Twist Issue 161 May 2024

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Tw st Why we must produce our own food Toby Perkins, Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, presents his monthly column for <strong>Twist</strong> readers A S the Shadow Minister for Nature and Rural Affairs, I have regular visits and meetings with farmers and food producers and I have seen first-hand the pressures they are facing and the instability of many farms in the UK. It has been a particularly difficult period for farming and food production in recent years. A report in December showed that over the last seven years almost 5,000 producers of meat, fruit, vegetables and dairy products had gone out of business, together with a 30% decrease in the number of jobs in agriculture, forestry and fishing during this period. This particularly affects our rural communities, but also means we are importing more produce and reducing our food security. There’s a balance that needs to be reached between ensuring we have affordable food, and ensuring our hard-working farmers can stay in business. One way we can move towards this is by educating people, so they understand the work that goes into our food production, helping people appreciate what it takes to get food from the fields to our kitchen table and why it is important to have such high food standards. And farms are also having to diversify. We are seeing more farmers selling direct to customers, like the Hassop farm I visited in the Peak District last week, which has been selling fresh milk direct to customers for some time. I was a regular customer of theirs during lockdown. It was good to see that they have now expanded their offer with a new shop that also sells milkshakes and other products. Other farms are expanding into the leisure sector, offering camping and glamping on their land. And many farms are putting more land aside for improving the environment and increasing biodiversity. Locally, I am a loyal customer of Adam’s Happy Hens, which started as an honesty box on the Baslow Road at Holymoorside, selling a few boxes of eggs and has grown immensely. I love visiting their farm shop and the goat and chicken feeding delights younger customers, so I encourage others to give them a visit too. This mixed-use approach will help British farming to become more sustainable, but they may still require additional subsidies from Government, a fairer deal from supermarkets for what they are paid for their food, and a push to get consumers to buy 24 Toby Perkins MP checks out a tractor at Carlton Forest Farm Pictured with farmers and NFU representatives more British produce. It is important to recognise that the high standards farmers maintain in this country can mean a great deal of additional costs that their competitors in other countries don’t have. And with many farmers looking to restore the balance of nature in farming, which can mean putting aside some agricultural spaces to turn them into areas for trees, wildflower meadows, ponds and wildlife corridors, this can impact on the amount they can produce and again represents a cost to their business. Labour has pledged to improve food security and boost the UK’s agriculture sector with a “new deal for farmers”, including a target that at least half of the food used in hospitals, schools and prisons is British. Personally, I always try my best to buy British, seasonal produce. This means I am getting the freshest produce that has been grown or reared to the highest standards, as well as reducing the carbon footprint of my family food shop compared to from products that have been imported from abroad. The invasion of Ukraine and the impact on grain and other food imports – which has contributed to the significant rise in food costs – is a good example why we need to ensure we are producing our own food. Food security is part of national security and we need to appreciate our farmers, fisherman and food producers.
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Page 4: Tw st H UGE congratulations to ever
Page 7 and 8: Champion to Champion help Dalton Ro
Page 9 and 10: nuclear test explosions Tw st Ted,
Page 11 and 12: These days most homeowners suffer f
Page 13 and 14: CHESTERFIELD SHOW SITE NOW OPEN! Ex
Page 15 and 16: Tw st Let us help you with your jou
Page 18 and 19: Tw st A1 Roofing is a family-run bu
Page 20 and 21: Tw st Look for exotic newts in your
Page 22 and 23: Tw st Community champions recognise
Page 26 and 27: Tw st Fun in the sun at the 10k run
Page 28 and 29: Total Empathy Our Family Law team i
Page 30 and 31: Tw st Market Place A glimpse of tow
Page 32 and 33: Tw st The fabulous forties S WITCHI
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Twist Issue 161 May 2024

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