What’s the issue?
Place-based learning is an important educational tool for both adults and children. And at a time when issues around child health, access to the outdoors, food security and climate change are at an all time high, now more than ever we believe that the Government should be supporting and incentivising public engagement on farms.
We know that school trips, open days, work experience and volunteering are a vital first step along the road to inspiring the next generation of agroecological farmers, growers and foresters, and are more likely to change the culture around food, climate and the environment than any other form of public relations.
What are we doing?
The new Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) in England offer a perfect opportunity to support this important place-based learning by including specific payments for farmers who engage the public on their farms. We’re lobbying Defra to include payments for farmers and food producers who engage the public on farms, and that this payment be made available as part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) – a scheme that will be open to all farmers.
We’ve submitted a joint statement to Defra – signed by 9 other organisations including CLA, Sustain and the Country Trust – calling on them to include payments for public engagement in the SFI.
What can you do?
Click here to write to your MP and ask them to support payments for public engagement in England.