Food security vs money…

Food security was one of many catchphrases banded about in the recent Jersey elections, but what does it really mean to you, and more to the point any of ‘them’ - the newly elected?

British life has been for many years measured on the price of bread and beer: the staples of the mass population. The moment that the commodity markets start murmuring, the whole population is likely to feel it and none more-so than on an island that hasn’t been able to feed itself for many years.

Farmers in Jersey are passengers. The dairy sector is fortunate enough to have a protected market for selling liquid milk locally, but is still at the hands of feed merchants and fertiliser companies, and Jersey does boast one of the biggest brands in produce in the form of the Jersey Royal new potato, but during tough times the average punter simply stops buying premium products, and nearly all sectors of the rural economy are price takers, not makers.

We need a reassessment of our food system because aside from milk, the odd egg and potatoes for 3 - 4 months of the year food security doesn’t exist on the Island. Jersey’s food security is based upon the fact that we have a freight boat arrive each morning for 6 out of 7 days of the week, and we’ve all seen the panic when a storm rolls in, the boat doesn’t sail and there is a sudden shortage of mangoes!

For sometime I have talked with colleagues (and government) about the need for an Island Food Strategy, and right now I believe that this is as pertinent as at any time in history.

Land use is at the heart of food chain functionality and resilience, and we need to delicately balance production and environmental measures for true sustainability.

A few years ago the Island adopted LEAF Marque as a standard as part of the Rural Economy Strategy, and that has born improvements to the rural landscape as well as a review of certain practices, all of which should be applauded, but it is a question as to where we go from here.

Earlier in the year Woodside Farms, the largest Island producer of vegetables announced that they will not continue to supply produce in the way that they have as it simply doesn’t stack up, and this is a real worry. Other producers are hanging in there from the glasshouse sector (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, aubergines, beans etc) as well as a couple of outdoor growers farming some main crop potatoes, a few brassicas and courgettes, to egg producers, asparagus and some organics, but none are having an easy time of it and that is simply down to the economics of the job.

So what should the Government of Jersey be doing? - Nobody likes to hear about subsidies, but they are a reality of life across the world, and when Jersey remained independent in 1973 the government of the day promised to support the rural sector.
In 1991 Jersey Farmers were supported to the tune of £7.98 million which equated to £92 / head of population and this year that is down to £2.5 million and £24 / head of population. Compare this to a UK and European average of around £100 / head or Northern Ireland at £189 / head then you can start to understand that our Farmers aren’t operating on a level playing field.

Prices of fertiliser have escalated out of all proportion - up by around 200% (if you can get hold of it), the price of fuel and general animal feed both up three-fold; everything is on a knife-edge.

So what value is placed on the Island’s Rural Economy? I believe that islanders like the sight of brown cows in fields and appreciate the beauty of the countryside without understanding the costs and values involved. People love to moan about ‘branchage’ (hedge cutting for non-Jersey folk!) and how it should be done, and yet that is all at a cost to the landlord (or more often the land user). But what about the value of the industry, and I’m not just talking pounds and pence.

Agriculture may not be a massive part of the Islands GDP, but it silently promotes and supports every islander. The rural economy is a significant payer of harbour dues (circa £1 million pa), and agricultural exports (potatoes principally, but also regular shipments of dairy products) are the only significant northbound freight. - It has long been recognised that freight supports passenger movements, and northbound freight is nirvana to the shipping companies as it is in effect ‘back haul’.
And then there are other hidden values that agriculture brings to the Island. The Jersey cow as arguably the most efficient breed in the world has been exported to all corners of the globe further advertising our island. Jersey Royal new potatoes regularly appear on TV adverts and daytime cookery programmes advertising the beauty of the Island to would-be holiday makers. I could go on.

Another catchphrase from the recent campaigns was the environment and carbon. Jersey recently signed up to the Glasgow protocol to be Carbon neutral by 2050, but how are we going to achieve that? Lots of well-meaning people talk about planting trees, but they aren’t even the best answer to carbon sequestration. We need to start measuring carbon that is already being captured on the island through all of the trees, hedgerows, fields, parks, gardens and other open spaces. This is not an insurmountable project, but it does need planning, structure and management because there aren’t enough rain forests in the world to buy off-sets.

Renewable energy was also discussed and there are now firm plans to install the first block of ground-based solar panels on the East of the island. Many will think that this is a step forward and in the right direction, but I go back to my earlier statement about food security, and the point about land use being at the heart of food chain functionality and resilience. We shouldn’t be losing land from food production, quite the opposite.

Jersey needs to see longer-term policies to support the rural economy and food production, and integrated systems that are environmentally sensitive and sustainable. Unfortunately though the Island lives in notoriously short term political cycles, so what is the incentive to change?
Islanders should be demanding that farming and local food production are at the forefront of policy making, and we need to redress our reliance on the off-shore financial sector that has underwritten so much of island life over the last 30+ years because we can’t eat money.

(Cover image courtesy of RJA&HS)