This couple, proud stewards of a farm in Somerset, are having to adapt to the realities of climate change
People, not production lines. Farms, not factories. Agriculture, not agri-business. From ice covered northern Sweden to the depths of the Amazon rainforest, the following stories tell of the men, women and families who supply 70 per cent of the world’s food. They challenge the myth that we need industrial agriculture to feed an increasing population. Could small-scale farming offer solutions to the planetary crises we face – from climate disruption to species mass extinction?
Reproduced from We Feed the World, an exhibition by the Gaia Foundation.
In the UK, climate change is sometimes seen as a challenge affecting those in the global south. But Lizzie and Rob Walrond have first-hand experience of climate change on their farm in Somerset. Dramatic weather patterns are changing long-held traditions. The family has farmed here for 200 years.
“Food is the most important thing to our health and to our life, yet we degrade it and don’t value it properly,” says Rob. “At the end of the day, farmers will only produce to what the consumer wants. It’s about everybody taking responsibility, taking more interest in their food and where it’s produced.”
Image: Lizzie and Rob Walrond at Glebe Farm in Somerset
In photos: farming in Somerset in an era of climate change
Photography by Kate Peters