Utopia on plate if poor had their food bills subsidised

The current farm subsidy system can be traced back to the aftermath of the Second World War. Farmers were subsidised to ensure we didn’t run out of food, and by the late 1980s this country was more than 75% self-sufficient.

However, today we barely produce half of all the food that we need to feed ourselves.

We are not self-sufficient so there must be another reason for our subsidy system.

But given that farmers incomes have not increased, nor have people remained living in the countryside, these subsidies are clearly not getting money into the communities that need it the most.

In addition, the agricultural environment has seen soil erosion and biodiversity loss and our population’s connection to food production is at an alltime low.

Farmers in Scotland received an average of £42,700 in direct payments and agri-environment schemes in 2019-20, yet 29% of farms did not break even, even after these payments.

If over a quarter of farmers are not profitable after they’ve taken a subsidy, farming is not thriving economically as an industry with this support.

In addition, any farmers with less than three hectares are excluded from the system.

Can we rethink our subsidy system so that the intended consequences of an agroecological transition for our farmers are that our agricultural environment thrives, biodiversity increases, and all people have the opportunity to

eat good quality local food? Can more farmers make a good living in the countryside if they are paid fairly for producing this good food?

If farmers need to be paid fairly for producing quality food, I propose we give some of the money available to schools, hospitals, care homes, and people living in poverty to be able to afford home produce.

Farmers have

demonstrated over many decades that they can follow money in the industry.

If we put the money in the biggest market in most counties and the only access to that market is through agroecological farming methods, farmers will adapt to the new system quickly.

Many people spend a little more on their food because they value the provenance and nutrient

value of it and they can afford it.

We should all be able to value the provenance and nutrient density of our food.

Rather than giving government money to farmers, let’s give government money to those most in need so that they can afford the same food that those more fortunate can already buy.

The utopia would be for

everyone to have access to good quality food all the time and for our natural environment to be supporting food production, a thriving natural world and our own enjoyment of that environment.

Johnnie Balfour runs Balbirnie Home Farms in Fife which has 800 hectares under cultivation and 200 hectares of grassland for the herd of 170 suckler cows.

“Farmers have shown over many decades that they can follow money

RECIPE FOR FUTURE: Everyone, no matter what their means, should have access to good quality food fresh from the field and rich in nutrients.