Screenings feed trade miscellany views expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher or the sponsor


LET CYNICISM AND SCEPTICISM BE SUSPENDED… THIS AMBITIOUS AND VISIONARY INITIATIVE OFFERS GREAT OPPORTUNITIES If you haven’t already scrawled in your diary KEEP FREE across 26th to 29th


September 2013, now is the time to do so. As you may know,


it is proposed to stage a major exhibition of British farming, food and countryside to the Great British Public in Hyde Park, London, on those four days. The event will be free to enter and regular readers of the farming


press will be aware already that it’s the brainchild of some ambitious farmers. Having set up Farming in the Park Ltd (FITP) to promote it, they claim the proposal “has been warmly received across the farming scene,” and has also elicited a message of support from His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh.1


this event seems like a no-brainer to your correspondent. It’s been done before successfully. It taps into a healthy interest among a good proportion of the public in food and how the countryside is being managed. At the end of the 1992 event, more than 90% of exhibitors said another event should be held soon and FITP says “20 years later this is long overdue.” And as their website points out, “across Britain, from county shows to open farms, there has been an impressive amount of activity and initiative to engage with all age groups. We now need to tap into this communication renaissance.” Building on existing success, the proposal’s aspiration to utilise


activity and funding streams that are already up and running looks particularly sensible in today’s climate of government austerity. It cites a feature called ‘Why Farming Matters in Kent’ at the county show, where a mini-orchard, shearing demo with Romney Marsh sheep, and a replica oast house drying hops for real, have all been created using funds from the Rural Development Programme for England, locals charitable trusts and corporate sponsorship. According to the proposal, similar initiatives to this are taking place


in other parts of the country that are equally worthy of a shop window in the nation’s capital. Also, perhaps dropping a hint to the farming unions, it suggests “the possibility of national organisations helping a county organisation put on a display.” Pledges received already include a state of the art combine harvester and a NABIM baking demonstration that could feature in a field to plate story about bread staged by one of the eastern counties. Notably, and here is an opportunity for our sector, the website doesn’t yet contain an equivalent proposed livestock feature. Meanwhile, continuing


An early list of supporting organisations is posted on the FITP


website, including JCB and John Deere, NFU and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Ocado and The British Christmas Tree Growers Association. As yet, the animal feed industry doesn’t appear to have troubled the website manager, but hopefully that’s about to change. Essentially, the proposal is to repeat and eclipse the successes of


two such events in 1989 and 1992, each attended by nearly a million people. The 2013 instigators are challenging every county in Britain to stage a one-acre exhibit showing off their farming, food and countryside. Clearly, the resulting nation picture will allow visitors to explore and enjoy a diverse variety of the farming industry’s aspects and outputs. Suspending cynicism and scepticism for a moment, supporting


PAGE 18 MARCH 2012 FEED COMPOUNDER


with positive attitudes, the company that organised the 1989 and 1992 event – whose business involves organising large scale outdoor events such as Proms in the Park – has done a feasibility study. This was paid for by the NFU and Singer Foundation, and found the proposal to be viable. The Royal Parks and Westminster City Council are reported to be “agreeable, indeed enthusiastic, about an event similar to 1989 and 1992.” Factors including security and access, staging and management, traffic and transport, setting up


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