This is a powerful and honest piece, thank you for writing it. The way you reflect on your relationship with food and farming is really thought-provoking. I do find myself torn, though, when it comes to the conversation around the true cost of cheap food. With the cost of living so high, it can feel uncomfortable to question affordability. But at the same time, I completely agree that our food system is broken. It's exploitative, opaque, and in need of deep reform. We need a system that is not just more ethical, but also fairer and more transparent for everyone, from producers to consumers. Pieces like this are an important part of that conversation.
Thank you so much for this thoughtful and honest reflection and for engaging with the discomfort that often comes with conversations like these. I completely hear you. The cost of living is crushing for so many, and it can feel almost impossible to think beyond survival when the weekly shop is already pushing the limits.
At Farms Not Factories, we often say: if you can’t afford to buy high welfare or organic meat all the time, then buy less but buy better. It’s not about guilt or perfection, it’s about making the best choice you can when you can. Personally, I believe ensuring your meat is of the highest possible quality is critical, especially in a global system where hormone-fed beef and chlorine-washed chicken could easily make their way into our food chain. Humans are natural meat eaters, our bodies rely on nutrient-dense protein, and sadly, that’s become harder to come by in today’s industrialised food system.
The deeper issue here is that our health has become expensive to manage because it’s been neglected by design. Years of ultra-processed food, routine overmedication, and the disconnection from real food sources have left many of us battling symptoms that are harder and harder to reverse.
One positive step that I think is often underestimated is growing your own food. Even a small veg patch can supplement your meals and reduce your shopping bill. Chickens are another great place to start, they’re low maintenance and the fresh eggs are incomparable.
I agree completely Helen. These are such hard conversations to have, especially when so many people are just trying to get by. I really appreciate the “less but better” approach as it feels realistic and empowering rather than guilt-inducing.
Growing your own food is a beautiful idea, but it’s not accessible for everyone, especially in urban areas with limited space, time, or security. It’s why systemic change is so crucial. We can’t rely solely on individual action when the infrastructure just isn’t there.
That said, I do think community gardens, balcony growing, and even windowsill herbs can offer small but meaningful ways to reconnect with food, if people are given the support and resources to do so. But you’re right, it’s a tough balance, and we need to keep pushing for food systems that work for everyone, not just those with land or money or time!
I think there’s a huge disconnect between food and general knowledge of food production. I’m lucky I live in an area with a good farmers market, and we have garden space to grow veg- plus we have hens and a duck!
At school, many moons ago, I learnt the basics of cooking. Although I was fairly useless until I married, eating good quality food -maybe less of it- has always been a priority.
Cutting Domestic Science or whatever it’s called these days, is and was a mistake. Learning to cook from scratch plus portion control would end a lot of current health problems!
I completely agree, there’s such a huge gap between food and understanding how it’s actually produced. It’s brilliant to hear you’ve got hens, a duck, and grow your own veg, that connection to food is something so many people are missing today.
In the UK, there’s currently a petition to bring food production, farming, and regenerative agriculture into the national curriculum. At face value, I think it’s a fantastic idea, especially if it means teaching kids how to grow, cook, and understand food. But I do worry, like you, that once policy gets involved, it’ll be watered down and hijacked to promote government agendas, like lab grown meat, factory farming, GMOs, and food grown in nutrient poor vertical systems.
Teaching children about real food systems, those rooted in soil, biodiversity, and community, could be one of the most powerful shifts we make. But we’ve got to be so careful about who gets to write that curriculum!
These issues are so important, that I think they should be taught in schools. Even our grandchildren who live in a rural county are under educated about where their food comes from. One other reason is obviously the low income that working class people struggle to survive on. I'm sure they would love to eat better quality food, but are conditioned to think it's expensive
Indeed - good organic food should be a basic human right and not just for the wealthy. The costs of subsidies would more than pay for themselves in terms of savings on health care, work absence etc etc.
I live on the edge of the Greater Toronto Area surrounded by farms. I am sorry to know of these growing and stupid pressures on you. We cannot rid ourselves of these nefarious forces quickly enough. May God show you the way through and empower you to conquer through truth.
Thank you so much for your kind words and solidarity, it really means a lot, especially in times like these.
Even with an ocean between us, it’s powerful to know that the challenges we’re facing on farms here in the UK resonate with folks around the world. The pressures might wear different masks, but the core issues; consolidation, disconnection from the land, and systems that don’t value the people who feed us are sadly familiar across borders.
It's an uphill struggle when the majority of the population are hard wired to search out the cheapest food possible, the best bargain. I'd add the Farm Retail Association to your list to help search for farm shops and farmers markets.
Thank you for putting this educational article together. What you said is immensely important. We are what we eat. Greedy corporations have hijacked the food market. But we are greedy too when we always look for cheapest and quantity and no questions asked about “food ethics”. When I faced up to my own greedy ways of life, I wanted to change. Slowly I added more and more local, organic and small business food purchases. I hardly buy from supermarkets now. I didn’t think I could manage financially, but somehow I do. All I can think is, that once I decide to do the right thing, GOD threw his weight behind me and helped me
Your journey is such a powerful example of what’s possible when we commit to aligning our values with our everyday choices. I can’t commend you enough on making this shift it’s not easy, especially with the pressures of the cost of living. I completely agree that organic, local, and ethically produced food should be accessible to everyone, yet supermarket pricing has turned it into something that feels like a luxury, rather than a right.
