The Good Life Revisited

Does anyone remember the BBC soap opera called 'The Good Life' back in the 1970s? It was about a middle class couple who decided to turn their home into a self-sufficient farm. Fast forward nearly 40 ears and we saw yesterday the TV series being re-enacted in a Noto peninsula village. In effect, a professional, I think architect, gave up his job and moved his family into the village to take up what the locals call Satoyama. This is a sociological - environmental production system that is green, organic, and environmentally friendly. And the work of this family has earned the village the status of a "Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System" or GIAHS from the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (UNFAO).

It was certainly green and organic as the pictures testify and the organiser of this production system invited us into his (ultra-modern and decidedly non-traditional home to discuss the system employed and take us around the village.

The following slides report a sample of what we saw:

AS