Every January sees the Oxford Farming Conference where the great and the good of British agriculture get together with allied corporations, from supermarkets to pesticide manufacturers, and government spokesmen to review and forecast trends in food production and the countryside.

 

 

Both literally and metaphorically on the other side of the road is the self-titled Oxford REAL Farming Conference which presents an alternative vision of how we should feed ourselves and the world, and it was to this event that I went this year. The Conference headlined some excellent speakers including radical food author Colin Tudge, "The Archers" agricultural adviser Graham Harvey, and, always stimulating to listen to, Prof Tim Laing. We weren?t disappointed: either with the range of fresh ideas coming forward or with the enthusiasm of the participants.

 

 

The premise of the REAL Farming movement is that we should strive to feed everyone in the world without wrecking it and, indeed, that the world can feed itself right now if a solution can be found to the problems of economic and fair distribution. To this end it raises questions about preserving and extending small to medium size farm units; reconnecting people to food production; and respecting the environment and nature rather than work against it. As you might expect, the Conference was naturally anti corporate farming and pro cooperative; anti monoculture and GMs and pro organic and biodiversity. But there was more.

One theme was a call for the "democratisation" of the food supply chains. Several excellent examples of Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) were put forward including the notable Community Farm in the Chew Valley (www.thecommunityfarm.co.uk) , cooperative selling outside of supermarkets (The Story Group), farmers? markets (prize winning Headingley Market) and box schemes (Tolhurst Organics). More surprising models came from city farm movements where perhaps horticultural skills are more evident than agricultural, and from Incredible Edible communities (see www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk for example): it would be interesting to visit some of these urban enterprises as their impact is growing economically, culturally and in terms of healthy eating.

 

 

Obviously many of these new ideas will flounder and fail. But hopefully many will survive and will work alongside "conventional" systems. As one observer put it "In Italy we go to the farmers' market first to buy our food and then top up at the supermarket if needs be: but here in the UK you do it completely the other way around," With the sort of passion we saw at Oxford perhaps we might see more of the Italian approach to food shopping here sooner rather than later.