| Food and Farming |
Britain’s countryside has suffered an unprecedented decline in the last fifty years. A drive to increase production, beginning in the days of World War II rationing, has led to farmers being encouraged to make their land as profitable as possible through intensive farming techniques and the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Meanwhile the expansion of our towns and cities has reduced the extent of the countryside.
The results have been disastrous for wildlife and for people. Delicate ecosystems that depended on traditional farming techniques, such as England’s quintessential wildflower meadows, have all but disappeared under new, unfavourable management regimes. Intensive techniques lead to higher yields but at the price of food quality. Meanwhile, as consumers we are becoming more and more used to buying our food ready packaged, often ready cooked, at the supermarket checkout. Many of our young people have no idea how their food is produced.
Sheffield Wildlife Trust is working to put the situation right. In the countryside on Sheffield’s fringes, we are working to promote agri-environment schemes that reward farmers for managing their land in a way that benefits wildlife. Inside the city itself, we are helping to encourage people to grow and eat fresh fruit and veg. The Productive Land Use project is designed to make sure every piece of land in the city is used for something, from recreation and growing attractive wild flowers to food production. In this way we are helping people rediscover the link between food, countryside and their own lives. |
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