Organic farmers need more support from government if the opportunities of Brexit are to be fully realised and Britain is going to make up ground on other European nations when it comes to organic production.
That was the view of a panel of organic industry leaders, who debated the topic of a ‘green Brexit’ at the Natural Food Show in London this week.
Helen Browning, chief executive at the Soil Association and a Remainer, tried to strike an upbeat tone by stressing there is a “huge opportunity to shape British farming and the food system than [there was] through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)”, but warned that this comes with the caveat that there are substantial risks involved, particularly for smaller farmers and in international trade.
“This government, especially [Defra secretary of state] Michael Gove, says a lot of the right things, with a much stronger focus on the environment as the government recognises young people care about that,” she pointed out, adding that the publication of the 25 Year Environment Plan was a step in the right direction. “There are grounds for optimism if Gove and the government can turn those great words into concrete action that supports farming.”
However she warned that raising the standards in Britain only to import lower-standard food from abroad risked putting British producers at a disadvantage, and argued that organics needs to be supported in its own right rather than just as part of the farming picture. “Some smaller farms may be very vulnerable after Brexit and we need to transition carefully and thoughtfully, with smaller farmers given every opportunity to adapt.”
‘Denial and fantasy’
Nick Saltmarsh, co-founder of pulses supplier Hodmedod, struck a downbeat note when assessing the challenges facing producers in the current political environment, and held out the hope that Brexit still might not happen. “Despite Gove’s fine words, I fear they will come off the rails because they are based on denial and fantasy,” he said. “The EU was cast as something that was out of control, but it wasn’t some external bogeyman. We helped shape CAP, and if we didn’t do [the kind of things that Gove proposes] when we were in the EU I have little faith that we will do them now.”
Saltmarsh cited oranges, which he said have nine different types of tariff applied to them and are not only imported into Britain but also re-exported, as a microcosm of the dizzying amount of work that will be needed to be done on trade. “I fear we will get bogged down with this and the ambitions of the government around Brexit will get lost,” he added. “Then there’s the power other countries will wield over us. I think there’s an increasingly strong feeling that we’ve gone into something that’s not a good way for us to go.”
On a more positive front, he said Brexit had brought some fresh and creative thinking, and a mood of looking at new strategies fit for the future.
Organic Trade Board chairman Adrian Blackshaw, meanwhile, said that “the devil is in the detail” when it comes to trade policy, asking the question of what the government would be willing to accept when it comes to a trade deal with, for example, the US, with concerns having been voiced over chlorinated chicken and beef with added hormones.
Looking at positives, Blackshaw argued that CAP, by paying people simply to own land, was an imperfect model that had contributed towards environmental damage, and offered his backing to the government’s new approach of payment for public goods.
Linking farming and public health
The panellists agreed that the government is making the right call when linking farming and food with public health, stressing that organics can play a key role in the discussion about healthier diets. “It’s encouraging that public health should be at the heart of food and farming policy,” said Browning. “We need more diverse diets, more horticulture, more fruits, more nuts. There are opportunities for new entrants into farming. Ecological innovation, permaculture, and not just robots. We also want government to get its act together on public procurement, which is something we’ve lobbied for for years.”
Saltmarsh said he wanted to see more of a mention in policy of the protein deficiency, which is to say the fact that Britain consumes more protein than it is able to produce.
‘Pitiful’ organic acreage
With organics having a seven to 10 per cent market share in the likes of Germany and Denmark, and Austria having 20 per cent of land under organic conditions, Blackshaw raised the question of Britain’s underperformance compared to other European countries, describing the current three per cent of organic land in this country as a “pitiful” figure.
“We have to up our game,” he said. “We currently have half a million acres of organic land in Britain. If we get to 10 per cent of land in organic production, it’ll have a massive impact on biodiversity. Government needs to focus on looking at best practice and gold standards from across the world.”
Saltmarsh added: “The amount of land we have in organics is an example of a woeful approach in the UK. We could have learned from other countries by staying in the EU. Other countries have shown what is possible.”
Browning suggested that the underperformance is linked to lack of government backing for organic farmers, arguing that more support at the farmgate would mean lower prices for consumers and more buy-in for the category.
