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The Labour government is holding a consultation on 'Our vision for for land use in England'
"England is made up of a mosaic of different land uses, with two thirds of its area (67%) being agricultural while built-up areas take up 11% of land . ...Agricultural land uses are balanced between arable and grassland. Arable land represents 38% of England’s land and is mainly used to produce crops for food and animal feed . Grassland represents 29% of England’s land and is primarily used for animal grazing . Less than 1% of land is used for horticulture, largely growing fruits and vegetables."
Land Use changes that are not mentioned by government but raised by Guy Shrubsole are found in Lie of the Land and Who owns England
We certainly need to discuss 'land use' in this country. It is an increasingly important issue, as we will become battered by prevailing trade wars. But is this that debate?
This consultation is against the background of the Chancellor cancelling the 'old EU subsidies' earlier than predicted, but then to keep going on about 'giving farmers an extra £5billion - just about the same as the subsidies would have been. So how is this new/old money going to be spent? Is this what the consultation is trying to work out? If it is, the answer will be more to large landowners.
Balancing Economic Growth with Agricultural Preservation : The approach outlined by the government recognises the intrinsic link between protecting high-quality agricultural land and fostering economic growth...and aims to balance the nation's food security with economic expansion and environmental restoration. More from Rural Services Network
"The most productive arable farmland can be found in the east of England, where the land is largely flat and the summers are generally dry. The southwest, with gentle hills and a wetter climate, is home to around 40% of England’s dairy herd .* Hillier upland areas across the country (including along the Pennines), tend to consist of lower quality farmland and predominantly feature sheep farming .
England’s rural landscapes include woodland, peatland and other habitats alongside farmland, but they are not in good condition."
*It is probably debatable now whether the dairy herd is in SW as there are a lot our barns full of intensive reared cows in North West Where have all the cows gone?
"England has a variety of woodlands, from productive conifer stands to temperate rainforests. Woodlands cover 10.2% of England, with trees outside woodlands, including orchards, covering an additional 4.7% . 92% of native woodland is in intermediate condition , but just 9% is in favourable condition. Peatland covers 11% of England. However, 87% of England’s peatlands are now degraded, damaged and dried out, emitting the equivalent of ~8 Megatons (Mt) of CO2 into the atmosphere each year
"There is increased recognition that clean water and air, rich biodiversity, climate mitigation and climate adaptation are required outcomes of land use alongside food production, infrastructure and housing
"We have varying levels of confidence about the amount of land use change needed for each target or commitment." Each of the targets they talk about are to do with the environment - e.g. trees, water, carbon & biodiversity, no targets for food.
Boris wanted to 'beautify the countryside'. Is this what this consultation is about - maintaining that romantic vision of the countryside from the city, and not upsetting any large landowners?
Natural Capital
Natural Capital
This term has entered our lexicon in the past few years, to try and put a value on what nature offers.
"England’s natural capital delivers £37bn per year in benefits Our natural capital (farmland, woodland, peatland, and other habitats) offers a range of benefits and is an important source of national wealth. It contributes to the economy via a range of ecosystem services, across three categories:
• Provisioning services, such as food or timber production, which have a market value and directly support production in economic sectors such as farming;
• Regulating services, such as flood prevention / mitigation, carbon sequestration and air pollution removal, or regulation of urban temperature, which do not support a particular economic sector, but support the workings of the whole economy by preventing and reducing the costs of environmental hazards;
• Cultural services, such as nature-based recreation/tourism and recreation-related health benefits, which contribute to human capital value as well as supporting economic sectors.
"In 2022, the ONS estimated the value of the annual flow of these services, excluding fossil fuels, to be more than £37bn, with an asset value of £1.3tn. Cultural services represented more than half of this annual amount.
Carbon Counting
Carbon Counting
'Eco-Services' are all about selling certain natural functions -just a few of the favourite ones, rather than the innumerable ones that have kept the Earth going for millions of years. The most lucrative service is 'carbon capture', so this attracts most money. Currently, prices range from £10 to £30 a unit (One carbon unit is one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent removed from the atmosphere.). This means that, over the life of the tree cover, land owners receive a total amount of anywhere between £1,000 to £15,000 per hectare. I have heard local business people say that they prefer to buy 'homegrown carbon credits'. But you wont hear them say the same for food.
This really what this consultation is about - how much carbon money can be made in England, without affecting food production.
Not how much more food can we produce more sustainably
Food Production
Food Production
"We have come to our conclusion that food production levels could be maintained or moderately increased alongside land use change: It is worth noting that Government has published a broader assessment of food security in the UK in its latest Food Security Report
As described above, our analysis suggests that it is plausible that increases in the ‘background’ growth of food production could increase farm output sufficiently to offset production losses implied by the land use changes required to meet Net Zero and Environment Act targets and commitments. This is similar to the conclusions of some organisations and reports which have made reference to a “three compartment model” for land use in England. In this conceptual model, a proportion of land devoted primarily to sustainable but higher intensity food production sits alongside areas of land dedicated solely to environment and climate benefits, and areas of land providing both food and environmental / climate benefits, thereby broadly maintaining overall levels of domestic production, while simultaneously making space for nature and emissions reductions.
Our analysis suggests that it is plausible that increases.....
Their analysis is less than convincing, as it is based on increased intensification - which is actually showing signs of flattening. We import too much food as it is - nearly 50% by value. Increasingly this is ultra-processed stuff coming from USA (corn products and cane sugar) Brazil (soy oil) and Malaysia (palm oil. Three of these have had tariff reductions since Brexit
The total land use associated with our own UK consumption, minus exports is estimated at 5.6 times the UK’s own surface area. 70% of the land in our food footprint is abroad according to Royal Society Report ."The UK is currently importing over 50% of its food and feed, whereas 70% and 64% of the associated cropland and GHGE impacts, respectively, are located abroad. These results imply that the UK is increasingly reliant on external resources and that the environmental impact of its food supply is increasingly displaced overseas".
There is no mention in the consultation. The best thing we could do to help the environment and our health is grow a lot more fresh food like fruit and vegetables here, and buy locally.
Rather than reducing nature to counting carbon, we should be about regenerating food production - ie using natural systems, rather than lots of carbon emitting producing chemicals - especially nitrate fertilisers.
Suggestions
Suggestions
Fruit Trees
Why is there no talk about fruit tree growing? We have 'grubbed' most of our fruit trees - previously grown in Kent, Lancashire and Evesham for the cities. Fruit are the healthiest option, and there are hundreds of British varieties, but usually only 3 sold in supermarkets - mainly from Canada and South Africa. Northern Fruit Group
Grouse Moors
3 million acres are given over to growing grouse, killing off much else. Alternatives
Reduce imports of ultra-processed foods
up foods now make up over half of our food energy intake, and for that we rely almost completely on imports - raw sugar, corn flour soy oil palm oil and wheat flour - that's only only one of top five we may grow some of here.
Just Grow!
Just Grow!
We want to produce a film called 'Just Grow'. So far we produced a trailer, outlining the background of how we got to where we are now. We want to make it into a 30 min film suitable for showing at meetings. It will cover, what foods we could grow here, why growing local is the best for the environment, how subsidies could drive healthier food, where ultra-processed foods are coming from (not UK) and why we should promote more regenerative farming.
All this is a whole lot better for the Earth and us than counting carbon as a commodity..
We're going to open up a Fundraising for the film in March, so if you would like to help with that (contacts/dosh) please contact me charlie@sustainablefood.com
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