​I have been given the Members' Blog page for my Chairman’s Chat in this challenging and fast changing period in all our lives.
This will be the first month that some of you in your various WIs will receive your copy of the Bucks News digitally. In this very difficult time for many of you, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we are unable to collate and deliver hard copies of the newsletter to our members and then expect these to be distributed to your individual WI’s members as we are all now having to Stay Home. 

​explore our Facebook pages, and maybe follow us on Instagram and Twitter because we are putting a great deal of our information on these sites.  Information from the government is changing daily and we update our pages accordingly. Together with information from the Federation you can source more details about life on MyWI, this is an online magazine from National giving you recipes, craft ideas and news about anything to do with the WI.  Over 30,000 members have signed on already and this is a great membership benefit for all of us so do have a go!  

​Tik Tok, Houseparty (to name a few) to communicate with colleagues, friends and families; to have virtual dinner parties, host quiz sessions, hold committee meetings and many more instructive uses. Do let us know how you get on!
The Trustees held the April Board meeting by Skype, 13 of us together with Sara, our Federation Secretary, if you wanted to speak a red item had to be held up! I have had Pilates by Zoom, over 30 of us, normal meeting is only 14! I’ve sung in a choir on YouTube with Gareth Malone and shortly will be joining other Federation Chairmen for a National Federation meeting with Melissa Green the National Secretary! 

​the Trustees have had to make some very difficult decisions for the future; the Annual Council Meeting is cancelled this year and everything associated with it will be forwarded to April 2021 where we will resume our celebrations of 100 years since the formation of Bucks Federation. The pennants will be hung in front of the stage, the table panel will be revealed and we hope to have all the same speakers that were originally planned. We will draw the big Centenary Raffle with large cash prizes at the 2021 Annual  Council Meeting.  We have informed the regulatory authorities of this change, and we still want you to sell and send your tickets sold to Stuart Lodge HQ; you’ve just got a little longer to do it!  

​We do all this with a very heavy heart because we have no idea when this lock-down will end and our main criteria always is the safety of our members and staff.  As you may know we have been working on the 2020 celebrations for over 2 years and we have had to think out of the box and accept this is the way to go. 

​We may well hold two pre Christmas shopping days,  ​one in the North of the County and one in the South where we would like to showcase and sell all our 2020 merchandise.

...​kind, considerate, compassionate and caring and it is at times like these that the WI shines.  It is very difficult for many of us that we cannot help as we would like because we have to self-isolate, but this is a time for our younger members and communities to step forward and many are so doing in a magnificent way.

We will crack one of those BFWI G-Inspiration bottles open and toast each other when next we meet…. mmm shall we have it with tonic, a martini stirred not shaken or on the rocks?! 

Must we all go vegan to save the planet or is it OK to eat meat as a treat?
 
This New Year for the first time I came across the word Veganuary and wondered what it was so I searched and discovered that it is a month-long vegan pledge to not eat meat each January.   The Veganuary organisation encourages people to go vegan for the month of January as a way to promote and educate about a vegan lifestyle.   https://uk.veganuary.com 
 
The UK Vegan Society is an official Veganuary partner and on their website are interesting articles  about how choosing to adopt an increasingly plant-based diet can help the environment. It has been campaigning for politicians to recognise the contribution veganism might make in tackling the climate crisis - https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/environment  and
https://www.vegansociety.com/take-action/campaigns/climate-emergency
 
There are also many more vegan recipies appearing in newspapers and magazines and television and radio features about the issue as well. The more I hear and research about the issue of Meat, Livestock and Climate Change and the more I find that things are not black and white.  It’s a complicated and complex topic. 
 
I agree with arguments made that the planet cannot support current levels of meat eating alongside all the other climate changes already evident because of the use of fossil fuels and as counties develop more meat is eaten. Recent reports have said that there is likely to be demand for an 80% increase in meat production as a consequence of development.
 
A case can be made that grass fed livestock does have a place in agriculture, especially in UK as it is appropriate for our climate.  Many experts say that the conversion of rainforest to pasture vastly reduces the planet’s carbon sink potential and should be halted.  Rewilding pasture to forest would help as a forest ecosystem can lock up the same level of carbon as well managed pasture but ploughing poor soil and slopes can damage soil structures and risk run off and loss of nutrients via soil erosion
 
The UK National Farmers Union argues that livestock contributes to soil fertility and that grassland and pasture are good for wildlife. Good grassland cover actually captures more carbon than poor agriculture. UK dairy cows are more efficient than others in emitting less methane and the NFU suggests that there is scope to improve the climate credentials of all cattle worldwide.
https://www.nfuonline.com/news/latest-news-rh-panel/nfu-reports/
 
On reflection I am happy to reduce my meat consumption but I am not yet ready to give it up completely. I do think that food production should be sustainable and locally grown and that we should pay the true cost of production for food.  Fellow BFWI Climate Ambassadors Cath and Rebecca have chosen to eat a plant based diet for the benefit of the planet and in December gave a public cookery demonstration of their festive vegan fusion recipe.
 
