BED and breakfast proprietor Richard Barnett is perhaps an unlikely saviour of the planet. But the father-of-three, who runs the Vege Barn B&B in Ashurst, is at the forefront of bringing one of the fastest-growing global social movements in history to the south.

This movement could give us the tools we need to reverse the trend of global warming and prosper in a world profoundly affected by depleting stocks of oil.

Minstead village green might not be the most obvious nerve centre for a green revolution but, as Richard and other members of the New Forest Transition Group hand out vegetable seeds and plants, there is a real buzz that people are part of something much bigger and very positive.

There really is a sense that, from a small packet of lettuce seeds, revolutionary changes may grow.

When you consider the environmental crisis facing the planet it can be easy to feel utterly defeated and helpless.

But the Transition movement offers a structure for very real things that people can do – and it can start with something as simple as growing a tomato plant on your window sill.

The aim of the Transition Network is to prepare and equip communities for the two issues of climate change and depleting oil supplies.

The key ideas include becoming more selfreliant as individuals and communities, and reducing energy usage.

Last month the New Forest Transition Group launched its Food Challenge.

The aim is to encourage people to grow their own food and eat local produce, strengthening local communities in the process.

The idea that people as individuals don’t have to wait for those in power – their government and big businesses – to do something about the crisis that the planet faces is one that spreads with infectious optimism.

“People at grass roots level who are concerned about what’s happening and, indeed, what’s not happening, in terms of strong action to deal with the environmental problems can actually get on with things,” says Richard, buzzing with excitement.

“Not only that, but there are also a number of side benefits such as getting to know the people in your community, finding out that you’re not the only person who’s thinking like this, and getting a range of ideas which, if not solving the problems, are at least moving in the right direction.

“The momentum is growing very fast indeed,” he continues. “Certainly the experience here is that you only need to mention it and it spreads. As well as the New Forest Group, there are Trans-ition Groups in Southampton, Romsey, Bournemouth, Christchurch and a similar group in Winchester.”

Richard believes that the current global economic crisis is a factor in the snowballing interest in the Transition Movement, which currently boasts around 500,000 members worldwide and more than 230 active groups in less than two years.

“I think what’s happened to the economy has only served to underline that that situation couldn’t carry on,” he says.

“You can’t keep on growing and growing – sooner or later things are going to start to go wrong. I think there’s a huge amount of scepticism about the way we’re being encouraged to just get back on our horse and carry on in the same way as before, which clearly didn’t work then, especially when you combine that with asking where all the energy is going to come from to support this growth.”

The New Forest Group sprang up in March last year, when Richard read a copy of the Transition Handbook, which had just been published.

“That was a turning point for me because it brought together several different things that I was concerned about but didn’t know what to do about. In essence it’s about strengthening local energy and food production, strengthening local communities and trying to bring back some of the things that have been lost in our rush to be part of the global economy.”

A central group was formed – a “hub” – to spread the Transition Group across the New Forest.

What started as a few people meeting in someone’s living room has expanded to the group having some 300 people on their database and 15 regional groups in operation across the Forest.

In its first fully active year the group has decided to focus on its Food Challenge.

“If oil supplies suddenly dried up and we weren’t able to get imported goods into this country, we’d be in desperate, desperate trouble,” says Richard.

“For instance, we only grow five per cent of the fruit we eat in this country, so we’re importing 95 per cent – that’s just criminal.”

As well as encouraging people to grow their own food by giving away seeds and plants and giving advice on everything from what to do about slugs to recipes for your homegrown produce, the Food Challenge is also promoting local produce.

Several families are taking up the challenge to dramatically increase the percentage of local food they consume, and are keeping diaries to see just how easy – or otherwise – it is to go local.

The hope is that, as well as promoting more sustainable local communities, the Transition movement will put pressure on governments worldwide to produce the policy changes needed to safeguard our future.

Sarah Fawkes, the Food Challenge project coordinator, says: “You can get really bogged down with worrying about things that might happen as a result of global warming, peak oil etc, but this lets you say ‘I’m actually going to do something about this, it’s really easy and I’m going to tell my neighbour and they can do it too’.”

■ For more information about the New Forest Food Challenge, visit newforest transition.ning.com or call Richard on 023 8029 2531.

What is the Transition movement?

The aim of the Transition Movement is to help communities make the change from high oil dependency to greater self-sufficiency, through reducing energy consumption and becoming more self-reliant.

Each regional “Transition Town” starts with a small group of people coming together to respond to the question: “How can our community respond to the challenges and opportunities of peak oil and climate change?”.

After going through various stages, including connecting with existing groups in the community and setting up projects aimed at building people’s understanding of local resilience and carbon issues, the aim is to launch a communitydefined and implemented Energy Descent Action Plan over a 15 to 20-year time-scale.

The Transition Towns website summarises the movement as follows: “Climate change makes this carbon reduction transition essential. Peak oil makes it inevitable. Transition initiatives make it feasible, viable and attractive (as far we can tell so far...)."