I wish it was even possible in the UK, and as Karl has shown, and my friend Tom and I have discussed many times, after one too many beers, you can only buy your freedom in this system.
By this I mean you must be able to afford to purchase land, that you can then maybe grow produce on, or even as with your example try to facilitate green housing that has access for people to join in with a self-sustaining way of life. That still requires big capital, and the mindset not to care that some people might contribute less money-wise, or even work-wise as they grow older. It's a rare person to find who has bags of £££ and is of a compassionate mindset.
But with this government in the UK now, there is so much red tape set up against that type of thing - like community co-operatives that are focused on green sustainable living that it is made as hard as possible, and certainly won't find any government grant funding. I know of a few such communities like that, but they all took a group of comparatively well-off people of very similar mindsets to buy the land to build eco-friendly houses on.
Yet our current government in the UK makes it as easy as punch to become a property Barron in most cities in the UK if you have a few billion £ to drop.
Lol, I might come from the far left side of the pond, but it doesn't make any of what I've said above any less true. That example of Saffron Acres you pointed out is amazing, and I'm sure there are one or two councils (perhaps where a Green majority have got in) where similar grant-funded projects might exist, but I would bet my life on them being a minority, and them being opposed heavily by the Tories.
From my perspective as an anarchist, it is exactly movements like the diggers, more revolutionary direct actions of taking back the land for use to sustain poorer people that are needed.
FFS during the second world war huge swathes of the population were given plots of land to grow veg, and also encouraged and helped with free seeds etc to grow food in their gardens. I remember my grandmother telling me about this in her many chatty moods (lol it was a rarety my gran had a quiet contemplative moment, to be honest 😂).
Anyway, to finish exactly where I started I think it is impossible to live a self-sustainable life in the UK, unless, like Hugh Fernly Whitinfstall, you start off with a huge pile of cash to buy land, and develop it for growing food and raising livestock. Even on a small scale, it takes a big £££ to buy yourself freedom.
That exhibition does look fascinating though, I must make it down there before it ends.
Great, well researched, and thorough post @shanibeer
!LUV
I'll leave you with Chumbawamba's version of the first song I ever learned on guitar.