Countrytastic

It's the third year that the Three Counties Agricultural Society have held "Countrytastic" - it's designed to reconnect children to farming and food production.

The Agricultural Chaplaincy was there. Children decorated eggs & hot cross buns. They milled grain into flour and cooked pancakes. They made easter gardens and played with compost. 

The calm and order before the gates opened to the public quickly changed into a buzz of activity. We were "full on" from 10.00a.m. till it finished at 4.00p.m.
Children decorated close on 500 eggs, the same number of buns, made countlessgardens and ground large quantities of flour.

It was an exhausting but rewarding day.

New programme

Googel have launched today this amazing programe spo we can communicate with animals! Take a look.

Europe briefing March 2010 - Common Agricultural Policy Reform

When Bishop John asked me to take on the role of European Adviser it was not to involve myself with twinning (e.g. Magdeburg etc.) which happens perfectly well without any interference from me. It was to see where things coming from the EU would impact on life in the diocese and this fits with my main role – agricultural & rural chaplain – as agriculture is significantly affected by the EU. This is the first in what I intend will be a series of occasional briefings on how the EU is affecting us and the issues it is addressing. My hope is that better understanding EU will enable prayerful engagement.

1)  History and current situation. The CAP is a major part of the EU’s budget. It originated with the memory of post-war food shortages and starvation in Europe and was designed to ensure a reliable food supply. It was too successful with infamous wine lakes and butter mountains of previous decades, so it was revised so that instead of guaranteeing prices to farmers the policy gives payment to farmers for providing environmental benefits.  The current system runs till 2013. The debate is now on as to what policy should start on 1st January 2014.
The CAP at €53bn amounts for 40% of European Union expenditure but is only 1% of the total public expenditure by European governments and 0.4% of EU GDP.  It covers 80% of the total area of the EU in which 40% of EU residents live. Without the CAP EU agriculture would struggle and in many areas stop. In 2008 roughly 40% of Agriculture’s income in Europe came from the CAP. Decline in prices mean that it will have been a higher figure in 2009. Without the CAP much of Europe’s agriculture would not be viable.

2)The issues being discussed include,

• With a world population predicted to rise significantly between now and 2050 should the focus revert from environmental benefits to ensuring a food supply for all? Based on best estimates for world population growth, agriculture will need to increase output by 70%. European agriculture has increased output by more than that over the last 50 years but at a cost to the environment that wasn’t anticipated.
• There is now greater awareness of environmental damage, degradation of soils, loss of biodiversity etc. In any future CAP should there be a greater link between payments and environmental benefits? Should the CAP be requiring greater environmental benefits?
• Can the free market deliver a safe food supply using acceptable animal welfare and plant standards as well as environmental protection?
• Farmers provide significant public goods - landscape management, carbon sequestration, water filtration, flood meadows, grazed moorland, amenity - for which the free market gives no financial reward.   Should the CAP be rewarding this?
• How much (if any) “wriggle room” should there be in the CAP so different member states implement the CAP to suit their own circumstances rather than being the same across the whole of Europe   
• If farming is not viable, what will be the knock on effects on 
• tourism?
• communities – especially in remote areas?
• If not farmers, who will manage the land and what will their priorities be?

 3) The UK position. The British Government’s position is that the CAP should be scrapped.  The argument is that food security is best delivered by having lots of trading relationships and buying food from wherever in the world it can be produced most cheaply. This argument takes the view that it doesn’t matter if our beef comes from Argentina, our chicken from Thailand and that it’s all been fed on GM soya from Brazil with different animal welfare standards and working conditions.
The Conservative party’s position is that they will press for a shift of existing resources (i.e. money currently going to farmers) to the rural development programme. More details here 

4) The possible outcomes. The reality is that neither of these positions is likely to achieve agreement with the rest of Europe, and a cynical view would be that both parties only made those arguments knowing that the rest of Europe won’t allow anything so nonsensical to happen! Even in an enlarged Europe the French and German farming lobby have sufficient “clout” to prevent it.   However there is likely to be pressure for a redistribution of money in the CAP which currently seems to depend more on the accidents of history than anything else. Thus Greece gets more per hectare than anyone else because in the past they grew a lot of tobacco and Latvia, Lithuania and Romania are getting least per hectare.



