The Vicar's Tea Party Talks Climate Change...

Well, to be fair it wasn't a tea party, but they were vicars and we did drink tea. I was sitting in the vicarage here in Ashton Hayes sharing lunch with a group of vicars from across Cheshire who all serve rural parishes. The discussion followed a showing of the Ashton Hayes film made for Live Earth last year, which features some lovely footage of the parish - and a particularly full Sunday congregation!
Initially the conversation was about the community becoming carbon neutral and the role played by the church, but quickly moved on to more general rural issues, which for me are part of the debate about a low carbon lifestyle.
Of course it's the "right" thing to shop local - but how easy is that when new housing estates are designed to make life easy for car drivers and not pedestrians? When Cheshire farmers can't get a decent price for their milk and the supermarkets are full of European semi skimmed when I live half a mile from a dairy farm? Living a low carbon life is about making informed choices in order to reduce our impact on the environment and our neighbours. Living low carbon is about choice, not self denial and so this weekend I'll be tucking into ice cream made here in Cheshire - no designer label but equally delicious, butter and milk from local farms and eggs from a small holding in the next village. I'll be drinking Cheshire apple juice and Weetwood's Eastgate Ale while I share a meal with friends who will have traveled to Ashton Hayes by train.
Going without? Giving up a decent standard of living? Not me - shop local, support your community and reduce your carbon footprint all at the same time. Try it yourself - if you still have a village shop - try walking there this weekend and buying provisions for lunch, seek out your nearest farmers market or farm shop or even arrange to have local food delivered direct to your door instead of an internet supermarket. You may be surprised what Cheshire has to offer.