Pictures from the event

fish update

This is correct James! as it seems to be cheaper co2 wise for Tescos than the local Newlyn supplier presumably cos of the distance to Newlyn. So: 2 options which you should include for Tescos getting the fish from Hull and from Falmouth. And the real option from Newlyn. Use the symbols of rejected option and the star if you can.

Tescos worst option: Hull to Birstall (Tesco distribution) 113 miles or 94.65 kg/co2

Birstall to Roborough (Plymouth) 250miles = 209.5kg/co2

Tescos best option: Falmouth to Roborough (Plymouth) 67 miles (van) = 17.6 kg/co2

Local Fish: Newlyn>Penryn>Plymouth 94 miles = 24.3 kg/co2

mexican update

in case it is not clear we found brambles in the CO-OP in Launceston and found they had flown from Mexico to Heathrow. Brambles grew around the edges of the CO-OP carpark in Launceston. The other product here is carrageen moss for pud. Yum. Origin Cornwall instead of Ireland.

And the Mexican Blackberry Bramble

Wot eez this?

I am doing the dessert (brambles) and the events process (computers, phones). Anne-Marie is doing the Main course (foraging) and the events on the day board (the evil boards, napkins etc). Don't worry about the 'why we doing this' as I think it will change over mon & tues. I put the text on the blog (previous post) anyway. 
Also going on the blog in a minute is the actual places of local food on the menu in case anyone is doing a map (which might be a good idea). (see below: very impressive productive local environment I think, well done Hen!)
We now have to think a bit about the whole series of boards and try to make them make sense a bit and work together. The currency is kg/co2 i.e. a numerical score which you should leave room for on your designs. There won't be alot of it but there is probably more text if you need it to fill. For this to have meaning we are considering a separate board of comparisons which Jamie the calculator should supply on MOn or Tues and this may have to go on a separate board. A legend of comparisons. A sliding scale allowing us to see what 10kg, 100gk or 10,000 kgs is equivalent to (flights, shopping trips etc).
Finally we are not quite sure yet what there will be besides write up the guests' travel on the might but it might be nice if you Ben or both of you wanted to dress up as white-coated mathematicians. There will probably be Lucy Orta aprons as well or as alternatives. Meanwhile you should be sitting down and eating I think!



* Dulse seaweed - Perranuthnoe, West Cornwall.
* Wild Salad leaves (sorrel, oxeye daisy, chickweed, navelwort, black
mustard) – Newlyn, Kerris, St Buryan, Long Rock (West Penwith).
* Elderberry & Blackberry vinaigrette (berries from Boscawen-noon Farm, St
Buryan, Cider vinegar from Cornwall, Sugar ??).  Olive oil, mustard etc.


3. food 2. main course (many foraged items, etc) (CD + JA)
* Sea beet – Marazion, Newlyn, Penberth, Porthleven (West Cornwall)
* Wild Cabbage – Long Rock, Marazion, Prussia Cove (West Cornwall)
* Black mustard leaves (Newlyn, Perranuthnoe, Marazion)
* Sorrel (Newlyn)
* Three cornered leek (Lamorna)


4. food 3. Pudding course (brambles, apples etc. all local) tea/coffee
(herb, dandelion coffee, real coffee) (CD + JA)
* Blackberries (AM & Jo)
* Apples (Chyenhal, nr Mousehole – friend’s garden)
* Mint (garden mint, Boscawen-noon Farm)


Ps on this bottom doodle there is a 'trail smail' which I think was Ben's suggestion of how to represent the comparison of carbon miles (or anything really). The left hand side represents the miles the Mexican bramble travels to Launceston and contrast with the mouses tail of travel for the local variety. Make sense? I can explain.

work in progress

These are very much in progress: one is the meal items or equipment and the other is the event process or development. kg/co2 will be added for all items thanks to Jamie at Groundwork.

The 'why are we doing this' text is enormous and will probably need to be handwritten. It will cover most of the board so any ideas as to how to make it lively are welcome. Maybe a border around it, maybe occasional images referring to particular words. Here is the text (long innit and yes there are typos, it will be editted):

THE STORY OF THE MEAL, ACT XXXI, PLYMOUTH

What are we doing?