The BFWI Investigation and discovery Day on 10 March heard Dr Ceris Jones, the National Farmers Union Adviser on Climate Change who told us about the NFU’s ambitious goal to aim for net zero greenhouse emissions from agriculture by 2040.
 
Yvonne for the BFWI Climate Ambassadors

A guest blogger introduced by our Climate Ambassador team:

Why?  Because it affects every aspect of this world we live in. According to science it is making the world a place that suffers more extreme weather events, this means more storms, bigger storms, in more places and greater droughts with associated risks of wildfires in more places. It is going to affect a lot of those things we don’t necessarily associate with climate change. People talk about reducing our carbon footprints, governments talk about carbon offsetting.
Why all this talk about reducing carbon, surely carbon is essential for life? Carbon is one of the building blocks for life, we contain it, trees contain it, plants and animals contain it, fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas) contain a lot of it. When it is burnt it releases CO₂ into our atmosphere which stays there for a long time like a blanket, causing a greenhouse warming effect. Other gases such as methane are also greenhouse gases, the release of all these greenhouse gases have increased the temperature of our planet and have led to climate change.
Climate change is going to impact every person on this planet and with 9 billion people on this planet by 2050 all competing for resources we need a better plan to distribute them and a different way of using resources that we all depend upon.
So what will happen in our area? Temperatures in the UK have risen by about 1° since the 1970s, further warming is inevitable over the next 30 years, the amount of warming depends on future global emissions. Weather patterns are changing, extremely wet winters 5x more likely with more intense downpours. So surface water flooding, and sewage contamination of watercourses is more likely. Critical infrastructure such as electricity systems and transport could be threatened.
Warmer drier summers are more likely (great you may say) but there will be some extremely hot days, this can affect transport (rails buckling, tarmac melting) and computers overheating (NHS runs on computers).
Our water supply will be at risk, The Greater London Authority have stated that London is close to its capacity and predicts supply problems by 2025 and serious water shortages by 2040. Thames Water almost called a drought last year and funded home visits to encourage consumers how to use less water. With all the new homes planned and being built this situation is only going to get worse.
There is likely to be food price volatility as crop patterns change globally (the worlds wheat supply was severely affected by drought over the past few years, with crops failing across Canada and America, in 2020 in the UK the rains have already killed off many acres of cereal seedlings.)
Environmental refugees will need to move from uninhabitable areas of the world, all nations will need to incorporate them. Refugees will be forced to move if increased temperatures prevent any food being grown, and competition over natural resources such as water and food lead to conflict or they may be driven by sea level rises or increased natural disasters. Scientists at Cornell University and the United Nations state that “If catastrophic climate events and conflict are taken into account alongside starvation and lack of clean drinking water - nearly 2 billion people will become refugees or internally displaced persons by 2100”, most people will try and rehouse themselves within their country, but unless richer nations continue to lend support to stricken countries and help them mitigate against severe climate heating then more people will want/need to relocate.
Air pollution and the climate crisis are linked, as the air pollutants that are released by the burning of fossil fuels are responsible for 30 – 40% of global warming. Then there are the wildfires to factor in.  While we have yet to face anything like the challenges felt by Australia or California, the UK has serious air pollution problems which are contributing to and exacerbated by climate change. The UK Health Alliance stated in 2019 that air pollution is the second biggest public health threat after smoking and is linked to 40,000 deaths in the UK every year and 86% of our cities exceed recommended limits for particulate matter. We know that air pollution is very bad for our health generally and is linked to cancer, asthma, diabetes, obesity and dementia. Marlow and High Wycombe - Wycombe District Council have documented as exceeding recommended limits for example.
People can feel powerless to make a difference, how can one person effect a positive change when you look at the impact of building a coal fired power station in China, people ask does it make a difference if you take a bus or train as opposed to driving or flying, they are concerned these solitary actions are too small. But all these small actions do add up and do make a difference and we’ve seen changes in Europe in the last number of years, partly because of laws but partly because of greater awareness. We’ve seen emissions in countries reduce (maybe not as much as we would like, but they have still reduced) as well as people in those countries enjoying good lifestyles.
It is possible to do it and it does make a difference. The UN has stated the world needs to reduce its carbon footprint by 7.5% every year, maybe we could all pledge to do this on a personal level - what would it take – we need to have that discussion.
Mitigation
To mitigate against extreme downpours and drought houses can have grey water collection schemes and rain water collection. Plots should have gravel soakaways for rain water into the garden rather than hard standing with down pipes connecting into drains.
Our homes will need to be adapted to insulate us from extremes of heat, with extra insulation and ventilation, not just our homes, our offices, hospitals etc…
The motor car running on diesel or petrol is one of the biggest air polluters. If people need to commute, then try to car share, or use public transport. Pavements and cycle routes need to be separate from main roads. If you do drive then use your trip wisely – try and get several tasks accomplished with a trip, don’t idle your engine – switch it off if you are stationary for more than 1.5 minutes.
Electric cars are not the complete answer as air pollution also comes from tyres and there is concern over the batteries that are used. Hydrogen cars are effective, but it is tricky to make hydrogen, the process is wasteful of energy and at the moment it is usually made by gas engines.
Libby James
Climate Action Now Group, Princes Risborough

