SFK was busy at the beginning of 2023 preparing for our visit to the Senedd on Wednesday, February 15th, to voice our concerns about intensive farming, the environment, and the welfare of farmed animals. We were calling in particular for a moratorium (pause) on further proliferation of Intensive Poultry Units (IPUs). We had contacted other groups and campaigners across Wales, inviting them to join us and also Senedd Members of all parties were invited to meet with SFK members to discuss the moratorium proposal and other aspects of our campaign.
On the day Sustainable Food Knighton was joined by Talybont Residents against IPUs in Ceredigion, Landworkers’ Alliance, Size of Wales, Save the Wye, WWF Cymru, and Compassion in World Farming, as well as concerned individuals such as Angela Jones, wild swimmer and well-known campaigner for a cleaner River Wye. The colourful demonstration on the steps of the Senedd featured speeches from several of these groups and a number of MSs came out to meet us.
A number of Senedd Members made themselves available to talk with representatives of SFK: Cefin Campbell (Plaid Cymru), Peter Fox and Janet Finch Saunders (Conservative), Jane Dodds (Lib Dems) and Joyce Watson and Mike Hedges (Labour) . SFK member Karen Plant said, “Meeting Senedd Members from across the political spectrum was very constructive. Joining with other groups has had a galvanising effect which will hopefully enable us to move forward with our campaign as a coalition.”
Though each group who joined us has its own specific campaign, the collective focus was on the dire consequences of intensive farming, and specifically IPUs, that are polluting Welsh rivers and countryside. IPUs also impact on global warming with disposal of chicken manure necessitating excessive vehicle movements to and from bio-digesters, but also by their reliance for feed on huge quantities of South American GM soya grown on land stripped of native forest, displacing vulnerable local communities.
SFK recognises that IPUs are viewed as a way of farmers diversifying in order to save their livelihoods, but Camilla Saunders for SFK argues that, “The truth is that only farmers with sufficient land and capital can afford the upfront investment to develop an IPU. IPUs are sometimes justified as providing cheap food but we must ask at what cost to the health of the consumer, at what cost to the NHS and at what cost to the environment?
“We call on the Welsh government to step up to its responsibilities, and deliver on its commitment to act on the nature and climate emergency, supporting farmers to grow nutritious food that is part of the solution, rather than contributing to the problem”.
On the day Sustainable Food Knighton was joined by Talybont Residents against IPUs in Ceredigion, Landworkers’ Alliance, Size of Wales, Save the Wye, WWF Cymru, and Compassion in World Farming, as well as concerned individuals such as Angela Jones, wild swimmer and well-known campaigner for a cleaner River Wye. The colourful demonstration on the steps of the Senedd featured speeches from several of these groups and a number of MSs came out to meet us.
A number of Senedd Members made themselves available to talk with representatives of SFK: Cefin Campbell (Plaid Cymru), Peter Fox and Janet Finch Saunders (Conservative), Jane Dodds (Lib Dems) and Joyce Watson and Mike Hedges (Labour) . SFK member Karen Plant said, “Meeting Senedd Members from across the political spectrum was very constructive. Joining with other groups has had a galvanising effect which will hopefully enable us to move forward with our campaign as a coalition.”
Though each group who joined us has its own specific campaign, the collective focus was on the dire consequences of intensive farming, and specifically IPUs, that are polluting Welsh rivers and countryside. IPUs also impact on global warming with disposal of chicken manure necessitating excessive vehicle movements to and from bio-digesters, but also by their reliance for feed on huge quantities of South American GM soya grown on land stripped of native forest, displacing vulnerable local communities.
SFK recognises that IPUs are viewed as a way of farmers diversifying in order to save their livelihoods, but Camilla Saunders for SFK argues that, “The truth is that only farmers with sufficient land and capital can afford the upfront investment to develop an IPU. IPUs are sometimes justified as providing cheap food but we must ask at what cost to the health of the consumer, at what cost to the NHS and at what cost to the environment?
“We call on the Welsh government to step up to its responsibilities, and deliver on its commitment to act on the nature and climate emergency, supporting farmers to grow nutritious food that is part of the solution, rather than contributing to the problem”.
