Putting Farming and Food First

Back in February 2025, I stood alongside local farmers with a simple but powerful message: no farmers, no food.

That message is just as important today.

Farming is the backbone of our rural communities and essential to our long term food security. The land around us isn’t just countryside, it’s how we feed our families, support local jobs, and maintain a resilient, self sufficient nation.

In an increasingly uncertain world, the importance of producing food locally cannot be overstated. Once high quality agricultural land is lost, it is rarely recovered.

That’s why we must carefully consider how we use our land. Renewable energy matters, but it should not come at the expense of productive farmland. Solar developments should be prioritised on rooftops, brownfield sites, and less versatile land, not on fields that are vital for food production.

We must strike the right balance, one that supports clean energy while protecting the farmers and farmland that sustain us.

Because if we don’t stand up for farming, we risk undermining our future food security.