Feed the World

Not something I had ever thought to take a picture of - and maybe not an image for the album - but I'm pleasantly surprised how clear it is for a quick snap, and pleased to have an idiosyncratic reminder of the day. It is 38 years since Live Aid. I can confidently state that because I remember watching a brief segment of it live on TV, in the upper room of a pub, as we changed out of our wedding clothes into our going away clothes

As a celebratory punt, we paid a first visit to a place we have long had our eye on: 'Farm Ed', which "aim to be at the heart of local, regional and global agroecological transition"! There is quite a lot of that kind of PR-speak on their web-site and on their walls. This is not the hand-me-down, recycled, sellotape-and-string enterprise that usually goes along with sustainability and eco-awareness. This is expensive buildings on a green-field site, brand image, and single-use, individual, white cotton towels, hand-rolled, in the toilet

The idea, I think, is to of to influence the farming and food industries - and their customers - to be more sustainable. A place for interested companies and institutions to hold meetings, away-days and training sessions. As well as the buildings there are 43 hectares of land, showcasing wildflower meadows, co-operative poly-tunnels, natural flood management, and heritage varieties

The corporate ambience is not really my cup of tea, but there is no doubt that the large area and variety of wild flowers is encouraging an impressive range and population of insects, from these clouds of tiny, hyperactive midges to large numbers of beetles and butterflies. Like us in the café, the flocks of swifts flying above us were appreciative of the rich feeding grounds.