feature Green growth
SOWING THE SEEDS FOR GREEN
Real green jobs can make a major difference, says Unite’s Charlie Clutterbuck
Unite’s very own soil scientist Dr Charlie Clutterbuck is not only co-producing a Grow to Eat documentary film and completing a book he’s dreamed about all his life on soil, but he is also asking why talk of green jobs never includes agriculture? He says, “We hear about green jobs in the energy sector when they are building massive windfarms in the middle of the countryside, while ignoring the potential to grow more food there.
“Meanwhile, we import about half our food while ignoring the disproportionate environmental impacts on the rest of the planet.”
It means 70 per cent of the land needed to grow our food is abroad, mainly in South America, where 40 per cent of the population has experienced moderate or severe food insecurity.
“There is a similar proportion regarding greenhouse gases, and as for water to grow the stuff, this is hard to measure,” says Charlie. “The late Professor Tony Allen coined the term ‘virtual water’ to describe the water used to grow our food. One estimate put that at 22 River Niles’ worth in Africa to supply Europe with the fruit and vegetables we are actually good at growing ourselves.”
Charlie, who half a century ago combined with colleagues to kick start the Hazards magazine, revolutionising the trade union health and safety approach away largely from compensation towards prevention, wants to sow the seed for a whole green economy.
Charlie’s new short film, Grow to Eat, due out shortly, shows it’s possible to grow food in the most difficult of places. Adopting such a programme nationally could bring substantial rewards in terms of countryside jobs and a revival of communities left behind.
“We could be sowing the seed for a whole green economy if we invested in real green jobs, mainly in the countryside. Also by encouraging the growth of healthy crops and animals we could save money on dealing with obesity, while eating into the £40bn more on imports we spend on food over export costs,” states Charlie.
Following Brexit, Britain’s exports sector has struggled. “Much of the push for Brexit came from the Eastern fields where plantation style farming encouraged the use of migrant workers. They soon departed.
“But British workers did not take their places as they soon realised the awful condition and poor wages, especially following the Coalition government’s crashing of the agricultural wages board, which even Thatcher had left alone,” explains Charlie.
Now instead of the original migrant workers from Romania and Poland, they are recruited from much further afield such as Asia or, South America. They are badly exploited.
There are also the environmental impacts of many thousands of acres in the east of the country being ploughed up – thus compacting the soil – by
18 uniteLANDWORKER Spring 2026
massive foreign made tractors at over £500,000 each, that sow continual monocrops of grain and vegetables.
“We are annually losing 2m tons of valuable soil that needs much more tender care by people working on the land with more suitable equipment if we are to continue producing food in the future,” explains Charlie.
“Then there is the amount of nitrogen fertilisers poured on soil. In terms of greenhouse gases (GHGs) they contribute according to my calculations, as no organisation appears to want to work this out, between 1 to 2 per cent of all UK GHGs.”
Charlie laments the absence of talks about soil loss and there is no research along these lines. He wants to see re-opened the three-quarters of our land-based research centres that at
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By protecting the soil it will help fend off flooding and drought... Smaller tractor machines would be needed…with real green jobs that help the environment in lots of ways rather than just counting carbon
Dr Charlie Clutterbuck, Unite activist and soil scientist
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Mark Harvey
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