“How’s your Christmas shopping going?”
I’m usually the person who doesn’t get started till Christmas Eve, so I dread the question, especially when it comes from one of those super-shoppers that cleaned up on Black Friday!
At this time of year, people spend lots of energy choosing things for their kids: will little Harry look better in a Christmas jumper with reindeer or puddings on it? Is Lily old enough to play with a tablet without constantly smearing sticky stuff on the screen?
But if you’ve a minute to step back from the festive hubbub, there are other important choices we need to be making for our kids at the moment.
Do we want little Harry to grow up in a country that let Turtle Doves go extinct? Do we want Lily to remember what a Bumblebee looks like?
While we are deliberating on whether to go with turkey or goose, the Secretary of State is deliberating on how he plans to implement the Common Agriculture Policy package in England.
Although the public consultation is now closed, our online ‘Vote for Nature’ poll is still open. Over 23,000 people have taken part so far and an amazing 98% have said ‘Yes’ to wildlife-friendly farming.
I’ve seen the same choice being made right here in the Fens. For the last few months, our fabulous Community Engagement Officer, Jane, has been helping wildlife-friendly farmers to host farm walks and events, and to tell their story to nearly 3,000 local people.
On her travels in the world of harvest festivals, ploughing contests and village fetes, she has been asking similar questions of some of the people she’s met.
Out of 100 people she asked, all 100 said they would prefer their food to come from wildlife-friendly farms.
91% of the UK taxpayers said they’d be pleased to see their taxes funding this, supporting well-funded agri-environment schemes, which use some of the vast amount of public money spent through the Common Agricultural Policy to deliver public goods like clean air and water, health and well-being and homes for wildlife.
And 93 out of the 100 said they would pay more at the till for wildlife-friendly products.
Jane tells me that the people she met said things like “Nature conservation is not an optional add-on, but a vital part of the economy”, showing that they were voting with their heads as well as their hearts.
Will you take a moment to vote?
Jane has twins on the way early next year. I think I know what she would choose for them.