Resolutions, Coffee and Cake - 4 May 2011

There was a smaller than usual gathering at our May monthly meeting , many members being on holiday. Jean Lewis welcomed us and entertained us with an amusing anecdote before starting the business of the day. There were several announcements .On the subject of speakers members are to be asked for feedback and forms are now provided for their views. Diaries for 2012 are already on sale and decked in royal purple to coincide with the Queen's Jubilee year. Our attention was drawn to an open day at WI house in Mortimer and members were urged to visit . Over 20 members had expressed an interest in forming a singing group and a prior meeting is to be arranged to decide what form it would take.

The May meeting is always devoted to the Resolutions which are issues of current concern which the National WI with its undoubted clout hopes to influence government thinking .Two had been selected; namely the closure of local libraries and proposed mega farms ;two very different subjects which provoked a lively discussion chaired by our inveterate campaigning member Kath Pinto who did an excellent job in presenting the respective backgrounds and arguments for and against the Resolutions.

The closure of libraries was unanimously deplored. It was perceived that the role of libraries had changed considerably over a generation. Far from being exclusively a book borrowing service it is now a community hub providing meeting rooms, computer tuition, exhibition centres, story and reading groups to name a few. Luckily the Royal Bourough does not envisage closures but is actually opening one new library later this year.

The matter of megafarms proved rather more complex. While most of us instinctively deplored the idea of farm animals being kept indoors all year round and felt there is something inherently right about cows contentedly grazing in the fields and hereabouts paddling in the shallows of the river , there are clearly more issues at stake. Better control of feeding and spread of disease, better milk yield, improved husbandry, control of methane gases were some advantages put forward in favour of megafarms. Even happier cows? Huge farms with vast fields would mean increased crops to help feed an ever growing population. Interestingly both the RSPCA and the NFU have argued that with good management they might be the way forward. On this issue members had divergent views.

The meeting closed with the announcement that the next meeting will be on June 6th and the Speaker will be Mrs Bryant on A Trancontimental Bike Ride.