Last week I attended the Land Skills Fair (LSF), an event co-organised by the Landworkers’ Alliance (LWA) and Land in Our Names (LION). The event was intended to be about “sharing knowledge and skills about farming, forestry, crafts, food and land justice”, with an impressive range of talks, workshops, tours and musical entertainment on the programme. The format is hardly original, mirroring recent agricultural knowledge exchange and community events (think ORFC in the field, Farm Hack, FarmED, the Green Scythe Fair, etc.) but which of course dates back to the classic agricultural shows and fairs found all over the world. But something about LSF felt fundamentally and importantly different.
As with any LWA-led event, LSF was a testament to the sheer energy and health of the movement, with an abundance of inspiring ideas and projects to engage with. Key to this was event co-lead LION, who ran their own space, asking searching questions about ‘Access to land for BPOC in the UK’, the problems of inheriting systems which have their roots in colonial and oppressive histories, as well as ‘diversity and inclusivity in land-based activities’. There were also plenty of sessions run by veterans of the UK local food scene – like Jyoti Fernandes, Jonty Brunyee and Charles Dowding – offering insight into their innovative models as well as ample space for dialogue and exchange. And then there were the vast array of skills sessions on offer from woodwork, to seed saving, and composting – I myself was there to deliver one of these workshops on using weeds as a way to understand soil health (more on this here if you’re interested).
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