But you’re proof that it can be done, and that mindset and intention make all the difference. When we start buying locally again, we’re not just nourishing ourselves better we’re supporting farmers, protecting the land, and helping to rebuild a broken food system. Thank you for sharing this it gives me hope.
Brilliant post with an impassioned plea to buy local. Let's remember 'small steps count'. The world needs more writing from farmers like this so that, we the consumers, have a better understanding of agribusiness and farming. Seek out your nearest farm shop or honesty box for home grown produce and return home with a smile on your face. Dr Vandana Shiva's book, The Nature of Nature (The Metabolic Disorder of Climate Change) published by Chelsea Green, 2024 will enable you to appreciate the importance of growing food in accordance with ecological laws. Keep up the good work.
The only thing I would add is to encourage people to grow something for themselves, never mind how little. Leaving aside the wide range of important skills, growing anything for oneself gives insight into how very difficult it is, and so learning to respect farmers. It also helps create a desire for real food.
I grew up on a small family farm in the US. My father inherited his parents' dairy. Then the 1980s came and two things happened: the local cheese factory refused to pick up milk cans, forcing farmers to automate or quit. Dad switched to beef. At the same time, the "green revolution," pushed by what was to become big ag, created full dependency on them for crops. He went bankrupt, less than 20 years after he took on a debt-free farm. This upheaval was the first of many as corporate interests took over, from seed and chemicals to processed food giants and supermarket chains. Something must change.
Very good post, you touched on diabetes but the cost to the NHS is also huge. By 2030 the cost of Diabetes type 2 is set to overtake the cost of all cancers. The whole system is skewy
But if you do end up shopping in a supermarket, which one gives farmers the best prices? I normally only shop in Waitrose because my understanding is that they treat farmers fairly, ie give them a good price and don’t do things like reject a whole crop which they’ve specifically requested, like apparently Tescos does? I would also like to know how can Lidl & Aldi have such cheap prices? Surely someone somewhere is getting screwed?
I find the situation we’re in with food in the UK mind boggling and incredibly sad. Thank you for your work to try to bring the issues to wider attention - just subscribed and restacked.
This is a powerful and honest piece, thank you for writing it. The way you reflect on your relationship with food and farming is really thought-provoking. I do find myself torn, though, when it comes to the conversation around the true cost of cheap food. With the cost of living so high, it can feel uncomfortable to question affordability. But at the same time, I completely agree that our food system is broken. It's exploitative, opaque, and in need of deep reform. We need a system that is not just more ethical, but also fairer and more transparent for everyone, from producers to consumers. Pieces like this are an important part of that conversation.
Thank you so much for this thoughtful and honest reflection and for engaging with the discomfort that often comes with conversations like these. I completely hear you. The cost of living is crushing for so many, and it can feel almost impossible to think beyond survival when the weekly shop is already pushing the limits.
At Farms Not Factories, we often say: if you can’t afford to buy high welfare or organic meat all the time, then buy less but buy better. It’s not about guilt or perfection, it’s about making the best choice you can when you can. Personally, I believe ensuring your meat is of the highest possible quality is critical, especially in a global system where hormone-fed beef and chlorine-washed chicken could easily make their way into our food chain. Humans are natural meat eaters, our bodies rely on nutrient-dense protein, and sadly, that’s become harder to come by in today’s industrialised food system.
The deeper issue here is that our health has become expensive to manage because it’s been neglected by design. Years of ultra-processed food, routine overmedication, and the disconnection from real food sources have left many of us battling symptoms that are harder and harder to reverse.
One positive step that I think is often underestimated is growing your own food. Even a small veg patch can supplement your meals and reduce your shopping bill. Chickens are another great place to start, they’re low maintenance and the fresh eggs are incomparable.
It’s a tough balance.
I agree completely Helen. These are such hard conversations to have, especially when so many people are just trying to get by. I really appreciate the “less but better” approach as it feels realistic and empowering rather than guilt-inducing.
Growing your own food is a beautiful idea, but it’s not accessible for everyone, especially in urban areas with limited space, time, or security. It’s why systemic change is so crucial. We can’t rely solely on individual action when the infrastructure just isn’t there.
That said, I do think community gardens, balcony growing, and even windowsill herbs can offer small but meaningful ways to reconnect with food, if people are given the support and resources to do so. But you’re right, it’s a tough balance, and we need to keep pushing for food systems that work for everyone, not just those with land or money or time!
I think there’s a huge disconnect between food and general knowledge of food production. I’m lucky I live in an area with a good farmers market, and we have garden space to grow veg- plus we have hens and a duck!
At school, many moons ago, I learnt the basics of cooking. Although I was fairly useless until I married, eating good quality food -maybe less of it- has always been a priority.
