Brexit and the rural community
- 2016-03-29
- By ReimaginingEurope
- Posted in Human Flourishing, Mark Betson
Over 40 per cent of the EU budget is spent on farming but in the European debate it has largely been a footnote. British farmers have, by and large, defined the shape of our countryside for the last millennia. In the last 40 years their farming and that landscape has in part been a reflection of the opportunities and restrictions contained within the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU. Even if you don’t visit the countryside you probably care about the food on your plate and where it comes from.
The policy in its early life was put in place for what was believed to be the common good of the people of Europe. By paying farmers to produce more it put food back into the shops at an affordable price. Unfortunately it did not stop at enough but continued into excess creating the terms butter mountain and milk lake as food stockpiled.
Then in the early 1990’s there was a fundamental change in the policy. Farmers were paid not for the food that they produced but for the land that they farmed. What they did with their fields became as important as the amount of wheat, meat and milk that came off them to those who allocated subsidy payments.
With this new emphasis came also a drive to protect the plants and creatures, the water and the soil contained in or close to these fields. Hedgerows were to be put back and space was to be given for plants and animals not part of the harvest. Soil and water were to be treated as precious commodities which were at risk by what you did with your plough and with your fertilizer.
In the debate over Europe agriculture is often overlooked but it commands 42 per cent of the entire budget of the EU and has a major impact on the land around us. Christian environmental ethics holds the land in high regard following in the footsteps of its origins in Judaism as the promised place where God will provide for his people. It is a place where our stewardship is part of the role of inhabiting it – we are to care for it if it is to continue to be the source of our food and our identity.
The promised land of the Old Testament shaped the culture of the people who settled there. Our landscape has shaped and continues to shape our culture - take the image of Britain portrayed at the opening to the 2012 London Olympics and its origins in a green and pleasant land – yet the future of our investment in it has not been addressed in the EU debate.
European agricultural policy has moved from an emphasis on food production to environmental protection. Does it have the balance right? Does it aim to give us quality food and a green and pleasant land? Just as importantly what is the alternative being offered if we were to leave Europe?
About the author
Mark Betson is the Rural and Environment Officer for the Diocese of Chichester and works with the Farming Community Network (FCN) as their Regional Director in the South East. Prior to this he was and Environmental Scientist with the consulting firm ADAS advising organisations like DEFRA.
EEC policy has decimated British industry.
Where is our ship building? Destroyed by the EEC.
Fishing? Virtually destroyed by the EEC, who give 70% of our fishing quota, to foreign fleets.
Farming? You have already done a pretty good job, showing how inept the EEC are.
Long before the EEC was thought of, we were known as a green and pleasant land.
The EEC has tried hard to destroy that perception.
We pay a Kings ransom, every week, to be dictated to, by a undemocratic organisation, ruled by unelected commissioners. Corruption is the norm.
We were a more successful trading nation, before we joined the EEC shambles, making our own trade deals, globally.
We are still the worlds 6th largest economy, so lets get out, and become a successful independent nation again
Oh dear, John, this is pretty much the same set of words that you use every tune irrespective of the subject matter. Here Mark Bets on has produced an interesting piece on which you have nothing to say.
Mark is right that the future of farming in a Brexit Britain has not been addressed. We can hardly go back to the old deficiency payments and I very much doubt that a government would want to recreate the old Marketing Boards. So would there be protection against New Zealand butter and Canadian wheat? Or would it be a free for all in which factory farming and loss of care for the environment would prevail?
Has the NFU said anything about their approach to the referendum?
If the words are true, then they are worth repeating.
Maybe an independent UK would recreate the Marketing Boards, in some form, or not, but the decision would be taken in Britain.
There are many issues which will need to be settled if the UK does leave, but as a nation, we will do so.
Why would we need protection from NZ butter, & Canadian wheat?
We would make our own trade deals, buying what our country needs, and selling our products to other nations, including those in the EU.
Do nations not make laws to protect the environment, and set rules for farming?
Why would the UK permit factory farming & poor environmental care?
If you wish to know what the NFU says, ask them.