Farming Talk: What have the farmers ever done for us?
Apart from food, what have farmers ever done for us?
Apart from food, what have farmers ever done for us?
Last week I had the chance to speak with many members of the public on our stands, including a very busy day at the Shropshire Diamond Jubilee Pageant.
Given the presence of thousands of schoolchildren, we knew it would be different from a normal show, so we had taken along a few young pheasant chicks, hoping they might attract attention and stimulate discussion. They certainly did!
There is a saying that the general public are ignorant about food and farming, but what I discovered at RAF Cosford was that there was genuine desire – especially among the young – to find out more.
I spoke with many children who fully accepted that the cute birds they saw would end up on the dinner plate. Yet they were keen to learn about the whole process and even took away recipes.
Our display also provoked discussion about farming in general. Obviously people know farmers provide food, and milk, but few associate other benefits directly with the industry. The countryside is a wonderful by-product of food production and farming's obvious shop window but once people look into that window they realise there is far more on offer.
Farmers do not use all their land and property for food production. Rural tourism relies on the views created and managed by farmers, but it also relies on holiday accommodation, campsites, event venues and farm shops.
Like the Monty Python Roman sketch, once you ask the question, everyone chips in with an answer. One child suggested farmers also provide water from their land, another fuel in the form of wood and crops for bio-diesel. Several children enjoyed walking the footpaths across their local farmland and loved looking at farm animals.
As the conversation became more competitive a young girl pointed out it was not just farm animals, it was lots of different animals, and birds and insects. They were beginning to appreciate why crops did not go to the edge of the fields and who actually did all the work to make their county look the way it does.
One class pointed out farms store carbon and farmers grow trees which are nice to look at and give out oxygen as well as different sorts of trees you could cut down and use to make desks.
Some children liked farmhouses because they were 'old and interesting'. I had to overcome the urge to liken them to their occupants!
The children we saw were a credit to their schools and their parents. They were enthusiastic and eager to learn. Hopefully their perception of farmers will continue to be positive and that they will look more closely at our countryside in future, and know who to thank for it.
We enjoyed our conversations and I can strongly recommend you ask the same question whenever you have the opportunity.
Caroline Bedell is Director, CLA Midlands
