Back to Basics

What would compel a 25-year-old university graduate from St. Mary’s Ontario to move to Meaford and convince a local land owner to allow him to pitch a tent on his property to live in, and then plant a three-quarter acre organic garden?

As Jarret Boyd explains it, he wanted to experience living a life that has been largely forgotten in our society. A life that is not beholden to artificially created material needs, rather it is framed by a simple premise of low impact, sustainable living that meets the basic needs of human survival.

Driven by a philosophy that shifting back to a focus on local economies will be crucial in dealing with major global issues such as peak oil, and repairing our damaged environment, Boyd has set about proving to himself, and anyone else who might be interested, that it is possible to have a fulfilling life while shunning the trappings of modern commercialism.

Boyd chose Meaford for his experiment in sustainable living in part because five generations of his family have lived in the area, and perhaps more importantly, the town offers both good agricultural land, and access to well preserved natural environments.

“We have forgotten our connection to wilderness,” says Boyd, “We have tried to control it, and that has been to our detriment.”

Meaford Express