How it works to nourish us, as a human society, and how ofttimes that same system works in opposition to all the things, that we might hope it would achieve.
The sheer complexity, and muddied obfuscation of how it all functions, or doesn't function is what is so difficult.
Food affects us all,
From the most basic - do you have enough calories to stave off starvation?
To debates around just which brand of balsamic is the most authentic - right now - darling.
And all points in between.
The environmental, social, and health consequences of our diets, how food is grown, transported, packaged. distributed, priced, controlled, traded, marketed and so on makes up a incomprehensibly vast and problematic, but also very vital, element of our lives, and economy.
But its rather like examining a finely woven tapestry that has been added to over the years.
Pull one thread to examine its origin, and many other fibres will move, and show how they are enmeshed or interconnected.
Which is probably why so many folks, far more learned than myself have tried to make some sense of it all, and then backed away shaking their heads.
Under the current western approach, the food system is something which the 'market' should take care of.
There is a hands off, non interventionist attitude, which seems mostly to have lead to a 'Race to the bottom' in terms of food quality, public, and planetary health...
But any attempt to intervene in this system, and well meaning attempts to effect positive change, can so easily attracts charges of 'Nanny State' - " Don't tell us what to eat, or where it should come from, or how it should be produced ; we are adults capable of making up our own minds..."
Well yes , except evidence would suggest otherwise.
Its a tired old trope that people are generally disconnected from the origin of their food, how it is produced, and the true cost of that food.
The cost - both to themselves, and to the ecosystems where that food is produced.
Food - one way or another - is made from plants - either directly through vegetable matter - or indirectly if we consider animal products - all this stuff happens out there in 'nature'.
Which is what people are drawn to - put a picture of a tree and a happy cow on a packet of beefburgers, and that will make it all ok.... Oh please dont say it aint so ..
But look at many of our planetary woes, and many of them can be traced back to food one way or another.
We hear about depletion of soils, and their micro life through misuse of large machinery, aggro chemicals and ill advised cultivation techniques.
With consequent loss of biodiversity, and habitat for all the other creatures, with whom we not only share this planet , but upon whom we depend for our survival. No man, is an Island, he is always supported by a complex lifesystem, human, animal , and vegetable ..
The plight of the honey bee is well documented , but its is just one of only hundreds of species currently threatened by our activities.
We know about expensive contamination caused by overuse of agri-chemicals, pollution of water courses, Depletion of underground aquifers by overcroppingof thirsty crops in sensitive areas.
Mistreatment of animals in factory farmed situations.
Land grabs by unscrupulous multinationals, looking to profit from low labour costs and dimished standards of conditions in the developing world, or in places where immigrant labour, which has a tenuous grasp on workers rights, is plentiful.
Corporate seed, and genetic material ownership, which means that farmers can be prosecuted if their crops are contaminated, by GM material that they never wanted in their crops in the first place..
These depressing problems, and too many others, have been discussed in concerned circles for decades..
But largely ignored by the wider eating public, who have had plenty of other things to personally be worried, and distracted by.
They aren't going to complain at seemingly cheap food prices, and the impression of greater choice, and abundance in the super-market
So unfortunately, we are still engaged in, and further pursuing, what is an unsustainable food production model.
And its not that we don't have enough calories - not to be unkind - but you do have to keep your eyes firmly on the pavement if not to be confronted by the fact that food calories themselves, are not in particularly short supply.
Good nutrition - once we've got ourselves beyond a famine scenario - is not solely about getting sufficient calories in.
 |
Agretti sweated in olive oil, and garlic and then dressed with lemon juice - totally delicious - One vegetable i can claim early adoption of, at least in this part of the world. Well over ten years ago a friend put me on to this, she had spent several years living in Rome and had fallen in love with this seasonal Italian delicacy ... Right now its highly sought after by foodie chefs in this country - I've no idea how much more i could charge for it , but right now, even in the drought its cropping well , so regular customers are probably getting a very good deal for themselves ... Monetary value being the nebulous thing that it is. This is the kind of deliciousness that makes vegetable eating a pleasure - rather than the kind of 'nanny knows best' chore that some folks seem to feel it is... To be honest, when I encounter the standard supermarket offer, grown for transportation convenience, vegetables, I understand why people don't like them so much - they either taste of nothing - or really quite unpleasant ...Eating should be about pleasure, and taste, flavour, and conviviality for the soul, as well as all the other bodily necessities... It always used to be, before we industrialised our eating, and commodified things for the convenience of the supplier, above the consumer. |
But thankfully yes, some gains, for the sustainable agriculture scene might be claimed.
At least nowadays if you mention 'Organic Agriculture' most folks know roughly what you're talking about, even if they dont buy it.
There are still plenty of sceptics who will say
"Oh all muck and magic, hocus pocus, anti science, unproductive " and so forth
As its generally far easier to dismiss something you don't understand, or that has been ridiculed in times gone by, rather than to try to understand, or to become more aware of reality.
moreover, the industrial agriculture sector with its big profits to make, has a far tighter grip on information dissemination, and lobbying budgets.
But, be all that as it may, there does feel like there could now be a shift?
Food,and its production, is back on on the agenda.
In part because of our (regrettable?) decision to leave the EU, and by extension the common agriculture policy - usually known as The CAP.
