Quantifying agriculture to the general public

[mx110]

I'm way behind on the current threads on SFI and protests etc so if this is more suitable for one of them mods please move.
Had an interesting conversation with a guy from my village over the weekend and it's got me thinking how the public understand the scale of whats happening. Conversation started talking about the tractor protests and then discussing the various issues that there trying to highlight. He was saying he'd seen on tv someone taking 500 acre out of production for a scheme and asked how big 500 acre was, I pointed out it would cover the whole of our village and then some and that it was happening all over. We then discussed wales and 10% to trees, he said well I wouldnt want to plant trees to take up 10% of his garden or the small allotment he rents. He grows all sorts on his little allotment but as he said its not enough to feed the family which lead us on to talking about how much food would that 500 acre produce? how many loaves of bread would the wheat produce etc?. He was in full support of british agriculture, local produce etc just didnt understand the scale of land being taken out of production and the deficit coming form imports. I dont know how best some of this would be explained to the public but just my thoughts while sat having my coffee this morning.

 

[bluebell]

Makes you think? the only thing thats a example is the ww2 dig for victory, fast fading, with those who experienced it and the years of shortages after the war ended, my father was 10 at the end of ww2, and said that sweet, (thats all kids care about), sweet rationing went on into the 1950s? Dig for victory ment quite simply that every available piece of land large and small was turned over to food production, golf cources, ploughed up, growing crops such as wheat, potatoes, instead of livestock, was a more efficient use of the land? millions of acres of grassland ploughed up, (much really unsuitable?), My father remembers sitting up on a hill with some school friends, watching the german planes, that hill was ploughed to grow wheat?

 

[mx110]

Yeah that was all in the conversation, although both just in our 40s I think we were both brought up with a heavy influence from our grandparents and the hard times they encountered.

 

[J 1177]

Makes you think? the only thing thats a example is the ww2 dig for victory, fast fading, with those who experienced it and the years of shortages after the war ended, my father was 10 at the end of ww2, and said that sweet, (thats all kids care about), sweet rationing went on into the 1950s? Dig for victory ment quite simply that every available piece of land large and small was turned over to food production, golf cources, ploughed up, growing crops such as wheat, potatoes, instead of livestock, was a more efficient use of the land? millions of acres of grassland ploughed up, (much really unsuitable?), My father remembers sitting up on a hill with some school friends, watching the german planes, that hill was ploughed to grow wheat?

Yep they ploughed a bank side of ours with a crawler that you would struggle to get a quad down. Re seeded it all.