These blackboards show the story of The Meal and attempt to work out the environmental impacts of this event and its organisation in terms of carbon emissions.  We have been working with illustration students from Plymouth ¬College of Art & Design and the business management team at Groundwork South West to realise this.

For this event this is has mostly only been possible by analysing transportation of goods and services to get here. In some areas where the data has been available to us we have been able to go deeper. However this is very rarely the case as most companies and organisations of whatever scale are still not thinking in these terms or providing this information.  We are also showing some comparisons between some of the elements we have cosnciously chosen for The Meal and readily available alternatives.

Making the connections between production, manufacture, transport, processing, consumption and waste to helps us consider how these loops can be made more efficient.  Even by asking these questions to various individuals and companies we have prompted interesting discussion and new research. Nothing that is produced or used comes for free or disappears into thin air. Planet earth, which includes us, is an evolving interlinked system. 

We have tried to source from across the South West where possible given the time constraints in organising this event. (Groundwork operates across the South West region). Mistakes and interesting discoveries have been made along the way.

Why we are doing this and the calculations we have used

To transfer to a more environmentally and socially responsible society and to reduce our carbon footprints we need to think through the full impacts of all our actions. One way of dissecting this is to look at quantifying how much carbon we are using as part of our everyday lives for moving things and people around.  We realise that measuring Carbon Dioxide emitted from transportation is only one way of looking at our environmental impact.  All CO2 calculations were derived from data collected by the parties involved in that particular aspect of the event ie the forager. The data is ensured to be as accurate as reasonably possible and then calculated using the latest government approved DEFRA CO2 conversion factors.  This gives a quantifiable measure of CO2 generated by an action or process.

We hope by making these hidden costs transparent and visually interesting to explore we can provide food for thought in terms of our resource use and consumer decisions.

Jo Salter & Anne-Marie Culhane, artist/co-ordinators

With many thanks to : Jamie Mclaren-Smith, Katie Hughes and Ray White at Groundwork,  Mel Brown, illustration tutor , James Mankievicz, illustrator Plymouth College of Art & Design.

AMs main course board (sketch)

This is pretty much how i want it except im still working on making the coastline clearer so people can see the top bit is a map, the white spots represent fictional harvesting spots.  I've tried to use clear symbols ie field shapes to indicate cultivated veg and contours more freeform for Foraged.  I still need to add the stats at the bottom but have designed plenty of space for this and seems like the river/line down the middle and text might lead into a leaf shape with the factoids and figures at the bottom.  Will let you see the next stage when i'm done.  The 60s style came from nowhere!! not my usual thing..its great when you end up doing something completely different to what you think you will do!

good luck with your boards...

applefish

Great to see some action. I am suggesting you focus on 3 boards for Friday when hopefully we will meet up. They are:

1. Course one: Fish etc. James to do. Note: The mackerel are not fished with a net in this case. They are caught on a hook, one of many on a long line. The situation here is positive as the fisherman is not catching more than he needs or fish he doesn't want and it is as local as possible. So we should feel good about it. So make it ‘nice’.  The contrast with other methods of distant procurement will be in the written/number area. I.e. Mackerel from Tescos travel from N. East Scotland and consume ? units of carbon on the way.
You could separate your board into positive approach versus negative showing both stories but there might be a space problem. Generally you should make images big cos they will be mostly viewed from slight distance. One approach might be to make a border of imagery and coral the information yet to come in the centre.
Map or journey (car, van with fish logo?) from penzance. Story: free fish with many friends in Mounts Bay Penzance > hook and line  > small boat > fish boxes/crates with text on side > van > route to Plymouth all linked ala cartoon or by arrows or other linear storyline method.

2. People and travel. James and/or group. You should keep this simple as it needs a form or checklist that should be clearly readable on the night. So: a world of travel perhaps framing an area or individual travel modes with space for quantifying next to them. So you may have a bike with an area next to it clearly showing the ticks as they are added for those who arrived by bike. An illustrated list even.