Although, I struggle to see how food could it ever really be so far from our minds, given as it is quite literally in our faces, three times a day.
 |
| Foraged - Chicken of the woods - brought in by an approximately hued Viking - to the local restaurant and charcuterie which is the final resting place for the carefree Oxford Sandy and Black piggles that frolic hereabouts |
On the back of a participatory research programme that has been running over the last couple of years, I've been asked to co-write a briefing paper on agroecology -
Which could loosely defined as farming which is generally human-scaled, which produces nourishing products for consumers, but is done in such a way which doesn't deplete environmental resources, or cause pollution, and which has a strong awareness of social consequences surrounding it... Which includes seeing that a proper monetary return is made to the farmer.
Whilst upholding what is starting to be known as 'Food Sovereignty' - i.e. a general principal that everyone regardless of income, or social standing should have access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate foods.
You might like to imagine that that might qualify as some kind of human right - but sadly, under our current governance it isn't so - by all accounts, its something that should be taken care of entirely by the market place, - supply and demand .
OK, up to a point, in principal, but what if the marketplace is monopolised, and your choice is so limited, either through access or economy, that you are forced to buy the cheapest most denatured calories on offer , because that is what is available.
Its not really a choice then is it?
And if things get difficult enough? Welll then the debasing spectre of the 'food-bank' rears its ugly head ...
How did we come to a place where the one thing that should form the centrepiece of a life well lived becomes a subsistance offering of charity - sadly this once unthinkable part of our life has become almost normalised.
All credit to the good people who supply these services - but their very existence - in our supposedly civilised society speaks to many of us - as a sign of something gone deeply awry.
So, what qualifies me to write about this, rather than some more learned academic who has spent many years studying all of this in great depth - someone who is quite likely to be far better at dredging up the appropriate references - and keeping them in good order?
You should see the piles and piles of paper, and pamphlets, that i have on this ... A small plantation of paperwork.
But in these slightly more enlightened times it would appear that the people doing the thing, rather than just the people studying the people who do the thing, are deemed to have a voice worth listening to ..
Loosely we are looking at barriers to Agroecology, and how food policy could be adapted in a post brexit environment to encourage further, sustainable and smaller scaled, local supply chain, production of nourishing food, which upholds those food sovereignty principals as outlined above.
Qualified to speak on account of having operated, from very small beginnings, a direct weekly marketing scheme of organic vegetables, grown by my own rather grubby hand.
Done of course with immense practical support, and encouragement from family and friends. Who rather happily also seem to think of it all as an endeavour worthwhile enough to put some effort in.
Through the usual confluence of good luck, and hard graft , the whole enterprise has turned into a reasonably successful business, which for its acreage makes a profit greater than many other enterprises, at the same time as feeding a good few households in the local area.
It operates in such a way, which, although far from perfect, doesn't put overly much strain on natural resources.
Not quite rags to riches - but started with £300 in the bank, the tools already in the garden shed, and an uncharacteristically cheeky advance to a local farmer who initially loaned me some land to get started.
Again more luck - vigilant friends - and an enlightened mortgage lender - led to the purchase of the plot - as a bare acreage - just before land prices went meteoric - in order that the business be expanded further - to its own way - and make something approaching a living - so long as a Mercedes Benz isn't on your shopping list --- cue my favourite Janis Joplin tractor driving song ..
So now folks will look at it all and go "Oh aren't you lucky?"
Yes very much so - just over 12 acres of south facing grade one agricultural land in one of the warmest valleys in the south west , with a good population of concious eaters not far away.
Who were also very supportive through the planning shenanigans required to actually build the infrastructure, and live on site.... That particular little drama is a small novels worth of bureaucratic fun all by itself ..
Also backed up by over thirty years of working in the industry, a National Diploma in Agriculture - (which is probably more use for kudos, when chatting with other local farmers as for anything soo very practical - apart from some tractor driving skills, and business management - when i eventually get round to doing the books)
If you can't make a living with all that behind you, well maybe you probably are in the wrong business.
But anyone trying to start up now, is unlikely to get that much 'luck' behind them..
This sector has been massively neglected as an industry, and profession for years now.
I still remember the bafflement of the college principal , and his side kick , when I presented myself for interview, to be admitted to the local agricultural college.
What on earth was I doing there ? Was the perplexed question... Not from a farming background, and with some academic qualifications that implied i could be pursuing a trade, or profession far more profitable, a lot less mucky, and not such hard work.
Agriculture , and food production back then, was seen very much the Cinderella occupation, unless you happened to have been born, or married into it...
And you probably don't have to task your imagination too hard to conceive the reaction of twenty eight farmers sons, at the organic notions of a female of non farming origin in the college classroom over thirty years ago... I had, by then done a few years practical graft, on other peoples farms, but its not the same as being born into it, is it?
We were actually told that the farm is just another factory floor, and that soil is merely a substrate in which to stand plant roots whilst you feed it chemicals from a bag.
The pace of change, in these matters is slow, for those who can see the urgent need for that change..
But thankfully now, there are a gratifyingly high number of younger, bright, energetic, well educated folk, who can see the value, or even the essential task, of making our food system more sustainable, equitable, and nourishing for the population, whilst reinstating the status of the skilled craft farmer, as central to our survival, and health on many levels.
System change, is required through all strata of the production process, from soil health principals , to government policy making .
Its a big old task, with many players, stake holders, tensions, change agents, and a fair few who would see business carry on pretty much as usual. But looking at reality, thats not a viable option.
So all this is writing about writing.
Good old displacement activity, the why, rather than the what.
But sometimes its useful to remind yourself why you are even approaching a task.
 |
The lackadaisical, dissaffected " Youth of today" Southwest growers group , getting hands on'among the onions last year , before a round table dinner, and discussion upon the delights of running a local veg box scheme.. |
