A march in London in October organised by the Landworkers’ Alliance, which represents farmers, growers and land workers, called for greater government support for UK farm businesses of all sizes to produce more food in ways that protect the environment, and to have a ‘greater ambition’ for UK food and farming policy.
It was called in response to fears that Defra’s review of the ELM scheme would result in a watering-down of its environmental protection elements (see The Vegetable Farmer, November) but demands also included increasing the budget for ELMs and using the scheme to provide more help for those looking to establish new farming businesses.
Supporting the aims of the march, Guy Singh-Watson, founder of organic veg-box company Riverford, said: “We have already waited too long for a coherent food and farming policy post Brexit. Dogmatic reverence for market forces will never deliver the considered, well implemented solution that embraces the complex, regionally specific, needs of people, health and the environment.”
He added: “We need brave, considered and intelligent leadership in contrast to the abject abdication of responsibility we have seen from this government.”
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