Resistance is Fertile

My name is Ed Hamer, I am here from Devonshire, a small rural province in the south-west of the UK, I arrived in Maputo yesterday unfortunately a wee bit late for the Youth Conference!

I am here firstly as a young farmer, secondly as a journalist (www.theecologist.org), and also representing a small UK based ngo: The International Society for Ecology and Culture (www.isec.org.uk). I have come to Maputo to inspire and be inspired, to learn and share,, and to draw as much as possible from the wealth of knowledge and expertise represented by the conference delegates.

As a young farmer in the UK I am officially classed as an endangered species. If I were an animal I would be protected under the UN Covention on Biological Diversity, if I was a plant I would be classed as ‘endemic’. The percentage of the UK population employed in land-based enterprises has dropped more dramatically over the past 100 years than in any other country in western Europe, from over eight per-cent in 1910 to below one per-cent today.

The reasons for this decline have been widely publicised and are apparent to even the most ambiguous observers. In the 1950’s UK farmers received, on average, 50 pence of every pound spent on food, today that figure has dropped to less than 8 pence. As a direct result of the intensification of our countryside the UK is continuing to lose an average of seven farmers per day from a total of just under 600,000.

So “Que hora son en Inglaterra”? Are we staying true to the British stereotype and sitting back politely while our small diverse farms are brought-up and converted to industrial feed grain units? Are we embracing a move away from the land as a logical progression of the Great British tradition of agricultural and industrial revolutions?… in a word…. are we fuck.

The British may be reserved, but we are also passionate. And not only about football or the queen, we are passionate about things that matter. Like the fact that we are one of the most food insecure nations in Europe, importing 65 per-cent of our food supplies. Like the fact that 72 per-cent of our food sales are made by just four UK supermarkets. Like the fact that, when our fuel depots were blockaded by striking truckers in 2001, supermarket shelves were empty within 24 hours. As an island, we currently have three days food supply for every man woman and child in the country in the event of our imports being disrupted…... but that would never happen- would it?

Across the UK, a passion for our countryside is shared by a diverse and growing population of land workers, permaculturists, consumers, academics and activists. The recent Transition Town’s movement (www.transitiontowns.org) has inspired a movement of young people to re-skill themselves in the knowledge required to feed ourselves in a post-peak-oil society.

The UK’s largest organic certification body, The Soil Association (www.soilassociation.org) is currently coordinating a national campaign aimed at educating young growers with the skills to not only feed themselves, but to provide food for entire communities. Organic Futures, another initiative launched by The Soil Association aims to help young people who want to find out more about farming, share skills and network with each other. The numbers of farmers’ markets is growing steadily with one opening every week, as is Community Supported Agriculture.

Action is taking place, but there is still much to do. Land tenure remains the most significant obstacle preventing young farmers wishing to make a start on the land. Farming is still not promoted to school leavers by careers advisors as an eligible profession. Local, ecologically produced food still accounts for less than one per-cent of the UK food economy. While our countries planning laws, the most prohibitive in Europe, make the possibility of living on the land all but impossible.

On behalf of the UK’s alternative farming movement, and our future food security, I would like to apply for formal membership of La Via Campesina Youth Movement in representing the struggle for food sovereignty within the UK.

With respect to the Great British tradition of agricultural and industrial revolutions…the thing about revolutions, is they keep on coming…. Resistance is fertile, and so is our land!

edhamer@riseup.net