3. The Apple drinks. No man squeezing apples I don't think. But I liked the tree and prominence of text. Also juicey droplets don't really make sense flying off the trees. But have a go with this one. Apples themselves are rather beautiful! There is a beautiful process here.

I am frantically trying to find out how to fix chalk as well as looking into  the kind of chalks blackboard menu people use ( a closely guarded secret). I think we might have to design first then apply to the boards in non-removable wax crayons. Also colour may still be a possibility.

More about carbon details soon.
jo

I apologise for not posting this weekend, missed the oppotunity to post on friday...couldnt get the images home, my fault....However here is what we have for what the boards are going to look like

To who ever is involved you can take one of these ideas from the brainstorm session bring sketches doodles other ideas in asap thanks...

Food 1 Starter - Fish (mackeral) Boats nets, actual net attached to the bottom of the board. "russian dolls" fish idea smaller eaten to big, Old fish boat drawings, BUBBLES FROM FISHES with info inside.

Food 2 Main - Loose quick line drawings of the Key Foods, (menu in below in the blog) Mushrooms Earthy looking foods being picked forgaged With a person eating

Food 3 Dessert - Bring in some of the characters from the apple board, apple men with blackberry men, outlines of people and details of the desserts. Dandellion Head and Seeds

Drinks - Have kinda touched on the drawings falready...chris is to collaborate with apple men squezzing apples...having a elaborate pressing machine....Lots of drips and juicey trees

Carbon Footprint - Smoke flowing around the board with illustrations errupting from certain parts...Hand holding apple, City out of the smoke

People - Me and chris are going to draw a whole board of faces and speech bubbles, characturing some people at the event and writing down how they have travelled have a age diversity of children to older faces.

Event Stuff - Tree Diagram portraying how things have all come about. With each of the individual things like lights baords cooking and such expanding from the centre.

Project Development - Time line/Comic storyboards following from the idea lucy orta all the way up until the actual time of the event touching on the things that were used. Map of where events were before and now...

Doodles and images

El Menu

Wild food from Fat Hen our expert forager and chef from darkest Cornwall. This meal might have the smallest carbon footprint 70 people have ever sat down to eat (perhaps since the arrival of the superstore).

The Menu:

Starter
Smoked mackerel & Dulse seaweed tart with wild leaves dressed with an
elderberry viniagrette

Beetroot and cumin soup

Main
Vegetable gratin made using local seasonal vegetables (beetroot, courgette
and mushroom with a three cornered garlic & wild black mustard infused cream
and local cheese sauce

Wild Sorrel pomme puree

Wilted wild greens (sea beet, watercress, Alexanders, mallow)

Pudding
Carragheen pudding with shortbread and blackberry and apple coulis

And locally baked bread.

Please research your own images of food and their locations or origins. The images at the top are Dulse seaweed which is 'one of the richest sources of bio-available minerals on the planet' and wild black pepper. Additional pics:

The venue - The layout

Sherwell United Church Hall is the place. Eclesiatical vernacular, almost gothic. Red interior.

The layout is in a symbol of inifinity. The black lines are the boards. We have them surrounded.

A Pressing Issue - The Apples Board

See previous blog Effordless Apples for links to Growsheffield sites for some images.

Above are some presses. You can focus on the apples themselves in all their round varieties if you like.
Some stats:
Apples harvested Middlewood (AMC + JS) transport (see below) 1 trip
Apples harvested from Plants for a Future, Higher Penpol, Fowey Estuary
(http://www.pfaf.org/cornwall/index.php) transport to Middlewood (32 miles) then Middlewood to Plymouth
Apple Press picked up from North Devon (need to get figures)
Apples pressed in Efford, Plymouth – some energy used for crushing and pasteurizing.
More apples coming from Combeinteighnhead in Devon.
You could go down the map route showing Penpol, Combeinteighnhead and Efford and Plymouth.
Cider – still sourcing
As ever you don't have to be literal to get it across. Hand to apple to press to squash to lovely amber juice. Juice miles.

