Jenny Fernandez April 2024
A recent UK Government and Parliament petition by Yali Banton-Heath asked people to support doubling the farming budget (which the petition claims currently stands at 0.4% of UK public spending) to support a just transition to sustainable farming. The petition went on to say this would “protect farmers’ livelihoods, invest in resilient local food systems and support more people into farming, food production and land working sectors”. On the face of it, who wouldn’t want to support such an initiative?
As with most things in life, the devil is in the detail, and detail was lacking in this petition. The petition quite rightly acknowledges the need for the UK government to act quickly for the sake of nature, climate and food security, however the petitioner simply asks for a transition to undefined “more environmentally-friendly practices”.
Defra claims that it is untrue that post-Brexit farming subsidies are below 0.5% of the budget previously awarded to UK farmers by the European Union, and that the full amount continues to be paid, although farmers must meet different criteria to receive certain parts of the award. The Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) details what farmers need to do to receive this portion of the award and what the award is worth for each action. Examples of actions are:
- Improving soil health through testing soil organic matter, using winter cover crops and herbal leys. Eligible land includes arable land, including temporary grassland, permanent crops and permanent grassland.
- Moorland management resulting in improved carbon storage, water storage, biodiversity and heritage. Eligible land is moorland and non-agricultural areas such as scrub and bog.
- Hedgerow management through maintenance or establishment of hedgerow trees, provision of shelter for birds and mammals and wind breaks to protect livestock.
- Integrated pest management including increasing flower-rich grass in strips or blocks, planting nectar and pollen-rich flower species, providing winter bird food on arable and horticultural land and no use of pesticides on arable and permanent crops.
- Other actions include planting legume crops and managing grassland for grazing using less nitrogen-based fertilizers.
Whilst the actions are a step in the right direction, they seem to fall far short of addressing the impending climate and biodiversity catastrophe. An article published in Science in 2018 by Joseph Poore, Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Food Sustainability, showed that animal agriculture is responsible for a third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Globally animal products provide only 37% of protein and 18% of calories whilst using 83% of agricultural land and contributing 56-58% of food-related emissions. A global dietary shift to a completely plant-based diet would free up 76% of the world’s farmland and reduce food-related GHG emissions by 49%.
These startling facts continue to be ignored by governments and industry across the globe; sadly the UK government has not shown any real backbone or leadership in a truly effective transition to sustainable farming, an opportunity that could have been seized enthusiastically post-Brexit. The SFS does not support any move away from animal farming. Fortunately there is a beacon of hope with local, small-scale farms across the world providing high quality produce to their communities whilst truly caring for the soil and biodiversity. Examples include Tolhurst Organic in the UK and La Ferme de l’Aube in Canada.
This brings us back to the petition mentioned at the beginning of the article. At first glance it looks like something we would all dearly love to support, but when we delve a little deeper into how our taxpayer pounds are being spent, I for one do not support continued subsidies that do little more than tinker around the edges of the greatest threat to humanity and all life on Earth. The Veganic Organic Network stands at the forefront of true, effective change, supporting farmers in the UK and beyond to transition away from animal agriculture and over to vegan organic growing, following the highest standards of growing available. So before you sign what is no doubt a well-meaning petition, particularly one involving taxpayer money, please do look into what the possible outcomes could be. In the words of Greta Thunberg “our house is on fire”, we don’t have time to waste by putting our money into a roulette wheel, instead we need to heed the science and follow the pioneers who hold the solutions we so desperately need.
Links
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sfi-actions-for-low-input-grassland
https://josephpoore.com/Science%20360%206392%20987%20-%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf
https://www.tolhurstorganic.co.uk/
https://www.lafermedelaube.com/
https://veganorganic.net/wp-content/uploads/Organic-Stockfree-Veganic-Standards-September-2018.pdf