feature Labour in the countryside
OUR LAND IS FOR
The government’s Our vision for land use in England consultation document on food security, economic expansion and the environment, has the potential to increase green jobs and boost employment in the smaller agricultural machinery suppliers’ market, says soil scientist and Unite campaigner Dr Charlie Clutterbuck – but only if it increases food production at home.
With the UK set to be battered by prevailing winds, Charlie’s new website reveals how unproductive plots of land across the Western Pennines could be recultivated. It’s a programme that could be developed nationwide – especially as under one per cent of land is used for horticulture.
This is being overlooked under the Our vision consultation as each of the targets talked about are to do with the environment – but there are no targets for food.
This follows the last government’s prioritising of carbon offsetting, resulting in increasing number of businesses, including many from the City of London such as Standard Life and Aviva, buying productive farmland and planting trees to profit from subsidies for ‘homegrown
n By Mark Metcalf
GROWING ON
One Unite member tells us his views on the govt’s land use vision
carbon credits.’ Large landowners are following suit.
“Today, I hear local business people say that they prefer to buy carbon credits. Worryingly, not so for food,” states Clutterbuck.
England is a mosaic of different land uses, with two thirds of its area (67 per cent) being agricultural while built-up areas take up 11 per cent of land.
Charlie’s site (see below) is a virtual tour showing land use in the Western Pennines is changeable. Charlie knows as he once farmed there. It is not an easy task.
GPS can be employed by walkers for accuracy on the 14 walking stages outlined stretching from Ilkley, via Hebden Bridge and Burnley, on to Pendle where women were killed as ‘witches’ for challenging the local landowners who evicted them from their farms.
Land reflects a lot of history, much of it about power and struggle.
Charlie’s aim “is to reveal how land may have looked in previous times, thus helping decide future patterns. We need to question how we could run the land better – both for people and the planet. Much needs changing.”
The rewards though could be substantial. “By cutting our food imports, much of which is ultra- processed, from the current 50 per cent we’d reduce travel miles, slicing our CO2 emissions.
“The current £5bn countryside land-based subsidies should be concentrated on aiding smaller scale food production, thus increasing rural jobs and boosting demand for smaller farm machinery from companies manufacturing them. It is a win-win situation,” concludes Clutterbuck.
FIND OUT MORE Charlie’s site on land use:
https://bit.ly/3HzoY84
View promo film:
https://vimeo.com/1028125952/bd9192d519 16 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2025
Mark Harvey
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