Press Release: Cheap food and a traditional landscape are incompatible

"Cheap food and a traditional landscape are incompatible"

Members of the East Hampshire and Havant District Group of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) were held enthralled for an hour, listening to a talk given by Shaun Leavey, OBE, at East Meon Sustainability Centre on Thursday evening, 26th October.*

In his talk, entitled: "Farming our landscape - what do we want?", Mr Leavey set the scene for the evening by saying that it was important to understand that farmers manage the land mainly for commercial survival.

"Government payments that have made this possible are shrinking since the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and it is pretty clear that there will not be enough money to satisfy all who apply under the new 'Higher Level Stewardship' regime. In due course we shall see whether the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) will choose to concentrate support on farmers in protected landscapes like AONBs and national parks or to spread it more thinly. Meanwhile, the farmer is left with running unprofitable herds and diversifying into other areas, for example, providing holiday accommodation or retailing the farm's products (as do the members of Hampshire Fare and Hampshire's Farmers' Markets)."

Mr Leavey went on to make the point that there are actually several environmentally friendly ways for farmers to make a profit, such as producing biomass from their woods for fuelling heat or power, crushing oilseed rape to produce biofuels, but these have cheaper competitors from overseas. He said "I do believe that growing energy crops is important - at least in the short-term," but he doubted that government policy would provide sufficient support for these endeavours.

Buying local is the main way in which Hampshire residents can support their farmers, to keep the landscape looking as it is now - rich, varied and traditional. Mr Leavey argued that "cheap food" is incompatible with this image of the countryside. He said:

"If Hampshire residents cannot support our farmers by buying local, from Hampshire Farmers Markets, from farm shops and butchers, then farmers will need to find another way to stay profitable. In the future we could be looking at very large-scale arable farming, some well-protected traditional landscapes on the chalk ridge, and a hotch-potch of farmland, pony paddocks, horsey culture and land set-aside for development in between."

"2007 is the Year of Food and Farming, so it is a good year to get everyone talking about this topic and buying and eating local foods."

Photo: Shaun Leavey with John Venning of CPRE Hampshire

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CPRE/H/094

* Shaun Leavey was formerly South East Regional Director for the National Farmers' Union (NFU) and currently chairs the government's Sustainable Farming and Food Board for the South East.

Notes to editors

CPRE Hampshire strives to promote the beauty, tranquility and diversity of the countryside of Hampshire by the sustainable use of land and other resources in town and country, and encouraging the biodiversity and well-being of rural communities.

The East Hants & Havant District Group is part of the Hampshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

For information on CPRE, please contact:
Becky French or Pam Mason, CPRE Hampshire
Tel: 01962 843655
Email:admin@cprehampshire.org.uk

For all media enquiries, please contact:
Keren Burney, media & communications officer, CPRE Hampshire
Tel: 01730 894123 Mobile: 07876 780065
Email: kburney000@aol.com