UK food security – betrayed by morons
I’m a day or two behind with reaction to the government’s food security announcement. That’s because it’s taken me a day or two to stop choking and issue a coherent sentence in response. So here, at last, is my reaction:
What a load of utter bollocks.
The state of food production in this country has got precisely FUCK ALL to do with farmers, fishermen, allotmenteers or anyone else mentioned in this crazy announcement. On the contrary, it’s all down to the organisations never mentioned once: supermarkets and a succession of greedy, ignorant, fuckwitted UK Governments building over our countryside and wrapping red tape in ever tighter circles around the country’s actual food producers.
I’ve wittered on and on about this on this blog (and to any poor bastard luckless enough to share a room with me). If you don’t know anything about farming in Britain (and chances are, you don’t – 80% of Brits are townees, and one third live in the 10 most populous cities), you just can’t imagine how difficult farming in Britain has become… or how old, penurious, put upon and pissed off UK farmers are.
And these people are growing/rearing the food you eat.
I’d love to say I’m pleased that at least the Government appears to have recognised the problem… even if its ‘solutions’ are barmy. But I can’t, because it’s not true. That they can spout this deluded crap serves only to show how disconnected they are from reality.
There are a lot of problems with our society…none of which I can comment on because they would just get me into trouble so I’m just going to say…I’m with you on this one Soilman and leave it at that!!!!!
January 8th, 2010 at 6:59 am
I haven’t read this yet – must do so at once and I’m prepared to be VERY disappointed in its contents.
However, from what I’ve seen thus far, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of joined up thinking at all. I’ve just seen the proposed plans for Chippenham 2026: build 5,000 new homes (thus increasing the population by around a third) and build on 3 farms (conveniently owned by the local council) in the process.
What a brilliant strategy. Not. Significantly increase the population and destroy the means to feed them at a stroke!
Whilst I applaud initiatives such as Incredible Edible Todmorden, that’s not going to provide a 100% solution. Nor’s GM or strict vegetarianism either – the 2 main arguments I saw put forward when I took part in the 2030 online forum.
January 9th, 2010 at 11:37 am
I always enjoy hearing the strict vegetarianism plans. They’re somewhat less realistic, politically, than Prohibition… but there’s a surprising number of cretins espousing them. I look forward to meeting you guys in the Steakhouse speakeasy.
The Elephant in the Room is that whatever way you cut it, most food eaten in this country under any scheme you devise will have to be grown by commercial farmers. This gets truer and truer the bigger the population and the smaller the agricultural acreage.
So what are we doing to support, encourage and help the agricultural industry?
Answers on a (very small) postcard.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:08 pm