Town & Country
COUNTRYSIDE bodies have been jumping in early with their manifestos in a bid to put eco-friendly agriculture and better environmental protections at the heart of the preelection political discourse. The Sustainable Food Trust (SFT), for example, is asking all parties to support farming practices that work in harmony with Nature.
‘We want to see productive farmland managed in a way that lets the natural environment thrive while still producing food for local communities and for the UK,’ says the SFT’S Honor Eldridge.
She is adamant that this shouldn’t be a ‘rewilding approach that sacrifices production’, but believes agriculture needs to make significant changes—among others, the SFT advocates a return to mixed farming to mitigate climate crisis and halt biodiversity decline. Farmers that receive public support should undergo a sustainability audit, with polluters held to account, and those who work to soak up carbon should be rewarded.
However, notes Miss Eldridge, all political parties should be addressing the crucial impact of future trade deals: ‘Politicians can develop very strong, progressive agricultural policies, but if there are no trade regulations that look to maintain a level playing field, we could see an influx of food produced to lower standards that could undercut British farmers.’
Upholding existing standards is high on the agenda for Greener UK, a coalition of 13 major environmental bodies, which is calling for ‘an ambitious Environment Act that can provide cleaner air, healthier rivers and richer habitats for Nature’. It’s also campaigning for genuinely sustainable fisheries and for a strong post-brexit partnership with the EU, which should secure co-operation on environmental issues and encompass a mutually binding commitment to ensure that standards can only rise in the future.
Like the SFT, Greener UK would like the Agriculture Bill—which got shelved—to include ‘a substantial funding settlement’ to support farmers that deliver public goods.
Spokesman Benjamin Halfpenny comments: ‘We would like to see politicians outline a really positive future for the countryside, based around the highest standards for things such as food quality and a well-funded system for farming payments.’ Carla Passino
Those who work to soak up carbon should be rewarded