Now is a crucial moment to influence how the UK’s food and farming policy is shaped as withdrawal from the EU proceeds. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are consulting based on a paper they have published called Health and Harmony which sets out the framework that will define future agricultural policy. The paper acknowledges that the current subsidy system has huge problems and that payments to larger landowners should be reduced. However, it doesn’t do enough to show how small-scale farms and transition to more sustainable ways of farming will be supported.
The Landworkers’ Alliance is a grassroots union of farmers, growers and land-based workers seeking to create a better food system for everyone. They have prepared a support package with briefings, guidlines and draft responses to make it easy to respond to the consultation.
Please take action here and share widely before the deadline on Tuesday 8 May.
We need to help Defra understand that agroeoclogical farms can deliver public goods for the environment, health, economy and communities while providing the food that everyone needs.
