongoing work with the appointed White Fuse company who
are implementing our new membership software. Ian advised that notification of
our new Direct Debit provider (GoCardless) will be sent to our members in early July.
In order to use this new system at it’s optimum, for our volunteer officers to reduce their workload and for our members to
get all the benefits from it, it was reported that it would be ideal if we could get every member to pay their membership via Direct Debit and also to have an email address
for automated payment processing. It was however understood that this would not be feasible for all members, but that we should encourage it as much as possible.
It was agreed that the present forum on the current NVS web site will be archived when we initially move to the new White Fuse web system, after which, a review
of what our members want/need will be conducted regarding a forum or a similar or completely different tool.
The Trustees noted that some of the action points on the development plan had not yet been assigned owners. It was agreed that the action plan be re-issued so that items on the plan can be considered for ownership in order
to take the plan forward. Please note that any member is welcome to take ownership, they do not have to be a Trustee. Trustees planned and held a further Zoom meeting at the end of July to specifically focus on the development plan’s action plan. The action plan continues to be a live document and the Trustees are actively working on a number of key activities. It was agreed that some activities may be re-prioritised and focus may change in some areas due to COVID-19 to best support our members.
News from the Trustees
July 2020
MARK HALL BEM FNVS NATIONAL ASSISTANT SECRETARY
Book Review
Food and Climate Change without the Hot Air by S.L. Bridle
This is a very interesting book on the effects food is having on climate change and that if we changed our diet it could be one of the easiest ways to help
save the planet. It is split into chapters covering each meal starting with breakfast, lunch, snacks, and evening meal and a chapter on looking to the future.
It is absolutely full of facts on food
and how its production, cooking and eating is affecting climate change which is something we all need to focus on. COVID-19/Corona virus may be the ‘in’ problem at present but climate change is far more important and will have a greater effect on the planet and it’s population.
The author is a professor at the University of Manchester and has carried out extensive research to produce the book. It shows the effects a range of foods has on climate change so you can consider your diet and make choices.
It does not give recipes or advice on growing but covers the use of food and how we could modify our diet to reduce our effect on climate change.
Chapter one the introduction starts with two questions “How much do you think the last meal you ate contributed
to climate change? And which bits of it were the biggest culprits?” The book then goes on to answer these questions, or at least the information in it does. It briefly describes climate change
and some of its effects. At
present I am sat in the sun
typing this review during a
period of some of the hottest
weather recorded in August;
which follows on from a hot
dry period earlier in the year.
The soil is dust dry and all of
my water butts have been empty for over a week, so climate change is here any non-believers need to engage a brain cell or two!
The author makes the point that some farmers have already had to change what they grow and I am seriously considering changing my growing next year to try
to beat the droughts. Another point the author sets out is that overall about a quarter of all greenhouse gases come from food and its production. On average each person in the world causes 6 kilos of emissions each day because of the food they eat, but the figures for the western world are far higher at 13 kilos for the USA. We need to do something, by 2030 we need to halve our emissions down to 3 kilos a person; that is only ten years away!
The bulk of the book then goes through a range of foods consumed for each
meal and the emissions produced; an example being that coffee cause more greenhouse gas emission than tea owing to the amount of fertiliser used. Plant milk causes less than half the emissions of dairy milk, although I have to say the taste is not over impressive!
Food and Climate Change is jam packed full of facts, figures and information all very interesting. It will open your mind on your use of food and a good reason to grow as much of your food as possible. It tells you an enormous amount about the effects food production and use
is having on climate change. It will not be everyone’s cup of tea (no pun intended) but
will really interest those who have concerns about climate
change and who want the facts and figures. A good read and very interesting.
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