The eco warriors of Extinction Rebellion, are blocking the streets of London with their slightly holier than thou attitude. There is no doubt that there is a case to be answered but whether blocking London for two weeks is the right way to go about it is open to debate and for them to demand carbon neutral by 2025 leaves them very short on credibility. I have looked for an electric van this time around, and only in recent months is there a van capable of covering up to 160 miles on one charge a pretty basic requirement. Electric tractors are being developed but certainly not available, I suppose we could go back to horses!
There is a constant drip drip about the way we farm and produce food for this nation and how it needs to change, and I am starting to get a bit fed up listening to it. We produce some of our own power via solar on this farm, we have our own 25 million litre reservoir, we grow a 100 acres of organic vegetables and don’t use fertilisers or chemicals. There are hundreds of farmers that have installed solar and wind farms to the point that considerable amounts of sustainable power are produced. We supply Riverford and Abel and Cole with organic vegetables, they use little or no plastic packaging, the boxes are re used and returned, there is no air freight, the wonky vegetables tend to get used and eaten and they have been produced with no chemicals or fertilisers, but we will have used some black plastic and distances travelled will not be that great.
I wonder how many of our green activists clogging the streets, produce their own power, grow their own vegetables, and how is it that people with green and pink hair are able find two weeks out of their busy schedule to bring London to a halt. If they have that much time on their hands they could come and hoe our vegetables next season for six months and we can test their commitment!
We are not going to be carbon neutral by 2025, it is not possible, but Minette Batters, our NFU chairman’s target of 2040 for agriculture might be.
We are not able to do this on our own, the rest of the world will have to show the same commitment.
We are not able to do this on the cheap, you are going to have to pay more for your food, power and transport.
