Six Inches of Soil Joins the Land Workers’ Alliance London March
“Keep the carbon in the soil” was one of the many beautiful chants that rang out from the hundreds of people who gathered from across the country in central London yesterday, for the Land Workers’ Alliance “Good Food Good Farming” March to mark #WorldFoodDay2022 with the right to food a key demand. We met in Parliament Square at 12pm next to a stunning array of organic vegetables that many of the regen farmers, food security warriors and many others had brought with them.
The excitement was palpable and everyone had made an incredible effort with banners, posters, outfits, hats (our producer Claire’s stunning walnut hat drew a lot of attention). From the Six Inches side, Claire, Colin, Elsa and Kate were all set and raring to go. We had a quick catch up with some of the amazing supporters of our film including, Dee Woods, who is Land Workers’ Alliance Food Justice Policy Coordinator, regen farmers Ben Andrews and John Pawsey, Head of Sustainable Farming at Sustain and author of Re-bugging the Planet Vicki Hird and one of our many rural affairs and food policy friends George Richmond. A huge cheer went out from the crowd as not one, but two tractors pulled up on the edge of Parliament Square. Not a sight you see in Westminster all that often! We were then led by the fabulous Gerald Miles who’d driven over four days from his South Wales farm to London on his 1967 built tractor called Bess at a max speed of 15mph. What an absolute legend!
And with that, walking behind the tractors, we were off on our march, a circular route from Parliament Square past Downing Street, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square and many of the city’s famous landmarks. We sung, we chanted, we danced, we shared stories, we waved banners on what could only be described as a joyful peaceful protest. The samba band that marched with us were absolutely fantastic. There’s nothing like the proud feeling of hundreds of people coming together to support such an important cause as your feet move in time with the loud rhythmic drum beat. Many people on the streets walking and on buses who were shopping and sightseeing seemed genuinely happy to see us and were interested in looking at the banners and posters. This is such an important and powerful way to get your message across to the public who might not be fully aware of some of the challenges that we as a society face.
As the Land Workers’ Alliance says, “Our governments aren’t doing enough to implement the kind of transition we urgently need in our food and farming systems. We need change, and we need it now. That’s why we’re bringing consumers, farmers, growers, youth, activists, change-makers and food system workers together to march in London and demand that policymakers take action.” Also, with the Government’s review of the Environmental Land Management subsidy schemes (ELMS) we at Six Inches of Soil, along with the other marchers, feel that it’s more important than ever to take part in this and other protests that aim to highlight climate change and the basic human rights of people in this country. As Vicki Hird says in our new character teaser trailer, “Farmers should be on the streets clamouring for climate action by government, they really should, because it’s going to affect their livelihoods.” The Evening Standard coverage quoted legendary tractor driver march leader Gerald saying that it’s vital for the Government to keep ELMS, which is designed to replace the EU’s common agricultural policy, as they “promote nature in farming”.
As we gathered back in Parliament Square the Land Workers’ Alliance team and volunteers from many of the partners had put on a beautiful spread of food, which was delicious and much needed. Then the spotlight turned to the brilliant speakers who spelled out the challenges that we face and how those challenges can be answered. Click the link to read the full list of the Land Workers’ Alliance demands. It’s great to bring farming into Westminster as it’s often on the fringe of food and health discussions. Without farming we would not have food. As our supporters at Sustain say, “From food aid to food trade to provide healthy affordable, planet friendly food for all”.
We give the final word to Dee Woods who you can see in our new character teaser trailer. Dee says, “The earth is my mother, I am of the soil and I will return to the soil. So, for me, healing the soil is really, really important.”
