Farmers and Gardeners have Their Roots in God’s Creation

Genesis 1:11-12
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and
God saw that it was good.
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Plant food grew naturally and God called it GOOD!
So who was the First Gardener? Adam? Abel following in his footsteps …
It was GOD THE FIRST GARDENER!
Gardening and Farming have led food production from the Beginning of Time!
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Genesis 2:8  And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Trees grew in that garden beautiful to look at AND GOOD FOR FOOD!
And of course the two trees we know well: Tree of Life and Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Water was essential for the Garden of Eden and God provided river water and He provided a Gardener in the person of Adam! His job was to dress it and keep it!

When Eve and Adam ate of the Tree that God had said they should not eat, then God sent the WEEDS which ever since creation have caused Gardeners AND Farmers to work in order to eat!

Ever since creation, humans have invented multiple ingenious ways to reduce the amount of work and expense required to grow plant food!

Fast Forward 2024
In 2024, Farmers almost worldwide are protesting- not necessarily the health of the food they produce but the costs of food production (inputs like fertilizer, machinery like tractors and the high costs involved), unfair policies that not only allow, but encourage selecting the cheapest food not the local food – not even the healthiest food!

The Farmers of Europe are revolting! From Spain to Romania, from Italy to The Netherlands and from France to Wales.

There are several reasons for the protests but the main reason is found in the decisions and the promotions of the WEF and the United Nations… in their Agenda of Climate Change.

Climate Change Advocates claim that 30% of carbon is due to Agriculture!

So farmers are facing rising costs of inputs including cutting of diesel subsidies and cutting fertilizer amounts partly due to the War in Ukraine which has cut them off from fertilizers produced in Russia and Ukraine.

The Green Agenda is being imposed on farmers. In some cases, legislation is being introduced to return 20% of the land to trees and wilderness (in Wales) and governments are cutting farm subsidies.

Confrontations are occurring between farmers and police in Spain. They are reacting to cheap food from outside the European Union including the grain from Ukraine. Before the War, Ukraine used to export their grain to the Middle East.

The European Governments are allowing the import of grain from the Ukraine to the harm of the European farmers who cannot compete.

The fishermen have joined the protests in The Netherlands that has spread in Europe and Vancouver Island, in Canada! The protests have spread to where they are flooding of farm land!
Why are the farmers protesting in Europe? What about British farmers?
Farmers were left without payment for their crops. And without a stable, reliable income, they are struggling to survive.” Farmers have faced steep rises in the cost of everything from fertilizer to wages and the energy used in production since the pandemic.
Taken together, farmers represent a significant challenge to governments that must navigate the tricky, but necessary transition to healthy, sustainable food production and diets, according to Chris Hegadorn, adjunct professor of global food politics at Sciences Po in Paris.
“You can live without an electric car, you can live without a mobile phone, but you’re not going to live without farmers and the food they produce,” said Chris Hegadorn, a retired US diplomat. “Should we be paying attention? Absolutely.”
Officials are certainly taking note. In the past weeks, the EU has backtracked on some of its key environmental ambitions for farming, the source of more than a tenth of its greenhouse gas emissions.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been meeting with the agriculture industry to try and stave off discontent. In France, Europe’s top producer, President Emmanuel Macron’s government is pledging more money for farmers and pushing back against the EU’s trade talks with Latin American countries
In Australia, farmers are protesting raising interest rates in Canberra!
China has amplified the farmers’ protests in worldwide media as part of its economic & geopolitical warfare against a rising India.
In Poland, protesting farmers threw eggs at the European Regional Office!
French farmers are protesting insufficient pay, EU regulations and unfair competition from cheap imported foods.

Conclusion
Farmers of the world appear to be protesting financial issues relating to food production. There do not appear to be major concerns about human health due to food quality. Genetic modification has gained much ground and the important thing seems to be the inclusion of GM in labelling!

Farming faces huge challenges in the future around biotechnology, precision crop breeding, genetic editing, bio fortification all called “Smart Farming”.

There are some positive possibilities for farmers introducing vertical farming into their practices. This would involve using space more economically plus minimizing water usage… and pesticide usage… which could be a benefit?

Stay tuned! Stay informed!

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David Townson