Will’s World: Food poverty should leave us hungry for answers
© Richard Stanton I love a good farming conference. I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea, and critics will say they’re often full of self-important people generating nothing but hot air.
I take their point, because I’ve been to a few like that myself – always a chore, never a pleasure.
But luckily for me, the vast majority that I’ve attended and been involved with over the years have been a tremendously uplifting experience, and I’ve been fortunate enough to make many lifelong friends at them.
See also: OFC 2025: Campaigner to shine a light on food poverty
About the author
Because I find it almost impossible to sit down and take in a lot of information at once, I’m not one of these razor-sharp individuals who can summarise their thoughts concisely, immediately after the conference ends.
I sat next to FW editor Andrew Meredith in one of the opening sessions at the Oxford Farming Conference a few weeks back, and he was furiously making notes in shorthand for one of his usual informative and entertaining editorial pieces.
I’ve never wanted to elbow someone in the ribs more.
But I do enjoy the buzz of a room full of energetic and open-minded people who are there to learn and share knowledge, and I always come away feeling inspired after seeing presentations from men and women who look at the world differently or have decided to live life on their own terms, often dramatically against the odds.
Fresh challenge
My favourite speakers are always the ones who positively challenge the audience.
In a world increasingly full of angry echo chambers and dangerously extreme populism, listening to someone who has a vastly different life experience to yours, and who can convey their message in an eloquent and thought-provoking way, has never been more important.
Step forward food poverty campaigner Dominic Watters, known as Single Dad SW on social media, who gave one of the most powerful presentations seen at Oxford in its near 90-year history.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
He talked about the intense struggles that people in his community face when it comes to accessing fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, and how, despite living in Kent – the Garden of England – the only food that’s available on his council estate is the lowest quality ultra-processed type.
Something that most of us from more privileged backgrounds probably don’t think about, and to my great shame it hadn’t occurred to me either, is that many people living in chronic food poverty often haven’t got the money to put in the electricity meter to be able to turn the oven on or keep a freezer running, even if they possess one in the first place.
Microwave meals or takeaways are often the only options.
Thank you #OFC25 pic.twitter.com/8n9SsySoQc
— Dominic @SingleDadSW Watters (@SingleDadSW) January 14, 2025
Mend the gap
We frequently talk in farming circles about food being too cheap, and how the people who produce it, or the environment, are the ones who pay the long-term price.
That’s entirely correct, but how we begin to solve these issues is more complicated.
As Mr Watters himself said: “At the end of the day, people produce food for other people to eat. What happens in-between is what messes things up.
“Maybe we should just do a better job of understanding each other and closing that gap.” I think we can all agree on this.
Food, and the simple act of sharing a meal, always brings people together. It’s just unacceptable in 2025 that so many in our society don’t even have a seat at the table.
Hopefully people like Dominic Watters can begin to change that.