Food or Future

The next few months are going be the summer of food and things food related. A subject that is both close to my heart and of great international importance at this time, and will only be increasingly so, as volcanic ash clouds ground flights and developing countries economies and populations grow, increasing their domestic demand for food that is currently grown for western consumption.

Even though agriculture is the largest manufacturing industry in the UK, we now import over 50% of the food consumed annually (according to the Food and Drink Federation) a total of approx £31 Billion worth of food and drink every year.

So we really need to be looking at alternative ways to eat, or else we’ll be caught out and going hungry. I’m investigating interesting, innovative and forward thinking solutions to what could become a real problem if it’s not addressed. On the other end of the spectrum I will also be looking at more commonly recognised agricultural techniques, seeing how they work and what they can do to adapt to a changing world.

This week I will be documenting a permaculture course in Norfolk, run by Richard Perkins of integral permanence