Farm life

Volunteers help replant a butterfly garden by Steve Hillebrand/Wikimedia Commons

Farming for the Future

By Tamsin Cooper

Tamsin Cooper is a smallholder and writer with a keen interest in animal behaviour and welfare

www.goatwriter.com

WE NEED TO REVOLUTIONISE OUR FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEMS TO SAVE THE PLANET, AND WE CAN ALL BE A PART OF THAT CHANGE

Now that our natural resources are endangered, we are starting to realise just how important they are to our survival. To encourage drastic conservationist action through food system reform, the UN Environmental Programme is promoting a new report from Chatham House, London, an independent group of researchers and policy advisors. This year, crucial decisions must be made when investing in economic recovery from the pandemic and at various international summits discussing food systems. Environmentalist and UN Messenger of Peace Jane Goodall joined UN representatives to launch the report. As she explained, ‘People must understand that we cannot disassociate ourselves from the natural world. We’re part of it and we depend on it, for clean air and water and food and clothing and everything else. So, we have to develop a new relationship with the natural world.’ Agriculture has been identified as the main driver of biodiversity loss and a major contributor to greenhouse gases that precipitate climate change. Intensive farming degrades soils and ecosystems and removes habitats. Climate change and continued use of the land lowers its productive capacity, and so requires input of more fertiliser, pesticides, energy and water. As demand grows and productivity declines, more land is required to the detriment of nature. A complex of vicious circles results in increased biodiversity loss and climate change, while our land loses its power to feed us. Modern agricultural methods were developed after the Second World War to ensure plentiful, cheap food; that goal has been achieved. However, prosperity and bounty has come at a great price to the environment. Cambridge University economist Prof Sir Partha Dasgupta recently released his paper on the failure of economics to take into account the rapid depletion of natural resources. He urges us to find new measures to avoid catastrophic breakdown. Prosperity has come at a devastating cost to the ecosystems that support us. As Jane Goodall commented on the loss of biodiversity, ‘It’s very clear that we’re facing an absolute crisis today. We’re reaching a point of no return if we don’t take action’. In developed countries, the demand for food has grown as it has become cheaper, leading to overconsumption and wastage. This has lead to poor nutrition and health issues, making us more vulnerable to disease. Pandemics are also more likely to develop due to wildlife being driven into smaller spaces and coming in closer contact with people. The report recommends changing what we farm to healthier produce that has a lower environmental footprint, while reducing food waste. Different crops have varying impacts on the environment with animal products using more space and emitting more greenhouse gases than plant crops. The report recommends reducing meat and dairy products and highly-processed foods in favour of plant-based proteins. Crops like nuts, pulses and grains for human consumption would require less land than growing cereals to feed animals in intensive indoor systems. Fortunately, these proposals align with advice from health authorities, such as ‘MangerBouger’, France’s Programme national nutrition santé. MangerBouger recommends increasing beans, lentils, wholegrains, fruit and vegetables, while reducing meat, sugar, salt and processed foods. This doesn’t mean we can’t eat meat and dairy, but a substantial reduction would improve health and take the pressure off the land. The change in consumption habits would allow two positive actions to improve the environment: set aside more land for nature to develop vital ecosystems; and allow more sustainable systems, such as organic and regenerative farming, to become predominant. These changes need a huge worldwide effort of many sectors to cooperate on national and international levels, including incentivising environmentally-friendly practices, providing farmers with alternative livelihoods, lifting communities out of poverty, subsidising families on low incomes, and changing trade rules to discourage detrimental practices. Even so, we can all do our bit. Susan Gardner, Director of Ecosystems Division at UNEP, encourages us: ‘We can vote with our forks. We can be empowered to decide what kind of food system we want to support.’ Our supermarkets are starting to give us more choice of organic ‘Agriculture biologique’ products, and are launching new ‘Niveau bien-être animal’ labels to inform us on how intensively animals are kept. In addition, ‘Nutri-score’ labels help us choose the healthier foods. We can also help by encouraging nature on our land and into our gardens. Just by resisting the urge to clear natural vegetation and letting lawns grow, we allow a diversity of wild plants and animals. We can farm and garden without pollutants, keep rare breeds and a range of heirloom plants, and leave some bounty for wild animals. On our smallholding, since we let our garden and field borders grow, we have seen a wonderful proliferation of insects and birds. This has been a delight to our souls as well as a haven for nature. I offer you a last word from Jane Goodall: ‘We need everybody to take action now, everybody to help in whatever way they can to move us towards a more sustainable planet for the sake of our children and theirs, and all the animals that we should share the planet with.’

People must understand that we cannot disassociate ourselves from the natural world

Change the kind of food we eat - Farm more sustainably - Set aside land for nature.

Reduce consumption of animal products; Increase consumption of plant-based proteins; Reduce consumption of highly-processed foods; Buy organic products; Encourage nature in the garden;

Farm with old breeds and heirloom seeds;

Farm and garden without pesticides/fertiliser.

Sources: Chathamhouse.org / mangerbouger.fr ciwf.org.uk webinar: ps://youtu.be/kPgAtin6uuQ