Over the wall

A RURAL view

As this ‘Winter’ issue of RURAL goes to press, there is, despite the persisting presence of Covid, a feeling that things cannot be quite so bad as in the first 12 months of the pandemic. In particular, local markets have restarted; the Simply Christmas event is due to take place in the Royal Square and there will be plenty of other occasions where local produce and local products will be available for local buyers.

In many respects, there is not much more one can say about these events: they are fun; they bring people together (at last); they are a good opportunity to purchase locally-made produce and items for Christmas. They are evidence of the success of the Genuine Jersey Products Association, which, in its 20 years of existence, has brought the concept of ‘made in Jersey’ to an everwider level of consumer recognition and appreciation. To make too much of these simple facts might be considered to be an insubstantial foundation upon which to construct more general points - but nevertheless, there is some merit in doing so.

First of all: local produce. It is now quite a few years since the slogan ‘think twice, buy local’ was invented. The counter argument might be: ‘Think thrice, and take advantage of the much wider selection and more favourable prices available by clicking on the Internet.’ Local patriotism must surely have its limits? Localism meets Globalism - both online and in the produce available in the Island’s supermarkets… and globalism seems always to win, whether we like it or not. But then comes another reality check: currently the swathes of empty supermarket shelves, bereft of what aren’t exactly ‘exotic’ products, such as sparkling water or cereal brands. The reason? The transport and distribution problems about which the media informs us every day. Where are the products we ordered online? Probably stuck in a container in Singapore or Felixstowe.

‘Order very early for Christmas’ we are enjoined. The combined effects of Brexit and Covid - if not even climate change - might suggest that unless we pull our fingers out, Christmas this year might once again be a bit of a damp squib.

So much for the non-arrival of presents made in China. What about fresh produce? Here, local farmers and growers are impacted by the economics of the madhouse. If it is more favourable and profitable for Jersey retailers to sell beans from Kenya or strawberries from South America than to sell local produce, what hope is there for farming in Jersey?

Supermarkets perceive their best interests to be in the provision of food at the cheapest possible prices - good for consumers, good for attracting customers - and if it is bad for local farmers, so what? Farmers’ margins are being continually squeezed by their big multiple buyers, yet their own expenses - such as fertiliser or plastic - continue to rise, while transport and delivery problems affect them just as much as it does the end retail consumer. For all British farmers - be they in in the UK or Jersey - the same ugly sisters of Brexit and Covid have affected the supply of staff. Jersey has, for centuries, utilised foreign or migrant workers and imported a substantial amount of food that it cannot grow or produce itself. But improving economies elsewhere make Jersey a less interesting or profitable work destination.

Furthermore, new workers have to be trained before they can work productively at their jobs in Jersey. Then the product (very little else other than Jersey Royals) has to be shipped away - at a cost; shipping costs, high as they are at the moment, can only rise as we grapple with the effects on climate change of fossil fuel extraction.

Then there is the high price of gas, the effects of the minimum wage… ‘Have yourself a merry little Christmas?’ Hardly.

In summary, the future for export-based agriculture, as we have known it for so many decades, seems less than rosy.

Written at a time when the leading news stories relate to COP26, and as climate change and green practices to counter it become increasingly mainstream, ideas that for decades have been elbowed out to the sidelines are now being given more serious consideration.

And ‘Think twice, buy local’ is likely, in the future, to mean more than just buying Christmas presents from cottage industries and local craftsmen; increasingly, it will be seen as a possible new start for a Jersey farming industry beset with problems.