​Whattalife! was a most unusual musical play based on the life of Kathleen Ferrier which the BFWI hosted at Newton Longville on 24th January. This was the first event of the centenary celebrations and was attended by over 130 members who enjoyed a really good lunch beforehand. On sale were some of the celebratory items too such as chocolates, mugs and aprons: we’ll have to wait until the Council meeting for the gin and the new edition of the Bucks Village Book.

The concert was wonderful. Lucy Stevens, a contralto with an impressive list of credits for performing new work on radio and at Sadler’s Wells acted as Kathleen Ferrier and Elizabeth Marcus was a brilliant accompanist who has a very remarkable tally of accomplishments in her own right as well. The concert is on tour at the moment so we were privileged to have them perform for WI members in Bucks.

The singing was marvellous. Many of the folk songs for which Kathleen Ferrier was well known made brief appearances and little bits from The Messiah and the many operas which she had sung. But it was the manner in which Lucy could suddenly break off with some comment from Kathleen’s diary on where she had been or who she had met, or what she had eaten or bought that really amazed us. We were just settled into “He was rejected…and despisèd“ when we were told that Kathleen was going down to London to perform with Benjamin Britten and Malcolm Sargent; or we were well into Orfeo, when we learned that she had just bought a new-fangled roll-on which would keep riding up! To be able to do that switch in mid-breath was amazing!

I hadn’t realised that it was just 12 years from being discovered singing at Carlisle Music Festival that Kathleen died at 41 having sung at every major concert hall the world over---by watching the show we saw her go from being excited to be asked to sing in Silloth to appearing on stage in wartime London or Glyndebourne, to revelling in food without rationing while touring the States, and to being invited to sing for private concerts in Buckingham Palace. She remained a north country lass with a dirty sense of humour, always amazed at her success and determined to remain loyal to her friends and family.

Merry Christmas and a happy successful year 2020
Last night the local WI held its Christmas meeting and welcomed four potential new members. Let us hope that as they won most of the raffle prizes they will feel obliged to join next year. (In case it crossed your mind that this was a fix, I assure you it was not). The organising committee for the barn dance was congratulated on the success of the evening not just in financial terms but also in enjoyment. We were entertained by MK A Cappella who sang a varied selection of songs, some of which needed audience participation. Once more lovely food and drink was available to fortify us before scraping the ice off our cars for the journey home.
This is my valedictory post as the BFWI semi-official Members’ Blogger. I never got to have capital letters, did I? Anyway, I hope that someone will volunteer to take over the blog. It is an enjoyable thing to write when all the technology is running smoothly. I have been lucky in that the BFWI Digital Champion (capital letters) lives so near that she can almost hear my cries of frustration and she has never failed to sort me out. Thank you Joycelyn. Sometimes I have felt that I am talking to myself and then a verbal comment is made so I know that there are members out there reading my contributions.
I don’t know how to say goodbye. Shall I ride off into the sunset? Or exit pursued by a bear? Or float away in a cloud of mixed references? I shall use the epitaph that I hope will be written when I really do shake off the mortal coil---“She was always trying”. Make of that what you will.
As I said before, Happy Christmas readers.