Interview with Carin Schwartz

Director of Transition Town Forres

Food supply and the way in which we grow, distribute and consume food in Scotland, are the problems that Carin Schwartz feels are the biggest. Forty years of intensive farming has changed the soil and the way people relate to food. Most people no longer grow their own food or buy from local farmers and instead they shop in huge supermarkets that import food from all over the world. The conventional agriculture methods of using chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are carbon intensive and pollute the soil and ground water. The chemicals also stay in the food and contribute to illness and disease.

Carin suggested that we need to support local organic farmers and grow our own food. She is working to create allotments, and a farmers market in Forres, as part of the Transition Town movement. She talked about the need to reconnect with seasonal produce and learn to enjoy the foods that grow in Scotland instead of buying exotic produce from overseas.

She spoke about the reaction of overwhelm to global warming and the public's need to learn how to make changes in thier lives. People want to be part of the solution not part of the problem.

The images that Carin spoke about are: a huge field with ten combine harvesters in a V formation using tremendous amounts of energy vs. a pasture with cows grazing outside year round without the need for extra grain.