Cutting Domestic Science or whatever it’s called these days, is and was a mistake. Learning to cook from scratch plus portion control would end a lot of current health problems!
I completely agree, there’s such a huge gap between food and understanding how it’s actually produced. It’s brilliant to hear you’ve got hens, a duck, and grow your own veg, that connection to food is something so many people are missing today.
In the UK, there’s currently a petition to bring food production, farming, and regenerative agriculture into the national curriculum. At face value, I think it’s a fantastic idea, especially if it means teaching kids how to grow, cook, and understand food. But I do worry, like you, that once policy gets involved, it’ll be watered down and hijacked to promote government agendas, like lab grown meat, factory farming, GMOs, and food grown in nutrient poor vertical systems.
Teaching children about real food systems, those rooted in soil, biodiversity, and community, could be one of the most powerful shifts we make. But we’ve got to be so careful about who gets to write that curriculum!
These issues are so important, that I think they should be taught in schools. Even our grandchildren who live in a rural county are under educated about where their food comes from. One other reason is obviously the low income that working class people struggle to survive on. I'm sure they would love to eat better quality food, but are conditioned to think it's expensive
Indeed - good organic food should be a basic human right and not just for the wealthy. The costs of subsidies would more than pay for themselves in terms of savings on health care, work absence etc etc.
I live on the edge of the Greater Toronto Area surrounded by farms. I am sorry to know of these growing and stupid pressures on you. We cannot rid ourselves of these nefarious forces quickly enough. May God show you the way through and empower you to conquer through truth.
Thank you so much for your kind words and solidarity, it really means a lot, especially in times like these.
Even with an ocean between us, it’s powerful to know that the challenges we’re facing on farms here in the UK resonate with folks around the world. The pressures might wear different masks, but the core issues; consolidation, disconnection from the land, and systems that don’t value the people who feed us are sadly familiar across borders.
Will you post this on your X account so I can re-tweet?
I’ve posted it now, here’s the link and thank you for sharing!
https://x.com/memypigsandi/status/1909266611984269323?s=46
It's an uphill struggle when the majority of the population are hard wired to search out the cheapest food possible, the best bargain. I'd add the Farm Retail Association to your list to help search for farm shops and farmers markets.
Thank you for putting this educational article together. What you said is immensely important. We are what we eat. Greedy corporations have hijacked the food market. But we are greedy too when we always look for cheapest and quantity and no questions asked about “food ethics”. When I faced up to my own greedy ways of life, I wanted to change. Slowly I added more and more local, organic and small business food purchases. I hardly buy from supermarkets now. I didn’t think I could manage financially, but somehow I do. All I can think is, that once I decide to do the right thing, GOD threw his weight behind me and helped me
Your journey is such a powerful example of what’s possible when we commit to aligning our values with our everyday choices. I can’t commend you enough on making this shift it’s not easy, especially with the pressures of the cost of living. I completely agree that organic, local, and ethically produced food should be accessible to everyone, yet supermarket pricing has turned it into something that feels like a luxury, rather than a right.
But you’re proof that it can be done, and that mindset and intention make all the difference. When we start buying locally again, we’re not just nourishing ourselves better we’re supporting farmers, protecting the land, and helping to rebuild a broken food system. Thank you for sharing this it gives me hope.
Brilliant post with an impassioned plea to buy local. Let's remember 'small steps count'. The world needs more writing from farmers like this so that, we the consumers, have a better understanding of agribusiness and farming. Seek out your nearest farm shop or honesty box for home grown produce and return home with a smile on your face. Dr Vandana Shiva's book, The Nature of Nature (The Metabolic Disorder of Climate Change) published by Chelsea Green, 2024 will enable you to appreciate the importance of growing food in accordance with ecological laws. Keep up the good work.
Well said.
The only thing I would add is to encourage people to grow something for themselves, never mind how little. Leaving aside the wide range of important skills, growing anything for oneself gives insight into how very difficult it is, and so learning to respect farmers. It also helps create a desire for real food.
I grew up on a small family farm in the US. My father inherited his parents' dairy. Then the 1980s came and two things happened: the local cheese factory refused to pick up milk cans, forcing farmers to automate or quit. Dad switched to beef. At the same time, the "green revolution," pushed by what was to become big ag, created full dependency on them for crops. He went bankrupt, less than 20 years after he took on a debt-free farm. This upheaval was the first of many as corporate interests took over, from seed and chemicals to processed food giants and supermarket chains. Something must change.
Very good post, you touched on diabetes but the cost to the NHS is also huge. By 2030 the cost of Diabetes type 2 is set to overtake the cost of all cancers. The whole system is skewy
But if you do end up shopping in a supermarket, which one gives farmers the best prices? I normally only shop in Waitrose because my understanding is that they treat farmers fairly, ie give them a good price and don’t do things like reject a whole crop which they’ve specifically requested, like apparently Tescos does? I would also like to know how can Lidl & Aldi have such cheap prices? Surely someone somewhere is getting screwed?
I find the situation we’re in with food in the UK mind boggling and incredibly sad. Thank you for your work to try to bring the issues to wider attention - just subscribed and restacked.