Charles Abel • Farm policy
CHANGE is coming! Farming is set to change irrevocably. But don’t expect a revolution. Charles Abel considers the main drivers identified in a major new report
“There will be blood on the carpet and not a few tears.” “Everybody is saying it. We can’t go on eating ourselves into shorter lives; what’s the point of that?”
SMOKING took 30 years to be reined in. Salt intake is only just being tackled. Pressure on sugar has barely cleared the starting block. So don’t expect the four stalking horses of intensive agriculture to hit over-night. Trade issues, climate change, diet and environmental protection will transform UK farming – but gradually. “There will be blood on the carpet and not a few tears,” predicts Allan Buckwell, Emeritus Professor at Imperial College, author of a major
06 • The Farmers Club Winter 2020
new report commissioned by the Worshipful Company of Farmers and launched to members of the Company in the Autumn by Master David Bolton. Key drivers Brexit impacts will be felt, with or without an EU trade deal (no deal as Farmers Club Journal went to press). But the inter-connected pressures of climate change, human health and environmental protection will have a far greater impact, albeit more gradual, noted Prof Buckwell. Looking at recent expert reports including the Committee on Climate Change’s Land Use Policies for Net Zero UK, Dieter Helm’s Green and Prosperous Land, Prof Tim Lang’s Feeding Britain, the Royal Society of Arts Our future in the Land and Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy (Part 1) he felt two key narratives were at play: • Plan A – the UK embraces new technologies to produce more food to feed a starving world and better meet domestic demand. • Plan B – the whole food system is broken and needs to transition to agroecology.
