{"id":14238,"date":"2022-09-23T13:28:52","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T12:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=14238"},"modified":"2022-09-23T13:28:52","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T12:28:52","slug":"cost-of-living-digging-for-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2022\/09\/23\/cost-of-living-digging-for-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Cost of Living: Digging for Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Standing outside a Dublin hostelry in the drizzle, I fell into conversation with an Ulsterman who arrived with impeccable republican-socialist credentials. I assumed, this would make him sympathetic to the recently vanquished Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I breezily opined that the long-serving MP for Islington<\/span> had been the first post-War Labour leader to challenge a neo-colonial consensus in British politics, to which I received a surprising response.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just like the rest of them,\u201d he said, pausing before almost spitting out the words, \u201cthe allotment<\/em>,\u201d and muttering \u201cthat\u2019s how you can tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only on reflection do I recognise the origin of a prejudice against anyone holding an interest in the dark arts of composting, training vines, or even the life cycle of the carrot fly.<\/p>\n

He echoed savage criticism of privileged do-gooders with an evangelical zeal for horticulture, from that most quintessential of English writers, George Orwell<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018food-crank\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In The Road to Wigan Pier<\/em><\/a><\/span> (1937) Orwell dismissed a certain type of socialist \u2018food-crank\u2019, \u2018sandal-wearer\u2019, \u2018fruit-juice drinker\u2019 as \u2018a person willing to cut himself off from human society in hopes of adding five years on to the life of his carcass; that is, a person out of touch with common humanity.\u2019<\/p>\n

He maintained: \u2018The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots.\u2019 But added, revealingly: \u2018the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spend it on wholesome food.\u2019<\/p>\n

Orwell articulated an enduring English working class aversion to a New Age paternalism, which my Republican-Socialist interlocuter outside the pub appeared to share.<\/p>\n

Well-intentioned, but often tone deaf, efforts to instil passion for horticulture continues to emanate from aristocratic scions such as Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. His Dorset estate became a TV showcase<\/a><\/span> for sustainable gastronomy in a country more renowned for mushy peas and fried batter, washed down with Irn-bru.<\/p>\n

There is, however, a curmudgeonly quality to Orwell\u2019s critique, reflected in a stated preference for Anglo-Saxon words over those of French or Classical origins in \u2018The Politics of the English Language<\/a><\/span>\u2019. In England, and not only among working class, plain food, as well as plain words, are generally preferred over anything sophisticated, complex or, worst of all, French.<\/p>\n

However, in my view, Corbyn comes from an honourable lineage of Ragged Trousered Philanthropists:<\/a><\/span> genuine social reformers that secured parliamentary approval through the 1908 Small Holdings and Allotments Act<\/a><\/span>. This brought 1,500,000 plots into cultivation by 1918, thereby ensuring a steady supply of fresh fruit and vegetables in many metropolitan districts.<\/p>\n

It also led to a wide diffusion of gardening skills, which became a valuable resource during World War II when, denied of imports, the population was urged to Dig for Victory, with\u00a0impressive results<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, what Orwell acknowledged as \u201cthe peculiar evil\u201d of working class people turning their noses up at healthy produce suggests early industrialisation of food production in Britain \u2013 particularly the preponderance of refined sugar \u2013 had a lasting effect on the British pallet, and sadly the Irish one too.<\/p>\n

In England today organic is a by-word for posh, and unaffordable: \u201cnot for the likes of you and me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly, reflecting the colonial experience, Irish tastes are often just as blinkered. This is apparent in a lasting aversion to cultivating fruit and vegetables, which has informed the state\u2019s agricultural priorities since independence.<\/p>\n

Today just one percent of all Irish farms<\/a><\/span> now produce vegetables \u2013 for reasons I explore.<\/p>\n

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The science behind Irish agriculture needs to involve a whole systems approach that takes into account all of the ecological consequences.https:\/\/t.co\/FA6z9DMYtq<\/a>@think_or_swim<\/a> @whittledaway<\/a> @sineadmercier<\/a> @broadsheet_ie<\/a> @ConorBlenner @LumberBob<\/a> @itsmybike<\/a> @ian_lumley<\/a> @autofac<\/a><\/p>\n

— CassandraVoices (@VoicesCassandra) June 7, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n