Poor Journalism from Private Eye

[Bald Rick]

Don’t mind “Bio-Waste Spreader” too much in Private Eye but s/he has got me going this issue.

Discussing how a No Deal Brexit will result in food price rises and the impact on the poor, there is the following paragraph:

“Demand for cheap food is also having an adverse effect on the environment and animal welfare. ‘Super dairies’ - where cows are housed all year round - supply cheap milk. Pigs and chickens are increasingly crowded in to huge sheds. Arable farming is dominated by ever-larger specialist units engaged in producing a narrow range of crops, which rely on a barrage of agrichemicals (sic), and glyphosate in particular, to maintain yields.”

I get that B-W S is a passionate advocate of small family farms - as the readers are constantly reminded - but to make such illformed and sweeping statements is disingenuous and plain wrong.

Discuss

 

[7610 super q]

Sounds about right to me.

 

[Suffolk Serf]

I believe that the same writer has a column in the Farmers Weekly that is always in a similar vein.

 

[Goweresque]

The author should make his (or her) mind up, do they want higher food prices or not? You can't predict higher prices because of Brexit and bemoan the effects on the poor, and with the next sentence decry the effects of a cheap food policy.

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

But is there a demand for cheap food, way I see it there is to much of it, that's why prices are low

 

[bitwrx]

Yup, agree. Don't like the tone sometimes. And not really breaking any useful news. Just seems to be a bit of a moan-fest about stuff we all already know about.

C'mon B-W S, get to the good sh!t.

(On the other hand, I don't really like having to have so many pigs around just to earn a living. I'd much rather some pre-WW1 agricultural idyll, of four course rotations, all the farmyard animals and people of the land working on the land.

But I live in the real world, and I want to be a farmer. So I do what's economically viable, on my family farm. Or is it an industrial agribusiness? I can never really figure it out. I guess it depends on one's prejudices.)

 

[DrWazzock]

Private Eye is the pet whinge rag of that public school boy who never grew up, Ian Hislop.

Hardly surprising the journalism is poor quality, prejudiced and well wide of the mark.

I don't buy it any more. Full from one end to the other of remoaning rants.

 

[Farfrae]

Hardly surprising the journalism is poor quality, prejudiced and well wide of the mark.

I beg to differ, Private Eye is one of the few places you can actually get any real news as opposed to the mainstream media which is controlled by a handful of billionaires (who have everyone's best interests at heart, right?)

But feel free to keep reading the rubbish put out by the MSM an they encourage the guillable to believe in the non existent 'sunny uplands' of Brexit as we hurtle, via a right wing coup, towards being the 51st vassel state of Trumpland. UK farming can watch out then as the Corporations take over.

 

[lazy farmer]

Private Eye is the pet whinge rag of that public school boy who never grew up, Ian Hislop.

Hardly surprising the journalism is poor quality, prejudiced and well wide of the mark.

I don't buy it any more. Full from one end to the other of remoaning rants.

Funny I’ve just started buying it. I find it refreshing varied and well researched but then I’m one of those awful remainers.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

He has got a thing about livestock housed in large numbers and doesn't see the benefits of scale with regards welfare and management. On the Brexit front, they need to make up their minds: are we going to be dumping lambs in the Channel because there will be no demand or will meat need to be imported from Expensivalia because we won't have enough to go round? They can't have it both ways.

 

[lazy farmer]

He has got a thing about livestock housed in large numbers and doesn't see the benefits of scale with regards welfare and management. On the Brexit front, they need to make up their minds: are we going to be dumping lambs in the Channel because there will be no demand or will meat need to be imported from Expensivalia because we won't have enough to go round? They can't have it both ways.

Of course you can various products we import and others we export.
Simples.

 

[Bald Rick]

I can’t comment on other sectors but saying that housed herds produce cheap milk had me. Housed herds may well offer a number of benefits but cheap milk ain’t one of them

 

[Scribus]

Private Eye is the pet whinge rag of that public school boy who never grew up, Ian Hislop.

Hardly surprising the journalism is poor quality, prejudiced and well wide of the mark.

I don't buy it any more. Full from one end to the other of remoaning rants.

It's been a sorry saga, watching Hislop descend from faintly radical journalist to smug git over the years. PE is little more than a lapdog of the establishment, liscenced to yap occasionaly at things that we can all happily get upset about but which hardly rock the ship of state. I imagine him taking a call from his MI5 handler before each recording of HIGNFY just to discuss how he should play the issues of the day.

