Our most important 2025 New Year’s resolution will be to keep building public engagement in our efforts to support UK food & farming. It is going to be a pivotal year to ensure and protect the future of our food and farming industry.
It is crucial that we help public really understand where their food comes from. This knowledge is a lifeline for British farmers and producers, so that they can build support and educate consumers in order to safeguard our farmers’ future.
I would personally like to thank Jeremy Clarkson for helping to build such public awareness with his high-profile farming ventures, as well as his additional help in the hospitality industry with his recent pub purchase – another area of essential trade that is on its knees, especially in our rural British communities and villages.
Just import it?
The recent budget has brought utter chaos to the farming community with the new inheritance tax announcement. I’ve seen comments that “we don’t need farmers, we can import our food instead”. What a ridiculous statement. It’s pure madness to even think it’s a viable solution.
There is a global hunger crisis and many major nations have stopped or have limited aid to poorer countries, alongside which, climate change is affecting everyone globally.
Slowly more questions are being asked on whether there is going to be enough food to feed us all?
We have an ever-increasing global population, and with all the turmoil going on in the Middle East once again, these are dark times affecting us all.
What if some countries choose not to trade with the UK? This would be a major problem, especially as we just don’t produce enough of own food to feed our own population. When there is no food on the supermarket shelves it will be too late to ask why and how it happened. We have to act now to protect the future of British food and farming.
Every one of us should be very concerned about food shortages – before we know it, food will be the new oil on the global playing field and then there will be tears and tantrums.
To have no reliable and supported domestic food supply is madness. No truer words than “No farmers, no food.”
Busy summer
As a seventh generation farming family, we will be hosting the 2025 Open Farm Sunday here at Rawston Farm in the Tarrant valley. This year the date for your food diaries will be Sunday, 9th June – more details will be revealed closer to the time. We have naturally invited all our Love Local Trust Local family to come and join us in order to help spread the word about local food and farming businesses here in Dorset. It’s such a wonderful opportunity for them to tell their fabulous stories to our many visitors.
And we are expecting a lot of people through the farm gates – we usually have around 2,000 people join us on the farm for this brilliant event.
Back in 2018, Open Farm Sunday was what started the Love Local Trust Local food and farming label, as it was clear people wanted to know what is produced locally and clearer labelling was much needed. This remains important: we still have a huge number of unregulated imports flooding into our country. They are then allowed to be re-processed and subsequently sold under the British flag – totally unfair to both the consumer, and of course, to our own UK food producers.
Dishonest at best and illegal at worst.
We need to support our community of Dorset food producers out there – come on local councils and governments of Britain, WAKE UP!! We need homegrown food on all our plates.
Let’s hope for a happier new year.
Barbara Cossins
Founder, Love Local Trust Local
