Damian's latest column - Commons Touch - 01.04.10
Young Farmers’ organisations have an image which is based around having a good time, probably including the ingestion of alcohol, and is probably not one you normally associate with charity.
All of these traditional activities no doubt go on with the Kent Young Farmers, but they have greater ambitions. They were out in force at the North School Farm’s lambing weekend, preparing for a real challenge. Three of their members are planning to cycle from Kent to Torquay for the National Young Farmers Annual General Meeting and Convention.
This involves around 300 miles in cycling in four days, and will raise money for RABI (the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution) which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The purpose of the ride is not just to raise money but to raise awareness of the future of farming and to focus on other environmental issues such as the need for local produce.
This last issue is a particularly important one. If we buy local produce we are not only supporting the economic prosperity of our own neighbours, we are reducing the number of food miles and so helping to mitigate climate change. It is one of the reasons to buy some produce at local shops and farmers markets, as they will often try themselves to offer local produce.
So I was presented with a box full of local food (which was promptly taken away again and given to some more worthy cause!) by two of the cyclists who are gearing up for their ambitious trip. I hope that by the end of it they are not only feeling the warm glow that comes from sitting in a saddle for four days on end, but a wider warm glow from having served a number of good causes at once.
