Tuesday 22 August 2006

Farming and Climate Change

Otter Farm in the U.K. is farming with an eye to climate change. Here is a quote:
we're aiming for climate change harvests mostly new to england - including the only english orchards of almonds, pecans, sharon fruit, along with apricots, walnuts and artichokes...and now the olive grove

And another:

so much of our food comes from abroad with all its associated food miles, and while it may take government intervention to address the madness of overseas produce on our shelves when seasonal british is available, there are some foods that we dont produce - and we're simply not about to 'undiscover' tastes like olive oil

but what if climate change meant that those 'foreign' foods became viable here...might we sustainably exploit the new conditions and help contribute to arresting them in the process?


I'm intrigued by this. Mostly because I've never thought of it before. What might farming in humid temperate USDA Zone 5 look like in 20 years? 40? 60? I don't know and I suppose no one else does either. The Otter Farm folks may be onto something. The experiments they are conducting are certainly worthwhile.

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