The sight of Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime (season one, for me) is something to behold, considering what we know about farming in the UK.
It’s not often that a positive image of a farm is found through a medium such as television. It doesn’t present well because of the mud and the grit, perhaps. We’re used to seeing that in more military surrounds, and not in the backwoods of the Cotswold’s.
Yet, Jeremy Clarkson – a well-known television presenter and journalist in the UK – has turned his fortunes around after an ailing Top Gear stint to prove that farming is still relevant, even in rural areas.
The sight of Diddly Squat Farm is more of a miracle, than a feature, of the English countryside.
In that, farming shops do ok, but they’re not a booming business as much as fancy bread shops in a center of town or even the artisanal section of a supermarket.
A farm is what it is; muddy, dirty, and tough work. It looks it. Yet, it’s also a vital part of our food provision. It’s what we need, after all, for a healthy and sustainable diet.
I like farming culture as well. It looks fanciful for me to try it, but the attitude and the awareness farmers tend to have toward conservation – and yes, even climate change – is a noble feature of it.
In our history, nobility often retreated to the countryside to think more sager thoughts, and it would appear we have others today who seek to do the same thing, if to make a few quid off it, as well.
