In the past I have been a software engineer, a student of philosophy and a professional teacher of foraging. I have written two ground-breaking books on wild food, including the most comprehensive book on European fungi foraging ever published in English. Since 2022 I have lived on a smallholding in West Wales, where my family is preparing for a troubled future. We produce much of our own food. We keep mixed poultry, for eggs and meat, and below the old pond system (there was once a waterwheel here) there is now a plantation of basketry willows. I've planted an orchard of 40 fruit and nut trees and we are self-sufficient in firewood. This personal environment and way of life also allowed me the time and space to finally finish a book I started writing in 2008. It is called The Real Paths to Ecocivilisation: From collapse to coherence – integrating science, spirituality and sustainability in the West. This book is due to be published in the near future.