I was thrilled to have Chris Smaje, a passionate advocate for sustainable food systems, on the podcast this week. Chris, a small farm owner and renowned author, shares his compelling insights on the pressing need to rethink how we produce our food.
“It’s about getting involved, questioning where your food comes from, and understanding the broader implications,”
Our Broken Food Supply
One of the main topics Chris stressed was the urgent need to pivot from a volume-focused food production system to one centered on sustainability. Chris argued for an agroecological approach—think local farming, but without losing the benefits of broader markets.
“Why are we growing these few giant global crops when we could be supporting local food systems instead?”
Bring Farming Back To Britain
Chris was quick to challenge the prevalent notion of demonizing farmers by accusing them of environmental degradation. This, he asserted, misses the point.He pointed out that government policies often neglect to balance environmental services with the actual production of food. Farmers are stuck between low prices and high environmental impact, a dilemma that requires nuanced, joined-up thinking from policymakers.
“It’s counterintuitive to move food production away from home given the ecological and geopolitical uncertainties we face,”
All this and more on the latest episode of Chatter!
