The UK can feed itself ……

[Courier]

Just been listening to Today on Radio 4 (between 8:30 and 9:00) where the head of some think tank or other is using French based thinking to suggest that the UK will be able to feed itself sustainably going forward growing, amongst other things more nuts and using ruminant animals.

Have a listen on BBC Sounds and tell me I misinterpreted what she was suggesting.

 

[Raider112]

While we have the likes of the Goldsmiths setting policy we'll never get close to feeding ourselves.
If they can't see that a country with one of the best climates in the world for growing food shouldn't be shutting down production and shipping in food from all round the world they should be nowhere near government.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

The eating nuts idea is great, where it falls down thought is can nuts be grown on much of he UK? I always fancied having a couple of cob nut trees here, planted 3 or 4, however they are at about 800' and I think they have all died! However the grass is still growing, as are the lambs and cattle, so maybe they are trying to tell me something about the things I should be growing here. Bearing in mind at least 65% of the UK, maybe some of the "experts" should try farming in the hills!

 

[delilah]

Just been listening to Today on Radio 4 (between 8:30 and 9:00) where the head of some think tank or other is using French based thinking to suggest that the UK will be able to feed itself sustainably going forward growing, amongst other things more nuts and using ruminant animals.

Have a listen on BBC Sounds and tell me I misinterpreted what she was suggesting.

Sue Pritchard. Food, farming and countryside commission. Not, remotely, important.
There are loads of these quangos, all flailing around trying to stumble upon the best diet and the best farming system for the environment. And they are all wasting their time, as none of them understand that the problems aren't in how we produce our food, or what we choose to eat, but the bit in the middle.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Sue Pritchard. Food, farming and countryside commission. Not, remotely, important.
There are loads of these quangos, all flailing around trying to stumble upon the best diet and the best farming system for the environment. And they are all wasting their time, as none of them understand that the problems aren't in how we produce our food, or what we choose to eat, but the bit in the middle.

I have just read in Tim Spector's book, that sugar rich food/snacks give 4 X the profit to the multi nationals, and as they are the ones with the money to advance careers of the researchers (12 times more studies on exercise and weight, than sugar and weight) is it any surprise that we still seem to think being fat is due to not exercising enough (victim blaming ~ Sloth) and not due to a poor diet (multi nationals and ultra processed food).

 

[Kevtherev]

They don’t want agriculture (livestock especially) listening to media and papers they want a wildlife Eutopia in the Uk.
The plant based movement has gathered so much backing in the last 2-3yrs and the NFU and other unions have sat back instead of promoting local produced livestock and vegetables. (And the small family farm and it’s benefits)
The Turnip Taliban goes from strength to strength.

 

[neilo]

I have just read in Tim Spector's book, that sugar rich food/snacks give 4 X the profit to the multi nationals, and as they are the ones with the money to advance careers of the researchers (12 times more studies on exercise and weight, than sugar and weight) is it any surprise that we still seem to think being fat is due to not exercising enough (victim blaming ~ Sloth) and not due to a poor diet (multi nationals and ultra processed food).

Surely it’s a combination of the two? Most of us will eat loads of sugary cr*p over lambing time, but miraculously still lose weight.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

Surely it’s a combination of the two? Most of us will eat loads of sugary cr*p over lambing time, but miraculously still lose weight.

my son had a fit bit for his birthday, I remember us going "plonking" the farm, I think we did about 1 1/2 hours walking, and he said we had just walked off the cake we had eaten before we went!

 

[delilah]

I have just read in Tim Spector's book, that sugar rich food/snacks give 4 X the profit to the multi nationals, and as they are the ones with the money to advance careers of the researchers (12 times more studies on exercise and weight, than sugar and weight) is it any surprise that we still seem to think being fat is due to not exercising enough (victim blaming ~ Sloth) and not due to a poor diet (multi nationals and ultra processed food).

Power corrupts. 10 businesses produce the bulk of the ultra processed food. Why ? Because food processing has tracked the market place, where 10 businesses retail the bulk of food. Market share is the root of all evil.

 

[neilo]

Power corrupts. 10 businesses produce the bulk of the ultra processed food. Why ? Because food processing has tracked the market place, where 10 businesses retail the bulk of food. Market share is the root of all evil.

I'm sure you might have mentioned that before...

 

[delilah]

I'm sure you might have mentioned that before...

And will keep doing so whenever folks whinge about the problems rather than talk about solutions.

 

[Tarw Coch]

The eating nuts idea is great, where it falls down thought is can nuts be grown on much of he UK? I always fancied having a couple of cob nut trees here, planted 3 or 4, however they are at about 800' and I think they have all died! However the grass is still growing, as are the lambs and cattle, so maybe they are trying to tell me something about the things I should be growing here. Bearing in mind at least 65% of the UK, maybe some of the "experts" should try farming in the hills!

Nuts. ohhh hazel nuts, Cadbury’s take them and they cover them with chocolate.......................do they fek, the bloody a squirrels have them first.
Got a few hazel bushes about but it’s rare to find a nut that’s ripe, as I say, the squirrels have had em

 

[curlietailz]

I haven’t listened to it
But the U.K. can’t feed itself now
So certainly won’t be able to do so going forward once a fair portion of the land is covered in solar panels , planted in trees, rewilded, built for housing & infrastructure, and growing the lovely buttercups and ragwort As part of Elms.

 

[curlietailz]

Or will artificial factory produced food, and vertical production take over.

 

[bobk]

There's no point feeding ourselves , cheaper to acquire stuff from the subsidised farmers in the EU .

 

[Tarw Coch]

Or will artificial factory produced food, and vertical production take over.

Ahhh yes, factory farming, I’d rather eat naturally grown food but each to their own

 

[BrianV]

They don’t want agriculture (livestock especially) listening to media and papers they want a wildlife Eutopia in the Uk.
The plant based movement has gathered so much backing in the last 2-3yrs and the NFU and other unions have sat back instead of promoting local produced livestock and vegetables. (And the small family farm and it’s benefits)
The Turnip Taliban goes from strength to strength.

Think you have to differentiate from the latest fad that papers & supermarkets latch on to compared with the what the vast majority of the people of this country choose to eat.

 

[renewablejohn]

i am sure the uk could feed itself. Over 40 years ago my cousin was one of the market gardeners who fed Liverpool. Fresh market daily produce average market garden less than 5 acres but you could earn a very good living off it and so efficient. Along came the supermarkets with the dutch and spanish import contracts and the rest is history. Only took 5 years to devastate the industry.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I would love to know who the general populace will blame their problems on when all the farmers have shut up shop and moved to Barbados

 

[Hilly]

I would love to know who the general populace will blame their problems on when all the farmers have shut up shop and moved to Barbados

It’s not their fault, it’s the government encouraging super markets to get so powerful and also farmers relinquishing the little power they have to the super markets for greed .