Riana commenting to my question

These Days in French Life's creator answered my question, and many other people's as well, as to how to live a slow life in colder areas outside of the South of France. Here is her thoughtful response. I will not go dumpster diving. But the rest are goals to achieve. http://www.frenchtoastfrance.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Where can you live a Slow Year?
Many people have asked me if they can live this kind of life anywhere, not just in rural south of France. Of course. You can stop consuming, using money, absolutely anywhere in the world, especially in your town. I actually am jealous of my friends and readers in big cities like Paris, NYC, Los Angeles… (two of those cities I once lived in for many years completely clueless of all the opportunities at my fingertips).

There is so much opportunity to be a non-consumer in big metropolises and wonderful mass-public transportation to boot. Imagine each store that you see along those miles of boulevards- each one has a trash bin full of clothes, food, band aids, coffee, houseplants; etc. So many stores, so much waste! Those daily farmers markets with like minded people that would gladly give you free bags of bruised fruit for your “animals”. What a wonderful place to be a dumpster diver and freegan. You could feed a whole apartment building with one day’s worth of one grocery store’s green bin waste.

Which brings me to community: once we started our slow year, it became obvious that we were not “dropping out” of society and running off to the mountains to live in a cave or off to ten acre ranch with no neighbors for miles. Quite the opposite, we became more involved in our community, we need them for bartering and trading, advice and sharing labors, and for giving away our excess of food and clothes. Keeping the balance of good karma.

We got a house that is locked into a maze of twenty other houses, not a garden in any of them. But somehow we found, or it found us—a community garden across the bridge (it is about kilometer walk away) to share a plot of land. But food can be grown in pots, on terraces (hanging gardens) and squatting on abandoned lots is quite successful with raised beds. Gardening is hard work, farming is even harder and back-breaking though immensely rewarding. It is not for everyone. They are not necessary to living a slow year, we had neither our first slow year.

Not everyone has the Wise walking weed woman living next door, but you have massive libraries, and giant bookstores, full of the same knowledge. And the Internet with groups that are like minded (blogs like mine for example). Craig's list has free listings, and freecycle, of course and there is even a website in my region called c’est gratiut where people list what they want to give away- for awhile there was a Mercedes station wagon! All this information is there for you just waiting to be tapped.

On foraging, much easier than gardening and it involves exercise, walking, getting to know your streets, and neighbors- maybe at first stick to edible flowers, nuts and fruits near the dirty parts of town (ie dog shit littered sidewalks in Paris) but look to the arboretums, nature parks, those green belts that all cities have that are kept clean and green. Central park is a virtual salad bar of wild edibles. Fallenfruit.org in Los Angeles gives you a neighbourhood guide of where you can pick govt property pomegranates, oranges, lemons, plums, walnuts, persimmons.

What about those great big city food co-ops, high end organic grocery stores with prime pickings- often they are cool about trash picking. And CSA’s that ofter free gleaning after they have harvested. All the sources for organic beef, chicken and pork can be found easily through these networks.

Most of all, what happens with a Slow Year, happens inside. In your home. Deciding not to spend money. Opting to forgo a new car or designer wardrobe in place of cutting out that second job that feeds a corporation not your family. It happens in your kitchen making food from scratch, fixing and repairing instead of purchasing, finding alternatives for toilet paper, toothpaste and shampoo and things you would have bought previously. It means making gifts and gift wrap, thinking outside the box.

And really, it all starts deep inside your head. Fighting the demons that have brainwashed us into being slaves for money, keeping up with the Joneses with new cars, clothes and gadgets, falling into consumerism traps and follies. You can do a slow year, in any town, any village, any country in the this world. It all starts with a mindset. The rest will follow, the universe will provide no matter where you live.