This booklet reviews farming-government relationships in historical context, with particular reference to the UK but also drawing on international case study material. It argues that these relationships reached an all-time low during the past decade. The urgent issue of climate change and its inter-relationships with farming offers both impetus and wide reasons for striving to improve farmer-government relations. The paper concludes with pointers on how this might be achieved. Written and compiled by Christopher Jones with contributions from Dr Dan Taylor and The Rev Ivor MacDonald. “An Unsafe Distance” can be downloaded here:
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ATP News
We will be looking at a small number of farming scapegoats – not in order to take our
turn in blame games, but because there are important lessons. The chosen scapegoats
are the unjustly blamed and suffer severe consequences, whilst the real causes of a
problem remain undiscovered, or unacknowledged and therefore unremedied. That,
of course, goes a long way to ensure that the problem will recur. Looking ahead, the
challenge and complexities of climate change will offer many opportunities for
scapegoating – pouring blame on the weak or inarticulate rather than confronting real
problems and possibly powerful interests or cherished illusions.
We will be looking at a small number of farming scapegoats – not in order to take our turn in blame games, but because there are important lessons. The chosen scapegoats are the unjustly blamed and suffer severe consequences, whilst the real causes of a problem remain undiscovered, or unacknowledged and therefore unremedied. That, of course, goes a long way to ensure that the problem will recur. Looking ahead, the challenge and complexities of climate change will offer many opportunities for scapegoating – pouring blame on the weak or inarticulate rather than confronting real problems and possibly powerful interests or cherished illusions.
You can download the talk at: Are GM Crops necessary? Full reports and PowerPoints from the meeting are now available at: http://www.fhf.org.uk/meet JRI/Redcliffe College Environment day Conference: Food Futures
A full report on this meeting is now available in the June 2010 JRI Newsletter (number 23) Climate-Change Study Cites Role of Ancient Farming This is an interesting article by David A. Fahrenthold in the Washington Post (Monday, September 28, 2009) looking at the work of William Ruddiman, whose “early anthropocene” idea puts human induced climate change back thousands of years. Farming Dilemmas – Continuity and Succession The annual ACF conference this year will be at Stoneleigh on 19th November 2009. See programme Details: No farmer lasts forever, half a century at most. However, land lasts for aeons and there is a remarkable degree of continuity in farming families. Transition that engages real people at deep levels has always demanded a lot of human nature and involved pain and failure as well as success. For several reasons, this process is becoming harder and more uncertain, often leading not merely to an end of one family’s involvement, but to the disappearance of the farm as an entity. We want to explore people’s personal experiences of this. Very possibly some issues will emerge which can be carried forward but this day’s focus will be on the personal experiences, and we hope people will come ready to share some of their own insights. However, all this does have a context, both in our understanding of family and human relationships and in our understanding of our relationship with Creation and of farming. Does scale and “familyness” matter? Would it matter if half of England was farmed by a couple of farming companies? Is a banana plantation as good as farms, which grow bananas? Should square miles of the Ukraine be farmed by foreign companies or half of Mauritius be leased for a hundred years to the Daewoo motor company? There is much at stake all over the world as well as in our farming lives, but we will focus on our lives and experiences. We will begin with biblical reflection on farming, family, community and land. A new paper by John Wibberley in Rural Theology 6(2), 75-89, Issue 71, 2008. ABSTRACT- The case for global climate change is made, with reference to current warming trends and consequent increases in the severity and unpredictability of the weather. Consensus is considerable that substantial contribution is made to it by human activity. Agriculture, including livestock production in particular, contributes its share to global warming. Agricultural implications may include suffering or gain from climate change depending upon where one is farming. In general, already marginal, food insecure areas will suffer most – notably in sub-Saharan Africa. Moral dilemmas are raised not only by the events resulting and likely to result from climate change but also from the actual and potential responses to it at both policy and personal levels. Practical responses to these realities are considered in the light of some basic theological reflections. |
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Susan Atkinson has just produced her new paper: 
Dr. Martin J. Hodson spoke on “Are GM crops necessary to secure global food supplies at affordable prices?” at the summer conference on GM Crops and Food Security 2010-2050 put on by the ASSOCIATE PARLIAMENTARY FOOD & HEALTH FORUM at the House of Commons on Wednesday 21 July 2010.