When the public are told that a field is infertile, or non-profit making, people will probably accept it unquestioningly; what do they know? And this is what needs to be addressed, the fact that there are options, and local people need clear information regarding what those options actually are.
Our concern is that people believe the false claim that the land can no longer be farmed viably due to soil infertility. There are plenty of modern regenerative farming practices that would solve this soil infertility.
Soil fertility can be easily remedied using natural processes; it is not a problem. It is entirely fixable. The land can be regenerated to become a fertile and productive food growing area, which will be of great value and pride to local people.
Regenerative/organic agroecology farming techniques are totally sustainable, good for biodiversity, and healthy food, as they don’t use artificial fertilisers or harmful pesticides.
Food security is a very important issue. As a nation, we must support local food growers throughout the country, and ensure there is a vital network of locally available food sources as part of any ‘local food plan’ strategies. Local food is affordable, has travelled less, so has less impact on carbon footprints. Locally grown foods don’t need to be sprayed or irradiated to keep them fresh for long journeys across oceans and continents.
Regenerative agriculture is not just about re-fertilising soil and growing good quality food. Because it is based on natural processes and the best ethical scientific technologies available, it has the potential to be one of the greatest tools and opportunities to combat all the climate, water, food and health crises. If you can imagine thousands of local farms in the UK growing a huge variety of crops for their local populations, it suddenly seems like a very viable food security solution.
https://www.soilassociation.org/farmers-growers/low-input-farming-advice/
I agree entirely with what is said in the post. However what the post fails to address is the 70 plus years the UK population has enjoyed a war and worry free ever increasingly diverse and abundant food supply chain. We have become apathetic and I’d suggest confused by our politics and the various contrary rhetorics there are on every subject and I must say now it seems to me there is greed for more of the same! Let’s take the subject of this post as an example, saving and utilising our farm land, with the benefit of food security. Now let’s add brexit! I have heard many an argument on this subject, but as yet no one seems to have considered the huge impact the EU had upon our food I.e. the huge amount sourced from the EU. Farming is a business and land not properly managed is waste, but somehow or another it is still more readily available and cheaper to buy foodstuffs from all around the world, than source home produce. This is not about just making use of farmland, there are agendas here both politically and business that need to be addressed. And the public attitude needs to change. Sadly only years of shortages and suffering will do the latter in my view