Food & Farming

A Green Future for Food would transform our relationship with land, agriculture and animals to everyone’s benefit. As a rural district, with outstanding arable land, we are keen to work with farmers in the transition aware from unsustainable monocultural farming practices which are increasingly dependent on artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and anti-biotics.

Greens want to move towards smaller-scale, more diverse, people-focused food production and land management that respects nature is in the hands of local communities and workers across the food system. We urgently need to find ways that break the strangle-hold of the big supermarket chains, to produce food that is healthy and affordable while restoring biodiversity and the structure of our soils.

Transition for farmers

• The Green Party would help Uttlesford farmers move away from industrial methods to sustainable, agroecological land use. This includes organic farming, permaculture and the promotion of agroforestry, mixing trees with crops and pastures. 
• Greens want to see a shift in research priorities towards farmer-led initiatives, improving biodiversity and carbon sequestration, and decreasing our dependency on pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers.
• The overweening power of supermarkets and multinational companies needs to be reined in. We would strengthen the power of the Groceries Code Adjudicator and promote local and regional distribution systems linking producers and small independent local businesses. 
• Grants would be given to farmers to improve their infrastructure and to replace lost hedgerows and wildflower meadows.

Improve food production

• Greens would establish a Food and Agriculture Research Council to develop sustainable and health-promoting food production and distribution.
• We would invest in researching how to reduce methane emissions from livestock and the conservation and development of high-quality soils, which provide the foundation for life on this planet.
• To accelerate changes in food consumption and sustainable sourcing, we would introduce clear labelling on food products to indicate carbon emissions, air miles, animal welfare and farming methods.

 Animal welfare 

• We are a nation of animal lovers, but that doesn’t always get reflected in the choices we make about the food we eat. The Green party believes that our love of animals should include farm animals: how they are bred, reared and killed. The principle of animal sentience would be legally recognised, while we all take personal responsibility in checking where our meat comes from.
• The Greens would advocate to end factory farming and prohibit the routine use of antibiotics for farm animals.
• The party would implement a complete ban on cages and close confinement.