Sustainable farming is in deep trouble. Use it or lose it.
All the signs are that efforts to push ahead with sustainable farming are failing. It’s a disaster in the making.
All but one of my investments in sustainable food are struggling or going out of business. My investment in a zero carbon Ukrainian potato venture is limping along. No prizes for guessing why.
A pledged investment into the preservation of rare and globally important cattle and sheep bloodlines was cancelled despite overfunding. The CEO’s message said:
We really appreciate the support of all our customers, existing and new, in our Seedrs campaign and regret that we have to cancel it.
We set out in the campaign how we wanted to use the funds to grow the business. However, the ongoing challenges of the current economic environment mean that we have made a decision that we need to slow that growth and therefore take a different approach to our fundraising.
This sounds ominous but doesn’t surprise given the amount of relatively heavy discounting it recently started to offer across a range of products. In some cases it is clear they are selling barely above cost based on the last detailed accounts I saw.
A fish marketing business that helped promote locally caught species said it would relaunch last autumn. It went into voluntary liquidation two days ago. Its website says it will relaunch in the Spring. I can’t see that happening since it racked up £2.5 million in losses per its latest accounts and exhausted its capital.
A firm specialising in zero carbon farming using disused underground tunnels in the London area that launched a funding round late last year is relaunching the round at a 66% discount to the last price and pivoting away from production to marketing IP. It’s reasons will be familiar - spiralling operating costs, shrinking demand, crippling planning consent and construction cost issues.
The only venture in which I am invested where I am hopeful is in a vegan restaurant group that is operating at net zero and which looks to be in good condition to move forward on its plan.
In all cases, I’m talking about firms that are committed to providing better quality food that is truly sustainable. The problem is that at this point in the development cycle, all the products in question are priced at a premium to the supermarkets. Fish and meat costs to consumers have rocketed 30-50% in the last year. That translates into a shrinking market as even the comfortable U.K. middle class feels the impact of the cost of living crisis.
Amid all the usual slapstick and mishaps on his Cotswolds estate, and away from his battles with council bureaucracy, Clarkson’s main message was that farmers are furious with the Tory government.
“The time bomb that was ticking on every single farm in the country” was the end of the annual £2.4 bn in EU farming subsidies that are being phased out by Brexit, and the lack of a clear replacement for the future.
In probably his most political broadcast ever, Clarkson cited the promises of leading Vote Leave politicians and contrasted them with the reality of today.
Clarkson is not a person with whom I’d wish to spend any time but on this one, he vocalises the sentiment I see from my invested leadership and locally among the farming community surrounding our village.
It is easy to argue that British farming has had it good with successive governments going out of their way to keep consumer prices artificially low through a system of farming handouts. But that doesn’t get past labour shortages as a direct consequence of the U.K. government’s labour regulations covering migrant workers which served to actively discourage European temporary labour willing to work in an industry that holds no allure for British workers. Neither does it get past the uncertainty of grant funding in a post-Brexit era. Nor does it get past the fact that British fishing has been left to fend for itself despite promises of better opportunities to compete post-Brexit.
British farmers are not standing idly by. They’re doing their best to continue providing sustainable, great quality food but be in no doubt. If the current economic situation for farmers is not resolved in the next few years there will be three outcomes:
Prices will rise further and at eye watering rates.
Mega-farming corporations which operate to provide maximum returns for shareholders will gobble up the small farms upon which British farming diversity and innovation in sustainable practices depend.
Food quality will suffer as sustaining high quality heritage breeds becomes economically impossible.
If I sound elitist, think again. I’ve spoken in the past about being brought up in the immediate post-WWII era and the value of shopping for good quality food. Don’t take my word for it. How about this from the CDC:
Good nutrition is essential to keeping current and future generations healthy across the lifespan. A healthy diet helps children grow and develop properly and reduces their risk of chronic diseases. Adults who eat a healthy diet live longer and have a lower risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. Healthy eating can help people with chronic diseases manage these conditions and avoid complications.
However, when healthy options are not available, people may settle for foods that are higher in calories and lower in nutritional value. People in low-income communities and some racial and ethnic groups often lack access to convenient places that offer affordable, healthier foods.
According to this week’s news, low cost German supermarket operator Aldi plans to hire 6,000 people and open a further 140 stores across the U.K. While I applaud Aldi’s efforts to keep food affordable, its quality doesn’t come close to that available direct from farms that operate sustainable practices.
You can argue that quality always comes at a price and I agree. But sustainable practices speak to the long view of what farming means for our general welfare that comes from good nutrition. It is that critical difference which I believe is worth continued support.
Or…as my dear mum used to say: use it or lose it.
Recent UK sightings of the global monopolist and pseudo polymath Bill Gates to 'help' with UK Net Zero tells you all you need to know about where the western world's agriculture is heading. (Gates is the largest owner of US fam land and continuing to grow this side of his empire).
In the EU the bureaucratic ESG closing of family farms in the Netherlands, a fertile and major EU ag provider in the name of 'agricultural pollution' is also indicative of efforts to centralize and control on the continent.
'Farm to table' and 'sustainable agriculture' is mainly a niche market for the affluent Guardian chattering classes and above right now. We have to be very careful that endless bureaucratic organic etc red tape doesn't expand the Aldi, Iceland and other processed food markets while crushing real farming, which sadly is happening quite rapidly.
Hi Den,
I have the situation where the local supermarket sells their brand of milk at $2 a litre, but also Sella a brand of local milk (from farms about 15 or 20 km away) for $3.50 a litre. We buy the local milk, but that's partly because we can afford to.
Related to this, I have been reading "Chokepoint Capitalism" by Cory Doctorow and Rebecca Giblin. It talks about how businesses as varied as Amazon and supermarket chains create this type of scenario, where they end up taking financial advantage both customers and vendors via their intermediate position between the two; essentially, they act as a monosophony (i.e. a monopoly buyer), to the point where they charge business to advertise (Amazon) or to stock and display their products (supermarkets), and use this to control what gets seen by customers.
What is useful is that the authors also provide solutions, above and beyond "ethical shopping.
HTH