 

[spin cycle]

sounds right to me

 

[andybk]

Private Eye is the pet whinge rag of that public school boy who never grew up, Ian Hislop.

Hardly surprising the journalism is poor quality, prejudiced and well wide of the mark.

I don't buy it any more. Full from one end to the other of remoaning rants.

Private eye was one of the few (the only one ) that stood up for farmers in the foot and mouth fiasco , when all the rest had open season on the agricultural community , by calling out the incompetance of the Blair government and its anti farmer stance, I for one will never forget that !

 

[Scribus]

Don’t mind “Bio-Waste Spreader” too much in Private Eye but s/he has got me going this issue.

Discussing how a No Deal Brexit will result in food price rises and the impact on the poor, there is the following paragraph:

“Demand for cheap food is also having an adverse effect on the environment and animal welfare. ‘Super dairies’ - where cows are housed all year round - supply cheap milk. Pigs and chickens are increasingly crowded in to huge sheds. Arable farming is dominated by ever-larger specialist units engaged in producing a narrow range of crops, which rely on a barrage of agrichemicals (sic), and glyphosate in particular, to maintain yields.”

I get that B-W S is a passionate advocate of small family farms - as the readers are constantly reminded - but to make such illformed and sweeping statements is disingenuous and plain wrong.

Discuss

I once met an early, perhaps even the original, Muckspreader when a wee student many years ago. Blowed if I can remember his name now but he was no fan of Thatcher nor indeed the EU. Despite him being a Tory MP he could think for himself and I actually quite liked the guy.

 

[Scribus]

Private eye was one of the few (the only one ) that stood up for farmers in the foot and mouth fiasco , when all the rest had open season on the agricultural community , by calling out the incompetance of the Blair government and its anti farmer stance i for one will never forget that

True, but they only told half the story.

 

[Highland Mule]

Don’t mind “Bio-Waste Spreader” too much in Private Eye but s/he has got me going this issue.

Discussing how a No Deal Brexit will result in food price rises and the impact on the poor, there is the following paragraph:

“Demand for cheap food is also having an adverse effect on the environment and animal welfare. ‘Super dairies’ - where cows are housed all year round - supply cheap milk. Pigs and chickens are increasingly crowded in to huge sheds. Arable farming is dominated by ever-larger specialist units engaged in producing a narrow range of crops, which rely on a barrage of agrichemicals (sic), and glyphosate in particular, to maintain yields.”

I get that B-W S is a passionate advocate of small family farms - as the readers are constantly reminded - but to make such illformed and sweeping statements is disingenuous and plain wrong.

Discuss

Which part is wrong?

• Demand for cheap food is also having an adverse effect on the environment and animal welfare.
• ‘Super dairies’ - where cows are housed all year round - supply cheap milk.
• Pigs and chickens are increasingly crowded in to huge sheds.
• Arable farming is dominated by ever-larger specialist units engaged in producing a narrow range of crops, - yup, isn't it something like 50% reduction in farmer numbers in the last 50 years?
• which rely on a barrage of agrichemicals (sic), and glyphosate in particular, to maintain yields.

I'm agreeing with most/ all of the points, to be honest.

 

[Bald Rick]

Which part is wrong?

• Demand for cheap food is also having an adverse effect on the environment and animal welfare.
• ‘Super dairies’ - where cows are housed all year round - supply cheap milk.
• Pigs and chickens are increasingly crowded in to huge sheds.
• Arable farming is dominated by ever-larger specialist units engaged in producing a narrow range of crops, - yup, isn't it something like 50% reduction in farmer numbers in the last 50 years?
• which rely on a barrage of agrichemicals (sic), and glyphosate in particular, to maintain yields.

I'm agreeing with most/ all of the points, to be honest.

See post #12

 

[Exfarmer]

I once met an early, perhaps even the original, Muckspreader when a wee student many years ago. Blowed if I can remember his name now but he was no fan of Thatcher nor indeed the EU. Despite him being a Tory MP he could think for himself and I actually quite liked the guy.

I believe the original Muckspreader was the late Christopher Hitchens, who actually was one of the founders and first editor of the Eye along with Peter Cook.
He was pushed out of the editorial job in very early days
I may be totally incorrect on those two statements, but i have had many interesting conversations with him on agricultural issues. The Eye is always happy to publish letters rubbishing any ussue you care to mention, provided yoyu put your name to it