45% admit they have fewer cooking skills, 47% say they are less able to grow their own food, 48% have lost the rural craft skills that make self sufficiency possible, and 51% say they would have no idea how to rear animals.
A staggering 92% of Brits say that self sufficiency and traditional skills such as growing your own food, crafting and rearing your own livestock have become more important during the financial crisis, yet less than a third of the 300,000 acres of prime growing land in gardens and allotments in the UK is currently used to grow food.
However, budding ‘grow your own-ers’ can now get a confidence boost and gain the skills to cultivate their land from the Soil Association, which is launching 300 Organic Farm School courses over the next two years, with support from the Daylesford Foundation.
The Organic Farm School offers hands-on courses in growing your own food, rearing animals, cooking and rural crafts. Participants will learn practical skills direct from organic farmers, growers and producers with personal experience. Courses include bee-keeping, chicken keeping, vegetable growing, cider making, bread baking, willow weaving, hedge laying and many others.
Patrick Holden, Soil Association director, said: “The Organic Farm School is about relearning skills which are vital to becoming more self-sufficient. In the recession, this will not only be cheaper but it’s healthier for you and the environment too. I think one of life’s greatest pleasures is eating food that you’ve produced yourself. My vision for the Organic Farm School is that it enables and inspires a whole generation of young people to acquire these vitally important skills from the very best practitioners: the farmers and growers themselves.”
Monty Don, Soil Association president, said: “The Soil Association’s Organic Farm School is a fantastic opportunity for anyone to come and learn skills from the experts. Each course is an enjoyable day out on an organic farm and a chance to experience the rich satisfaction of country life.”
Source: Soil Association
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