Sustainable Harborough Community – Mar ’25
Producing food causes over one third of harmful global greenhouse gas emissions according to Pesticide Action Network UK.
Pesticide production or their ingredients by oil companies, contributes to this. With the increasing rise in global temperatures comes the increasing rise in the number of pests attacking crops. These pests, in turn, become more resistant to pesticides so more are used and increasingly, in combinations to be more effective.
The good news is that there are natural ways to deal with the pests through agroecology. The very important Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change set up by The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme in 1988, using expert scientists in their particular field, peer reviewed current research and concluded that this way of farming could cut global emissions by as much as 10%. Wow!
Thankfully, in 2023, most Parties to the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed to take action to reduce harm by the end of this year! It would make a great change, not only to climate change but also to the hugely worrying loss of biodiversity and pollution, through run off of these harmful pesticides into our land and water systems.
Thankfully there is increasing interest in agroecology for farming and for gardening too. The Allerton Trust at Loddington is our own local research farm and you can visit it on Open Farm Sunday June 8th this year to learn more. For families, as well as baby animals to see, probably the highlight of your visit would be the tractor ride! From the website ‘The Allerton Project” is an award winning, pioneering blueprint for future rural landscapes. There is hope!
Julie Fagan, volunteer, Sustainable Harborough Community and Eco Churches
New sports facility at Leicester Grammar School
Coronavirus journal – Living in a coronavirus pandemic
