Monday, January 09, 2006
The Soil Association: 60 years old and still a minority interest
The Soil Association, the leading band of organic foodies in the UK, has just held its 60th anniversary conference. This has gone largely unnoticed by the general public, apart possibly from the fact that David Cameron spoke at their dinner. Since the Tory new boy is eager to prove his environmentalist credentials, this should come as no surprise.
What surprised me, however, was the fact that Caroline Lucas, the UK's single Green Party MEP, made a comment about Cameron's speech which, I have to admit, I agreed with:
Mr Cameron made a warm speech almost entirely devoid of content, according to Dr Lucas.
However, she restored my faith in her by herself making a very silly speech the next day (see Feeding our cities in the 21st century). It seems to surprise her that very little farming goes on in cities, and that large quantities of food need to be brought in on a daily basis. In fact, she seems to regard the very nature of cities to be "unsustainable" (whatever that means). According to her sources, the EU's "environmental footprint" is twice as large as its global carrying capacity. This arrant nonsense is based on dubious calculations designed to "prove" (all very Marxist, this) that we are living beyond our means, when all visible indications show this is clearly not the case.
Her solution is to encourage consumption of locally-produced food, organic of course. The "encouragement" would include public procurement rules which effectively mandate it. But the end result would be a vast cut in food miles and a blissfully happy and healthy society. Apart that is, from the farmers, both in Europe and developing countries, who make a living by selling urban dwellers food they can't grow themselves because they are working in other sectors and don't want to turn their flowerbeds over to potatoes. Oh, and perhaps the general public who appreciate a choice of good quality, affordable food. Still, if it makes the Soil Association happy...
What surprised me, however, was the fact that Caroline Lucas, the UK's single Green Party MEP, made a comment about Cameron's speech which, I have to admit, I agreed with:
Mr Cameron made a warm speech almost entirely devoid of content, according to Dr Lucas.
However, she restored my faith in her by herself making a very silly speech the next day (see Feeding our cities in the 21st century). It seems to surprise her that very little farming goes on in cities, and that large quantities of food need to be brought in on a daily basis. In fact, she seems to regard the very nature of cities to be "unsustainable" (whatever that means). According to her sources, the EU's "environmental footprint" is twice as large as its global carrying capacity. This arrant nonsense is based on dubious calculations designed to "prove" (all very Marxist, this) that we are living beyond our means, when all visible indications show this is clearly not the case.
Her solution is to encourage consumption of locally-produced food, organic of course. The "encouragement" would include public procurement rules which effectively mandate it. But the end result would be a vast cut in food miles and a blissfully happy and healthy society. Apart that is, from the farmers, both in Europe and developing countries, who make a living by selling urban dwellers food they can't grow themselves because they are working in other sectors and don't want to turn their flowerbeds over to potatoes. Oh, and perhaps the general public who appreciate a choice of good quality, affordable food. Still, if it makes the Soil Association happy...
