The home of the world’s biggest bacon producer is undergoing a plant-based transition

The industrialisation of the UK countryside and the rise of factory farming represents decades of failure in food and farming policy. Factory farming is one of the main reasons Britain’s rivers are dying, while its supply chains kill rainforests. It eats up huge government subsidies, is bad for its workers, and is still exposed to global supply chain shocks.  

Despite this, the number of factory farms in the UK has grown by 12% since 2016. This can't go on, and we need a fair and inclusive transition out of factory farming that works for farmers and farmworkers, and is not dictated by big business.  

A just agroecological transition

A fair and inclusive industrial transition is called a just transition. A just transition includes input from workers and centres the creation of good jobs, as well as environmental and social outcomes. Just transitions are about building a broad base of support, by clearly demonstrating the benefits and laying out a well-funded pathway of support that protects livelihoods and reduces inequality.  

But what would a just transition look like for intensive livestock farming? That’s tough to answer, as no government (to our knowledge) is taking this approach to exiting factory farming. However, some countries present interesting learning opportunities, and one is Denmark.  

In 2021 a broad political consensus was reached for Denmark to ambitiously reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen pollution in the agricultural sector. This Green Tripartite Agreement (GTA) included three mechanisms for transforming the food system: a carbon tax, subsidies and incentives for plant-rich, organic agriculture, and tightening pollution regulations. So far, there has been no major political or cultural backlash. 

Interventions in the GTA have been designed to provide diversification options out of intensive, animal-based models. They include: 

• A carbon tax that applies to livestock, peatland and other sources of emissions.  

• Subsidies to support the conversion of land that is used for growing animal feed into land that is used for growing food for humans.  

• Targets and substantial funding to double the area for organic farming by 2030, with a focus on the diversification of crops into legumes, vegetables, pulses, peas, flax and hemp and potatoes. 

• A grant to support plant-based projects, with around a third of the 2023 grant reserved for organic, plant-based foods. 

• A new procurement agreement signed by the state and municipalities that includes larger requirements for organic and plant-based foods and offers free training courses to improve the skills of relevant employees. This includes a school fruit and veg scheme. 

• Targets to increase plant-based food sales, and support export opportunities for plant-based foods  

• Significant increases in the subsidies for eco-schemes. Eco-schemes are voluntary and include schemes for varied plant production.  

Why we urgently need a just transition in the UK 

With global temperatures running at unprecedented highs, there is a serious risk that uncontrollable climate heating will destabilise global food, feed and fuel supply chains. Britain's food and farming system is not prepared for these shocks and an overreliance on input intensive forms of farming, such as factory farming, threatens our food security. 

Under pressure from farming unions, economic slowdown, and fears of far-right insurgency, the government has sent a strong signal that it supports the intensification of livestock farming. It recently proposed weakening planning laws to make it easier to build factory farms and pledged to tear down environmental protections for soil, air, and water. This pursuit of ‘economic growth’ at any cost is misguided because it will come at the expense of most of those working in farming, as well as animals and nature. 

We must reject flimsy McJobs in agriculture

British farming needs a positive direction that improves the economic prospects of those working in farming and food production. As right-wing parties piggyback off the protests of farmers across Europe, it’s clear that the voices and concerns of farmers and farmworkers need to direct policy, or the cultural and political power of farming risks being hijacked. 

Denmark has shown that it is possible to enact policies toward plant-rich, organic systems, while investing in food sovereignty and growing their economy. As the UK government develops its roadmap for farming, its land use framework and the national food strategy, there is a lot that it can learn from the approach of the Danish model. Some of these lessons are: 

• Government needs to structure a clear pathway out of intensive farming alongside farmers and farmworkers that includes readily available financial incentives and training schemes. 

• The day-to-day priorities and challenges of farmers and farmworkers need to be centred when developing policy solutions. 

• The food system should be thought of holistically, with the demand and supply-side of a new food and farming system addressed together.  

• Consensus and inclusivity are essential components for setting a progressive agenda in the farming sector.  

• Food and farming policy does not have to default to outdated, corporate-controlled and environmentally intensive modes of food production to appease big business.  

• A just transition out of intensive farming should be communicated as an exciting economic and social opportunity. 

As climate heating and geopolitical shocks continue to disrupt global supply chains, it is clear that nutritional sovereignty means a just transition out of factory farming. Working alongside farmers and farmworkers to create a fairer farming system that works for them, for rural communities and for nature is the only way to seize on the growth opportunities of a fair and sustainable food and farming system.