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CRPR Seminar - Andy Gray, Farm Wilder - Food and Farming; how did we get here and where are we going?

Andy Gray - Farm Wilder - Food and Farming; how did we get here and where are we going? The personal experiences of a recipient/victim of rural policy


Event details

Abstract

Please note that this is a hybrid event - please contact CRPR@exeter.ac.uk to request the Teams joining instructions.

Our broader rural landscape competes in space and time for multiple benefits and outcomes.

Current food production strategy and individuals’ financial sustainability has primacy, a state of affairs which is frequently damaging to future food production, biodiversity and social sustainability. How have agriculture and its allied industries arrived in this largely unprofitable and extractive state? Is it through the personal choices of practitioners, the unintended consequences of policymakers, the inevitable consequences of free markets or all the above, plus many other factors? Can we look back through the green revolution, the war years and the two great agricultural depressions and use the lessons learned to influence future policy as best we can? Is societal need for land use change an opportunity for agricultural resilience or another corporate raid on a disparate and easily divided industry? Can we row back on the consolidation of our processors and retailers or are farmers doomed to sell to anti-competitive monopolised buyers? Can we make space for nature in a landscape of low margins, and would high margins allow space for nature or encourage intensification? We know we need nature recovery to tackle climate change and build a resilient industry. Can we use evidence-based policies to build compelling financial models for farming and will the industry respond if we do?

Location:

Byrne House