stuff you probably know

El cartel a story but never sure if it quite makes sense

but where does the water go?

and

ignore the advertising skater talk; i include this to say you can indulge in lovely drawing of objects if you want and can then link em to make sense of their travel/carbon implications. This might be good for food pages. I also like the chaos spaghetti a bit.

and

you may want to tell a story literally Kugler style from photos with annotations

or

do a Chad Maccail sinister linear cartoon

or

or a zen diagram of the whole damn system (also by Chad)

or none of the above

story of stuff is

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

and

carbon weevils (that is us)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nALyKU_N5x0

too much stop!

8 boards

There are 10 boards . (The intention is to elaborate about individual boards with more info as it comes in on separate posts elsewhere on this blog). The 10 boards are:
1. carbon. why calculate carbon footprint of project? – background info – how it works - this will have a fair bit of text and will talk about networks, interconnectedness.
2. food1. the starter (local fish plus)
3. food 2. main course (many foraged items and local food etc)
4. food 3. Pudding course (blackberries, apples etc. all local) tea/coffee (herb, dandelion coffee, real coffee)
5. Drinks. Apple pressing,  sourcing apples, cider
6. project development. Travel (including L.Orta)/energy use/computer/phone use/ paper/postage
7. people (on the night) travel – how did you get here (bike, foot, bus, train, plane, car)..will be footprinted live on the night - drawings/layout can be done before
8. event stuff - lights, blackboards, art materials (chalks, fix etc) cooking, electricity and other equipment, compost, get out + L.orta (runners, plates, aprons)
9. Composting of food waste, unknowns...outcomes…equivalences?
10. Comments board….for guests to write/draw on?

I guess the thing to do is to start googleing and  drawing some of the objects involved that interest you whether it is seaweed or wind power, choo choo trains or people picking fruit, brambles or light bulbs, icebergs or rain forests.

effordless apples

Thinking about pommes and apples today. Juice will be made the day before the event from apples gathered/harvested mostly from Efford where they will alsp be pressed/crushed. So the distance is so small we could just about get a very long garden hose direct to the venue. Food miles? 2 max? Images: roundish apples, on trees, being harvested, in a glass, being pressed, many together, maps etc and of course the garden of Eden not unlike the allotments of Efford. The nakedish people are by Durer and (the clear winner) Cranach. Adam is clearly confused.
We have done a lot of harvesting in a project we set up in Sheffield so you could see what harvesting or juicing looks like. Spot Hugh Fearnley Whatsit.
http://www.growsheffield.com/pages/groshefabu08p1.html
http://www.growsheffield.com/pages/groshefabund3.html
There is also some design illustration in a publication about urban harvesting:
http://www.growsheffield.com/pages/groshefhandb.html

70 x 7 Meal act XXXI Plymouth

The Meal: The blurb: Its a meal for about 75 people. 25 people invite 2 others. The inviter and the 2 invited must all be from 3 different age groups (young middle old). Therefore 2/3s of the invites are a little random which we like and which is in keeping with the artist, Lucy Orta's concept. And it is about sustainability, growing and food. All carbon consumption involved in the production of the meal will be calculated and most of it displayed. The concept is from Lucy Orta with the theme (sustainability etc) from Anne-Marie Culhane and me, Jo Salter.
And Plymouth College of Art students are illustrating the issues mostly of transport that create the carbon footprint of the meal. I.e. the journey of the food to the table from origin to the venue or the travel of ourselves in the managing of this project, or the travel of the wood that became the blackboards that our art students (is that you?) will be working on before and during the meal. Yes during.
So lets upload all sorts of stuff that we think relevant, inspirational and also sketches and images of the work as it progresses. Doodles are fine. We will start to geet a picture of what is needed for each of the boards all of which start as blackboards.
I will go first with my favourite which is The Crabon Map from UHC collective in Manchester: http://www.uhc-collective.org.uk/index.php
You can download your copy for free from the website.