Many years ago, on a particularly cold and barren day, as I sheltered behind a stone dyke, overlooking a Scottish field, an old man by the name of “Moley” MacDonald said to me ; “Aye lad, there’s little or nae worms left in the land any mair, and if there’s nae worms, it will be the end of us all!”
“Moley” – a traditional Scottish mole trapper and beekeeper of the old school – read the seasons through his nostrils, and had a keen sense of the real cost of changes taking place on the land!
Our conversation that day – almost 30 years ago – led me to the belief that organic production was the only logical approach to delivering a sustainable food source.
My views led to conflict with my Father and I subsequently left our farms to join the BBC and ultimately become a Series Producer in BBC TV with a broad portfolio in environmental features.
My team of investigative journalists broke news stories in animal cloning, gm food production and other issues including organics and animal welfare.
We weren’t always popular with those in power, yet our factual accuracy remained scrupulous, fair and balanced, taking us around the globe to win respect and plaudits for our topical coverage.
Today the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the UK Government presented a paper at the prestigious Oxford Farming Conference launchinghis food strategy – Food 2030.
I have read his speech – all 2,663 words of it -yet it seems to me he has either chosen to be assiduously politic, or has been advised to ignore the real issue, which is actually very simple.
Coventional food production uses thousands of fungicides, aphicides pesticides foliage desiccants, growth manipulators and artificial fertilzers – the list of chemical cocktails is as endless as it’s insidious – to produce economically viable primary produce, for processors to add value to.
It’s the dirty, messy, nasty ground of agriculture – generating billions of pounds to a lucrative agri¬chemical industry and providing big tax revenue to the Chancellor of the exchequer.
It also happens however to be an unsustainable anachronism from the last century which is killing our worms – as “Moley” MacDonald observed – and undermining the entire integrity of our soils, our flora and fauna, and which was not referred to directly, in Hilary Benn’s speech.
By a strange quirk of coincidence I was asked to produce a shot profile film of one of the speakers at the Oxford conference which will also be shown today. I hope the Secretary of State watches it!
During my interview with Adrian Ivory – Farmers Weekly 2008 farmer of the year – I went off script and asked his views on the GM question at which point he nearly exploded!
He stated emphatically if Government was serious about our food security it was time to untie the hands of farmers and allow them to adopt a GM crop policy for the benefit of society and the environment at large.
I have to say I agree with Adrian – which might sound hypocritical – however I truly believe we cannot hold back scientific progress.
It’s not inconceivable that we could create a parallel railroad track approach to food production with GM on one line and organic ( or natural ) on the other.
Although this will sound like complete heresy to the organic movement, something has to be done, and fast, if we are to rid society and the environment of the detritus of conventional agriculture.
If “Moley” MacDonald were alive today I believe he would receive a rapturous applause from the audience at The Oxford Conference for his wisdom and foresight of life on the land.
All these years ago he told me what was going wrong and he and I both knew it.
So, in the unlikely event of our Secretary of State reading this blog I would urge him not to watch Rome burn, while the Emperors fiddle.
Sometimes, even Secretary’s of State have to be brave, and say it like it really is!
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