Jeremy Clarkson, love him or loathe him – is quite a divisive question. To be honest, hubby and I thought we knew a little of what farmers went through but after watching Clarkson’s Farm it appears neither of us had any idea of all the trials and tribulations facing daily farm life. We both found this last series (5) particularly difficult and disturbing to watch. Our growers are being hounded by changing government subsidies, extreme weather and plummeting profitability, compounded with the recent change in the inheritance law resulting in over half considering packing it all in with a third of farms making zero profit in the past year.
A highly debated topic amongst agriculturists is the antiquated Bovine TB testing method forced on farmers today, which over the years has lead to unnecessary culling of hundreds of healthy animals, whereas a modern lab blood test can identify infection much earlier, and is reportedly highly effective. We hope that J.C’s influence can change the system, sooner rather than later. During the series Hannah, a passionate bird conservationist was introduced, what an amazing ear she has for identifying so many different bird songs. Jeremy bought her in as he wanted to safeguard his feathered residents, at cost to himself. Hubby duly downloaded the ‘Merlin’ app as was recommended by J.C. onto his phone which identifies many different bird sounds and I’m ashamed to admit there are many I have never heard of. Our bird species are declining at an alarming rate, approximately 73 million birds have been lost since 1970 with many driven away by habitat loss, industrialised agriculture, pesticide use and natural field boundaries being stripped away.
Our once protected ‘Green Belt’ land meant strict restrictions and protection from most forms of development. Managed by Local Planning can now be reviewed or altered as they see fit. It is fair to say the government’s policies have resulted in major unrest in the farming community, resulting in mass protests. Supermarkets need to take responsibility for price cuts, supply fees and goods being sold for less than it costs to grow them. With so much farmland taken out of production one can see why importing products from around the globe is now necessary, but perishable foods which are air-freighted have a massive carbon footprint. It beggars’ belief that with a growing population, we are decreasing our agricultural land.
More than 1700 farms have disappeared from the edges of towns and cities since 2010 with the government planning to take some farms out of food production under plans to make more space for the great outdoors – but it seems okay to use this land for housing when they want. We have to stand up for nature, it is paramount that our farmers and their land are protected. We are all for bio-diversity, reducing use of pesticides, but we have to clean up our polluted environment as our wildlife is irreplaceable.
When hubby and I were young, many foods were seasonal and so not expecting certain foods to be available all year round – how on earth did we manage? We need to get off our backsides and take a hold of our planet and our precious environment. I apologise if this blog comes across as angry, but that’s how I feel.
R.I.P. Pepper and her unborn calves.