5) Faith Issues. CAP reform raises faith issues. It raises questions about ;

• our role as stewards of God’s creation especially as weather patterns change. 
• food – bread and wine are at the heart of our worship and Jesus taught us to pray “give us this day…”
• community  
• world poverty
• justice

6) Actions. Christians will come to different views about the future of the CAP.  I would hope that Christians & churches will;

• Pray for farmers particularly in the UK & the rest of Europe but also throughout the world as they face political uncertainty that will shape their futures (or lack of them!)
• Shop fairly buying food & products (whether local produce or not) that have a just reward going to all stages of the supply chain.
• Pray for MEPs, MPs & Dacian Ciolos (EU Agricultural Commissioner) as they consider these issues.
• Pray for the media as it reports (or doesn’t report) the debate.

If you have views on the CAP or other European matters and want to express them to MEPs the details of MEPs can be found here

7) And finally. If there are European matters you feel I have neglected then let me know.
Thank you for reading this. I hope it helps,
  Agricultural & Rural Chaplain and European Adviser

What's a church council for?

I've been surprised to meet a number of people who serve on Parochial Church Councils who don't know what they're for!

The Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956 says
"The functions of parochial church councils shall include—
(a) co-operation with the minister in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical"

Now wouldn't that be nice.

Events this year and Farmers Markets

The chaplaincy committee have a meeting this week when we run thriough plans for events this year, including

Countrytastic 8th April  - A fabulous event designed for children and the church will be there with all sorts of activities

Rogation 11th May at  7.00 Harcombe's Farm Hanley Swann Walk, sing, pray & pig roast

Three Counties Show 18-20 June  The Church will be there offering hospitality, chaplaincy and training

Biglittle Church 29th August Churches are invited to celebrate in a big way the joys of being small

County Harvest Service  Early October, date to be confirmed, celebrating 150 years of RABI

And we have Henry Wormington from Worcestershire Farmers Markets telling us about them and how the church can work with them.

God of suprises

One of my interests is Formula 1 racing and on a discussion site about McLaren’s chances next season there was a thread about climate change. That debate led into a discussion about god and his existence or otherwise. Over the last few weeks it’s been an interesting debate with a couple of militant atheists. It’s sharpened up my debating skills and apologetics (to use a technical term).

To my surprise the following has just been posted;

Still a slow day....

I would like to thank all of the posters who have been so unpleasant towards RuralVic (That's me in case you wondered)(in particular, but also others who have supported a religious point of view). I was so appalled at what you were saying that for the last two weeks I have been attending church - something that I have not done for a very very long time. In addition, over the same period I have been attending a course called "Christianity Explored", so that at a minimum I will come to know what I have been rejecting, in order to be able to make an informed decision whether to continue rejecting or to change.

So thanks once again, I hope you continue to find pleasure in the "hateorade".
Another of God's surprises!!

Food

There is a conference on food at Redcliffe College on 6 March. I can't get to it, but previous conferences they've done have all been excellent

Mixed blessings

So far this glorious weather has, for me, resulted in three cancelled meetings and an in tray that is nearly empty! It seems that many people have been enjoying an enforced break from work and a chance to catch up.
Spare a thought for farmers with this weather. Animals still need to be fed and watered. Drinking troughs freeze. Transport is difficult or impossible and if the milk tanker can't get to the farm then milk will be lost. You can't turn cows off!

No one ever sits at the front

The three empty chairs in the photo were the only seats not taken at the carol service at Worcester Market. Why people don't sit at the front I don't know. They were crammed in like sardines at the back!

The evening was done jointly between Worcestershire Young Farmers and Farm Crisis Network. We dared to include a carol written by the Iona Community

Once in Judah’s least known city
stood a boarding house with back-door shed,
where an almost single-parent mother
tried to find her new-born son a bed.
Mary’s mum and dad went wild
when they heard their daughter had a child.

The service raised just under £360 for FCN

Busking for FCN

This Sunday (13/12) and next (20/12) there's an opportunity to busk some carols for FCN at Farmers' Markets.

This week it's at the Teme Valley Market at Knightwick. I've done it there before in previous years and stallholders and shoppers have been appreciative of the Christmas feel it gives.

The week after it's at the Angel Place Farmers' Market in Worcester. We held a Harvest Festival Service there when it was the first Farmers Market in the site in October this year. Henry Wormington, who organises Worcester Farmers Markets says "Group Members will be making an effort to give the Farmers Market a Christmas atmosphere."

If anyone wants to join in, then you're welcome.