Nature is precious, and we are all called on to protect it. We share this planet with a vast diversity of living beings, and it is our obligation to thread softly and nurture the land.
Of course, as gardeners and farmers we need to produce food, but at what cost? Surely it is possible to create healthy food that fills our bodies with energy and vitality without hurting biodiversity and our planet?
“We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as other creatures do” Barbara Ward.
Our current food system is broken, a new study predicted (Click here to read this very insightful research, and a big thank you to the customer who sent this my way) a business-as-usual approach would leave 640 million people underweight by 2050, while obesity would increase by 70%, if this is not truly the definition of madness, I don’t know what is.Not only that but our current food system is responsible for a third of all global carbon emissions, more than all the transport emissions in the world. The retailers and the big global food corporations’ profit from our and our planet’s pain. It is in their interests that the status quo is maintained.
This same report has demonstrated that the hidden costs of what we grow, what we eat and how it is grown is over €10 trillion (these are the quantifiable hidden costs of destroying nature and our health), a saving that could be made if we transition to a more sustainable model of production. Our current agricultural system is underpinned by a payment support system that here in Europe consumes one third of the bloc’s entire budget. Everybody knows it has got to change, but there is a real danger here, as we can see with the farming protests right across Europe, that any change which is not managed with care will cause great hardship to both farmers and consumers.But Change must come, if it is not change we initiate, it will unfortunately be change that is forced on us by climate breakdown
.There is no doubt that change is painful, but it is also through pain that we learn to grow, and in this case, I believe we have an opportunity to evolve a new food system that can nourish our health and our planet and truly be a force for positive change.
This fledgling food system is already alive and growing, it is developing on the edges of our conventional retail and production systems and is just waiting for it’s time, I have to believe it’s time is now. We have the power to change it, we really do.
As Margaret Meade said :“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
”What we eat and how it is produced can be an amazing force for good, enhancing our health, providing decent jobs, rather than being an exploitative race to the bottom. It has never been clearer to me (and I have been talking about this for 20 years) that now is the time we need to change what we eat and how it is produced.
Your support means we are changing the food system together! Stick with us on this journey for there can be no greater achievement that leaving our planet in a better state than that which we found it in.
Your support means we can breathe a little, it means we can plant trees, it means we can rest the ground and allow it to recover between crops, it means we can support biodiversity on our farm. It means we can give the attention to producing healthy happy food for you.It means we have got each other.
Thank you for allowing us to be there for you.
Kenneth
PS: Did you know that systemic chemicals, are chemicals that are sprayed on our food (not our food, but conventional food) that are absorbed into the plant and reside in the tissue of the plant that we eat. We will never ever spray our food, and all the food that we source is chemical free and certified organic, so you can rest assured you are getting the very best safe sustainable produce dropped directly to your door!