Rekindled

Do you know how energy intensive food production is? Conventional agriculture is completely reliant on fossil fuels, especially oil. However, as world oil supplies are depleted, this method of producing food will not be possible any more.

The BBC has produced a very interesting programme about this problem, following one farmer trying to prepare her farm for the future:

Wildlife film maker Rebecca Hosking investigates how to transform her family’s farm in Devon into a low energy farm for the future, and discovers that nature holds the key.

With her father close to retirement, Rebecca returns to her family’s wildlife-friendly farm in Devon, to become the next generation to farm the land. But last year’s high fuel prices were a wake-up call for Rebecca. Realising that all food production in the UK is completely dependent on abundant cheap fossil fuel, particularly oil, she sets out to discover just how secure this oil supply is.

Alarmed by the answers, she explores ways of farming without using fossil fuel. With the help of pioneering farmers and growers, Rebecca learns that it is actually nature that holds the key to farming in a low-energy future.

 You can view A Farm for the Future using the BBC iPlayer (available until 17th March).

Interestingly, low energy, organic farming was the only way of farming up until about 50 years ago.