Linking sustainable and healthy diets with farming outputs

NIR HALFON

The new year began, and I went to the Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC). This year saw the conference celebrate its 11th year. It began as a counter movement to the Oxford Farming Conference which takes place at the same time and same street (but the opposite side). It’s not uncommon to find people travelling between the two conferences to get a view of the whole UK agricultural landscape. Over the years, the ORFC has become a leading voice in regenerative agriculture, drawing people from all areas of the food production sector, from farmers and growers to retailers, chefs, conversationalists, policy makers, scientists and public figures. 

Gala and I presented Plaw Hatch Farm as a case study for good practice in two different sessions; Small Farm Finance and Farm Sustainability using DEFRA’s public goods tool (a project aimed at assessing public goods provided on a farm: biodiversity, energy and carbon, food security, social capital etc.)

I found the best part of the conference was a session called ‘Linking Sustainable and Healthy Diets with Farming Outputs’. It was a debate between Patrick Holden and Richard Young from the Sustainable Food Trust, Joanna Blythman, Journalist and Author, Peter Segger, Blaencamel Organic Farm and George Monbiot, Journalist and Author. Monbiot recently aired his documentary ‘Apocalypse Cow’, a discussion on how the biggest problem driving us towards global disaster is how we feed ourselves. He bravely stood and argued his case whilst the other 4 speakers addressed the issues he raised. The voices on the stage expressed feelings and opinions I have been experiencing in the last year.

For me, 2019 was marked in farming as the rise of strong anti-farming feelings in the media. Climate change and the promotion of a vegan diet have tarred all farming as the main cause of climate change, ill health, lost biodiversity, pollution and more. 

What came out of the debate was that it is really industrial farming that is the issue. Not all farming is the same. Industrial farms work in a paradigm where bigger, more automated, uniform and higher yields are a sign of progress. It has also caused all the problems stated above, not to mention the disconnect between people and the source of their food. Smaller, local farms stand for diversity and biodiversity, connectivity, carbon sequestering healthy soils, local economy, real nutrition, food sovereignty; the list goes on. The fact that you are reading this and supporting your local farms means that you know what I am talking about.

“Industrial farming is the issue. Not all farming is the same.”

In my opinion the strongest speaker to counter Monbiot’s arguments in the debate was Joanna Blythman. She spoke about a climate appropriate diet as one which is complete and provides humans with complete nutritional needs for a given locality on the planet. If we look at the extremes maybe the argument makes more sense, says Joanna. When a western diet was introduced to polar regions, where the traditional diet involves high animal fat, the rate of obesity and ill health in those societies soared. For the same reason, diets in Mediterranean and tropical regions are more suited to being plant-based. The natural and local foods for each region support the humans living there in the most optimal way. A Temperate zone diet is meat, dairy, root vegetables, brassicas, berries etc. Joanna brought forth the nutritional argument for mixed livestock and crop small farms. In the UK grass grows best. It is due to climate and geology which effects soil texture and fertility. Therefore, in order to eat a climate appropriate diet, animal protein is an essential for a complete nutritional profile in these islands.  

“The natural and local foods for each region support the humans living there in the most optimal way.”

In Biodynamics, we stand by the important role which livestock has to the farm organism. We recognise the importance for them to live in alignment with their essence and character. For them to be able to experience their true nature. Imagine the landscape without cows or sheep grazing in fields or pigs rooting in woodlands. How would that look like? The land needs these animals to maintain itself and keep it fertile.

Clean air, water, shelter and food are the most important human needs. Over the years farms have become solely food production systems. This industrial food producing has had a big part to play in causing the social and environmental issues we face today. In my opinion, local, small, mixed (biodynamic) farms offer all the solutions for these issues; this needs to be highlighted in the media and the British public.