Dinah and Stig Mason with sons Yosse, 8, and Dahli, 9, and Moo the dog at their lorry home.

Well, it seems now that besides the obvious challenges it takes to live off-the-grid, some government agencies are not having any of it. The Mason family, who chose to live self-sustainably on a neglected UK orchard, recently lost an appeal against the Mid Devon District Council's denial of their right to live on and work the land.

Having transformed the land from a "derelict four-acre plot into a haven of self-sufficiency boasting a 400 square meter allotment, a polytunnel and greenhouses to grow fruit and vegetables, chickens for egg production and an orchard," the Council contended that the family did not have a "sound enough business plan," and that the land is "solely for agricultural use" despite having not been put to such use prior to the family being there. This story holds obvious implications for those seeking, in often the meekest of ways, a means to enact a (genuinely) lower impact way of being.

Read more here and here.