Real farming, what’s the big idea?
If everyone in Britain is going to enjoy safe, healthy, natural food, often referred to as Real
Food, we need a national Real Farming movement. ‘We all farm every time we eat’ says Tim Waygood, farmer and entrepreneur. We Britons need to take responsibility for our food and how it is farmed.
We need to abandon factory farming and the GM industrial agriculture advocated by British and American governments, corporates and banks, and invest in healthy, ecologically sound ways of farming that produce the food that people want to eat at an affordable price.
On Saturday 18th June, Real Farm Festival invites people to take part in a series of conversations on the science, philosophy and practicalities of farming for real food. We welcome speakers from the Soil Association, Organic Research Centre, Campaign for Real Farming, Self Knowledge Global Responsibility, Pesticide Action Network, FARM:shop, Agrarian Renaissance, and Ecological Land Co-operative.
The IAASTD, United Nations and HRH Prince of Wales have all this year advocated “agroecology” as a practical way of feeding the world’s growing population, but British government scientists refuse to acknowledge that it can be done.
British people need to get clued up on farming if they are to hold the government to account, to demand research is directed towards ecological farming and to implement change at the grassroots level regardless of political will.
Questions we’ll be putting to the presenters at the Real Farm Festival include: How bad is GM? What are the alternatives? What is polyculture? What will it take for Britain to become ecologically farmed?
Real farming needs a new focus for agricultural science, new appropriate technology and potentially different economic structures to ensure farms nourish people and planet, before profit. People are invited to come down to Real Farm Festival and contribute to the big ideas.
Church Farm is a mixed, high welfare 175-acre farm run predominantly by young people (80% female) who care about the future of real food. Get a taste of how ecological farming is possible, have a go at farming, take part in various workshops (such as the Biodynamic Stirring Party, Wild Cultures - art of fermentation, Peg Looming) enjoy and take part in lots of live music, performance and games, eat great food fresh off the farm, and really get stuck in to some big ideas.
All tickets and info are on the website, www.realfarmfestival.com
There’s a farm called Misery, but of that we’ll have none
Because we know of one
That’s always lots of fun (Ha ha!)
And this one’s name is Jollity; believe me, folks, it’s great
For everything sings out to us as we go through the gate
All the little pigs, they grunt and howl etc, etc
Yes indeed, Church Farm is a jolly farm. If you visit, you will meet the farm you once knew from childhood stories and games. Animals graze on fields planted with a well tried mix of grasses and flowers, creating a rich mosaic of colour and textures. Glancing through a hedge to the field next door, the contrast is striking: all there is to see is the uniform expanse of an industrial monoculture.
The farm covers 175 acres which includes 30 acres of woods, 10 acres of orchard, and 2 acres of nesting grounds. There are around 150 sheep, cows and pigs, and the farm, which is also a family business, prides itself on its long tradition of rearing rare breeds. The number of poulty is in the thousands, but here again the hens and turkeys are allowed to range freely in designated places such as the orchard. One of the delights of the farm is the piglets, who can be seen playing and scrapping with each other in the feeding area. As the visitors leave, the hope is that they will have been reminded of the very real connection between land and food.
In the meantime, there is a farm called Misery. It hasn't been built yet but the planning permission for Nocton 'Mega Dairy' in Lincolnshire was passed yesterday, with the concession that they will have 3,770 cows instead of the 8,100 of the original proposal. These cows will rarely see a blade of grass. The intensive system leaves them open to many health problems, including lameness, mastitis and bacterial infections.They will be expected to produce 10,000 or more litres of milk each per year. In energy terms, that is the same as a human being running a half marathon every day for ten months of the year.
Compassion in World Farming are running a campaign to raise awareness of this first attempt at industrial farming and you can contact them on the address below. But you can also choose to source your food from a place whose aim is to 'treat the land, wildlife and animals, as they should be treated, and grow great food'.
You can find out more about the Church Farm and Crouch End box scheme by popping into the Haberdashery, Middle Lane on Thursday between 5.30 and 7pm.
For more information on the Church Farm Box Scheme: http://www.churchfarmardeley.co.uk/farmstoreandcafe/gallery/tailoryourbox.html
For more information on the Nocton Dairies:
http://www.ciwf.org.uk/news/beef_and_dairy_farming/nocton_dairies_new_application.aspx
The lyrics are from the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
