UK Archives - Page 4 of 19 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

UK | Coronavirus: Rationing Based on Health, Equity and Decency now Needed

March 29, 2020 ARC

Food security is no laughing matter at the best of times, but TIm Lang gasped when he first read the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) annual food civil contingencies infrastructure report in 2018. It is barely a page long (in public at least) and assures us everything is OK and that the food system is resilient and able to withstand shocks. As the coronvirus racks the nation and panic buying continues, this complacency is about to be tested. […]

‘Too good to be true’ – The UK Co-op Helping New Entrants Get Access to Land

March 13, 2020 Natasha Foote

All too often access to land is an insurmountable hurdle for new entrants to farming. The innovative Ecological Land Co-operative tackles this head-on, by developing accessible smallholdings for ecological agriculture and supporting new farmers. […]

Wales | Joining the Real Food and Farming Conversation

February 2, 2020 ARC

The UK may have left the EU, but we will still maintain a focus on what’s happening there in food, farming and rural areas. In the spirit of cooperation, there will still be much to learn from each other. To this end, here’s a report from Wales on an event that’s emerged from the Oxford Real Farming Conference. […]

Less is More: Upland Farming Economics

December 2, 2019 ARC

A new report using economic research from 46 farms aims to improve understanding of the underlying economics of upland farming, and how this can be improved to both benefit the environment and increase the financial resilience of these businesses. […]

What would really happen to GHG Emissions if England and Wales went Organic?

November 26, 2019 ARC

A recent study from Cranfield University, published in Nature Communications, claims that Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions would increase in England and Wales, were these two countries to convert to 100% organic. This is because without dietary change, imports into England and Wales would increase. But is this the whole story? […]

Rural Dialogues | Culture as Connection in Rural Europe

September 29, 2019 Bryonny Goodwin-Hawkins

Rural places are peopled places – and people have and need cultural life. Culture can include heritage and the arts, the activities we enjoy, the food we eat, and the language we speak. Since these things matter in all our lives, they matter for all the places where we live, too. But talk about rural renaissance can often miss making cultural connections. […]

UK | RSA Report finds ‘Our Future in the Land’ should be Agroecological

September 4, 2019 Oliver Moore

One of the few bright spots of Brexit is the opportunity the UK now has to rewrite its agri-food and rural rules. The RSA’s report ‘Our Future in the Land’ gives some indication of what such a food and farming future might look like. The outcome? Agroecology! […]

Agriculture Atlas | A Decades-Long Discount Worth E130 Billion

August 6, 2019 ARC

A mini-Brexit took place back in 1985 with the UK budget rebate, which violates the principle of solidarity in European integration. But the payments made to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy are hindering further threats of withdrawal from the European Union. […]

UK | Chapter 6: Higher-Value Produce for Domestic and Export Markets

July 16, 2019 Stuart Meikle

To compete in the domestic and international market, British farmers and food processors must target the quality-differentiated, food-market segments. The multi-characteristic and multi-functional qualities of products must be effectively communicated to the consumer in an all-inclusive and transparent fashion. […]

UK | Farmland Tax Breaks Revealed

July 5, 2019 ARC

Recent publications have thrust the inequality of UK land ownership into the public eye. Lesser known is that landowners (and farmers) profit further from a series of, sometimes bizarre, tax breaks. Miles King summarises the findings of a report by People Need Nature into this tax system. […]

UK | Chapter 5: Enhancing Farm Animal Welfare

June 24, 2019 Stuart Meikle

Brexit is coming at a time when there is probably more consumer awareness of animal welfare than ever before. There should be no question of British animal-welfare standards changing with the UK leaving the EU. […]

The Challenge of Making UK Ruminant Production Sustainable

June 5, 2019 ARC

Ruminant livestock farmers have the unique potential to manage the British countryside to deliver a number of public goods, alongside profitably producing environmentally-sustainable premium-quality meat. The potential ‘prize’ is a carbon-neutral UK ruminant livestock sector, as part of a rural landscape that delivers a number of publicly-desired ecosystem services. […]

UK | Chapter 4: Providing Nutritionally Valuable Food

May 9, 2019 Stuart Meikle

Farming policy should be driven by the food and nutritional requirements of the nation. Post-Brexit policy will be developed at a time when there is rising controversy over what constitutes a healthy, well-balanced diet, including the linkages between nutritional, ethical and environmental issues. […]

UK | Chapter 3: Preserving and Enriching the Natural Environment

April 19, 2019 Stuart Meikle

Biodiversity must exist across all British farmland. Farming must be about food production, stewardship of the environment and our landscapes. Food and farming policy must promote a mutually beneficial approach to produce wholesome food, enhance farmland biodiversity while preserving Britain’s landscapes. […]