Hello!
To perpetuate the cliché of students coming to ask for your views on various aspects of your work, I would love to hear your views if the question in my title resonates with you. I've been advised by the moderation team to post about my project in this section.
I'm a student at the University of Winchester writing my final dissertation.
Based on the increasing recommendations from health and climate scientists, the National Food Strategy, and the like, according to which England needs to produce and consume fewer animal products (less and better, regenerative models, more focus on plant-based options, etc.), my project explores the practical implications of this idea for farmers, and the opportunities through which policy instruments can help producers. I'm also basing this project on reports indicating that animal product alternatives are set to disrupt animal agriculture much more abruptly than most people think—including me until recently!
I'm only focusing on England because it's easier to keep a narrow focus than fit the differences of the already complex farming sector over all 4 states, but if anyone from outside England wants to share their views, I'd welcome that too as I'm sure it would still be relevant.
Despite the "decreasing the production of animal products" theme of my research, I know people are usually deeply attached to what they do, and I fully respect that; my objective isn't to tell people who are happy producing animal products they shouldn't keep farming animals (I can't emphasise that enough!)—but with all the pressures I mentioned above, it seems likely to me that some farmers might, in the near future, change their business models by emphasising crops, keeping lower stocking densities, diversifying by planting trees for carbon capture, etc., either to stay profitable, be eligible for ELM payments or for other business or personal reasons.
What my project asks is, how can English policy offer to farmers who want to reduce their volume of production of animal products a just transition amidst all these challenges and changes? Would such producers say they would mostly need ELM support, diversification grants, measures to improve value chain fairness and trade protection, advice, and/or any number of other possible useful tools?
I'm interviewing researchers and people who work on the policy side, but obviously what I am most interested in is what farmers interested in shifting away from animal-heavy production models have to say. There's plenty of research and policy declarations on this general theme, but not a lot of concern for how that would all work for farmers, and I'm really hoping I can put together some useful conclusions as to what would be helpful to them.
I'd therefore be super happy if anyone on TFF who might find this topic interesting would share their insights with me. I'm conducting online interviews this month; if anyone wanted to participate but would prefer just to answer a couple of questions by email to save time, for instance, that would be fine too.
If you have any questions or would like to consult the information sheet I've prepared for participants to find out more, please message me (or email me directly - [email protected]).
Thanks so much for reading!
Mathilde, from Devon
To perpetuate the cliché of students coming to ask for your views on various aspects of your work, I would love to hear your views if the question in my title resonates with you. I've been advised by the moderation team to post about my project in this section.
I'm a student at the University of Winchester writing my final dissertation.
Based on the increasing recommendations from health and climate scientists, the National Food Strategy, and the like, according to which England needs to produce and consume fewer animal products (less and better, regenerative models, more focus on plant-based options, etc.), my project explores the practical implications of this idea for farmers, and the opportunities through which policy instruments can help producers. I'm also basing this project on reports indicating that animal product alternatives are set to disrupt animal agriculture much more abruptly than most people think—including me until recently!
I'm only focusing on England because it's easier to keep a narrow focus than fit the differences of the already complex farming sector over all 4 states, but if anyone from outside England wants to share their views, I'd welcome that too as I'm sure it would still be relevant.
Despite the "decreasing the production of animal products" theme of my research, I know people are usually deeply attached to what they do, and I fully respect that; my objective isn't to tell people who are happy producing animal products they shouldn't keep farming animals (I can't emphasise that enough!)—but with all the pressures I mentioned above, it seems likely to me that some farmers might, in the near future, change their business models by emphasising crops, keeping lower stocking densities, diversifying by planting trees for carbon capture, etc., either to stay profitable, be eligible for ELM payments or for other business or personal reasons.
What my project asks is, how can English policy offer to farmers who want to reduce their volume of production of animal products a just transition amidst all these challenges and changes? Would such producers say they would mostly need ELM support, diversification grants, measures to improve value chain fairness and trade protection, advice, and/or any number of other possible useful tools?
I'm interviewing researchers and people who work on the policy side, but obviously what I am most interested in is what farmers interested in shifting away from animal-heavy production models have to say. There's plenty of research and policy declarations on this general theme, but not a lot of concern for how that would all work for farmers, and I'm really hoping I can put together some useful conclusions as to what would be helpful to them.
I'd therefore be super happy if anyone on TFF who might find this topic interesting would share their insights with me. I'm conducting online interviews this month; if anyone wanted to participate but would prefer just to answer a couple of questions by email to save time, for instance, that would be fine too.
If you have any questions or would like to consult the information sheet I've prepared for participants to find out more, please message me (or email me directly - [email protected]).
Thanks so much for reading!
Mathilde, from Devon