This issue is the last of our transition period before we leave the EU. Scott is worried about shortages…
THIS article was going to be about my fear of no deal Brexit and fuel shortages and one of our unsung heroes British inventor, Harold Bate. I found out about him recently, he was a pig farmer from Totnes who in the 1950s found using methane from farm animals’ poo would make his Hillman car run faster, cleaner, and better than petrol. Thanks to a homemade small conversion unit he knocked up himself, his vehicle was also virtually pollution-free.
His whole story is readable online – bit.ly/3kseMx9 it’s fascinating that had his idea taken root with just manure and straw he could have curbed vehicle pollution with his methane alternative.
This article didn’t become that story because I got emailed The Broken Plate report. This got me thinking about food shortages. We are lucky to live in a rural community where food is fairly plentiful.
The report lifts the lid on our country’s food system revealing metrics that clearly show England has high levels of inequality which are damaging our health – and is published in line with footballer Marcus Rashford’s #EndChildFoodPoverty campaign.
The report highlights a continuing divergence between the cost of healthy and unhealthy foods – average cost of more healthy foods in 2019 being £7.68 (per 1000 kilocalories) compared to £2.48 for less than healthy food.
That’s shocking! Healthy foods are three times as expensive as unhealthy food per kilocalorie. We need a plan to make homegrown healthy food so plentiful, that for those poorest 20% of UK households the fast food option is not the cheapest option.
The report reveals that those 20% of households would have to spend 39% of their disposable income in order to eat a healthy diet (as defined by Government’s recommended Eatwell Guide). This demonstrates a failing food system where the poorest simply cannot afford to feed their families a balanced and nutritious diet.
Since lockdown, public interest in growing fruit and vegetables at home has soared. I did think it may be because of a fear of food shortages, but apparently most were motivated by the chance to relieve stress doing a wholesome family activity when they had more time on their hands at home. That would suggest this explosion in growing had happened dependent on economic background.
Home-grown food in towns and cities isn’t so accessible to those most in need of healthy eating. Where there is growing space gardens are often concreted over for easy maintenance or unmanaged and overgrown. It’s predicted in 20 years 9 out of 10 people are expected to live in towns and cities and weaving food growing into the fabric of their urban lives would bring greenery and wildlife closer to home. Diversifying where and how we grow our food would also help spread the risk of disruption to food supplies.
We need a programme of urban farming helping whole communities boost the resilience of their fresh fruit and vegetable supplies, improve the health of our kids and help them lead more sustainable lifestyles in the future.
The report paints some rather grim statistics otherwise for our future generation’s life chances. While eating well remains neither affordable nor accessible for everyone over half of children born this year will experience diet- related disease which will affect their quality of life.
Over 10% of households in the UK have no access to a garden but urban farming could see rooftops, walls, empty offices, even underground spaces, such as abandoned tunnels or air raid shelters, used to expand food production in cities while creatively redeveloping the urban environment. Edible rooftops,and vertically planted walls could also help reduce flood risk, provide natural cooling for buildings and streets, and clean our air.
Growing crops indoors, vertically or underground would make them more resilient to extreme weather (climate breakdown) or pests. Indoor growing environments are easier to control than those in the field, and temperature and humidity is more stable underground.
Growing food in towns and cities would boost the biodiversity of wildlife and pollinators, as well as protect their habitats. Barren inner city spaces could be converted into green and productive plots.
But it’s not just wildlife that would benefit. Urban farmers and their kids would be immersed in nature improving their mental health and fitness, and getting involved in urban food growing would lead to healthier diets. Urban food growing would change attitudes towards food, so that people place more value in produce that’s sustainable, healthy and ethically sourced.
Government should be facilitating the scaling up food production in our towns in cities. The opportunity is here for urban planners and developers to bringing more fruit and veggies to those spaces urban landscapes could offer. We need to start thinking out of the (window) box. Read The broken plate report here: bit.ly/3kywEGP