Scrap the Countryside (British agriculture)

Member Name: Alindrail

Product:	British agriculture
Date:	28/02/01 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks pretty

Disadvantages: Makes everything expensive

Not many people are going to like this opinion, but it is one which I hope some people will view as valid.

I respect the fact that some people want to live in the country, and that is a valid life choice. What I do object to is being told that farmers need large subsidies and government help packages to stay afloat.

The fact is that if it isn't viable, scrap it. I do know that people don't always have this option, but the fact is that being a farmer in the UK is difficult, you need to submit to expensive regulation. The regulations in place have been put in place following public demand for safer foods. Despite this we can see that it is not effective, leading to BSE and the recent foot and mouth epidemic. If it requires subsidies, it is not cost effective. If this was a tech industry, it would be allowed to slump and die.

I do realise that a lot of these people have a connection with the land they own, and that is fair enough. What I do object to is the idea that everyone else has to maintain that connection. The farmers should not be encouraging young people to farm, but allowing them to go out into the modern world where technology will most likely lead to more secure jobs, or at least into industries which ARE cost effective.

So what would be the result? A lot of empty land? No, of course not, because it would be land that could be expanded into. The British could at long last have decent sized housing at affordable prices. Areas of spectacular beauty would be preserved (for far less money than farm subsidies) and tourism would fund a lot of the rest.

But what about local foods! Of course there would still be farming, but specialised for products that fetch high prices from a market which demands high quality products. The vast bulk can be imported far more cheaply from abroad. The notion that the UK should be food self sufficient is a farce. Strict regulation should be imposed on these imports (which is gener
ally the case anyway with the EU), and so safety measures should not be jeopardised.

Do I really believe all this? Yes, to a degree. I think that the idea of preserving a 'rural' Britain is odd. Those areas that will be rural will always be rural, but what is the point in preserving the other areas that are fighting urbanisation and rising property prices? The UK IS a rural country, drive between the various cities and have a look. There's loads of it, tonnes of it, and most of it all the same, slow rolling fields. Maybe some of it can be put to other uses.

Summary: