Must have sources of information

Fibershed.com

The bible of all things Fibreshed, a wealth of information, research, case studies, and maps of other affiliate Fibresheds and producers across the world. Happy exploring!

The Land Worker’s Alliance

A union of farmers, growers, foresters and land-based workers with a mission to improve the livelihoods of their members an create a better food, fibre and fuel land-use system for everyone. See their website for relevant research, events, trainings and more.

What we’re reading

“The Anti-capitalist Book of Fashion” by Tansy E. Hoskins (2022)  – ” goes beyond the arguments for ethical fashion and consumer responsibility showing that if we want to feel comfortable in our clothes, the need to reshape the system.”

“Designing Regenerative Food Systems” by Marina O’Connell (2022) – A unique toolkit of resilient food production systems, including biodynamic, organic, agroforestry,  regenerative, agroecological and permaculture methods, with illustrated case studies, references and resources. Just as applicable to fibre as food.

“A Small Farm Future” by Chris Smaje  (2020) – “making the case for a society built around local economies, self-provisioning agricultural diversity and a shared earth.”  Ever feel caught up in questions around scaleability and growth? Read this. Gold.

“Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and makers for a New Textile Economy” by Rebecca Burgess (2019) – THE Fibreshed resource, which documents how Rebecca’s farm-to-cloth vision has slowly been brought to life by case studies across the world which are working to restore regional textile production within restorative agricultural systems.

“Fashionopolis: the price of fast fashion and the future of clothes,” by Dana Thomas (2019) – an exploration of not only the social and environmental impacts and exploits of the global fashion industry – but also the grassroots and tech-based movements fighting to reform them, from hyper localism to lab-grown materials. Full of gems and we love this quote by Dilys Williams: “The original, pre-industrial definition of fashion was to make things together – a collective that is a convivial, sociable process we communicate with each other.”

“Botanical Inks – Plant-to-print dyes, techniques and projects” – by SWE Fibreshed member Babs Behan (2018) – a guide to foraging and extracting environmentally sustainable colour from our landscape  and using it to create natural dyes for textiles, clothing, paper and other materials.

“Community supported…textiles?” – and article for Felt Matters SWE Fibreshed member Yuli Sømme (2016), accessible here. Fibreshed thinking in a nutshell.

“Craft of Use: Post-Growth Fashion,” by Kate Fletcher (2016) – provides a broad imagining of sustainability in fashion that gives attention to tending and wearing garments, and favours their use as much as their creation.

“Holistic Management – a common sense revolution to restore our environment,” by Allan Savory (2016) – a new edition of Savory’s original that posits properly managed livestock as crucial for  the restoration of the world’s grassland soils, the major sink for atmospheric carbon. Now updated to present the Holistic Land Management framework more clearly.

“The Third Plate – Field Notes on the Future of Food,” by Dan Barber (2014) – Dan’s book offers a solution to the ecological imbalances and tragedies caused by what and how we eat. Read this and replace “food” with “fibres,” “cuisine” with “fashion,”  “plate” with “outfit” – you get the idea.

“How to make and use compost – the ultimate guide,” by Nicky Scott (2010) – we were lucky enough to have a chance encounter with the author of this compost tome on one of our first Fibreshed outreach trips to Devon. What could be more crucial for true soil-to-soil fibre systems?!

Quick glossary of Fibreshed terms

Bioregional
See The Bioregional Learning Centre website here. 

Carbon farming
See the Fibershed website here.

Climate-beneficial wool
See the Fibershed website here.