10 poets, 10 photographers, 10 food growers: We Feed The UK launches in February 2024, weaving together the arts and environment to reframe nature-friendly farming in support of the transition to regenerative agriculture, so needed across these isles.
Poetry has the power to cut through the noise, taking us straight to the heart of this movement: the inspirational folk restoring soil, welcoming wildlife back into their fields, and reconnecting local people to place. And so, for this campaign we’ve teamed up with the Hot Poets – a community interest company bringing together poetry and science to make our planet cool again. Together, we’ve commissioned 10 incredible spoken work artists who will tell the stories sprouting from regenerative farms through 2024-2025, covering issues from climate resilience to food justice.
As a taste of what’s to come, Hot Poet Liv Torc has brought the incredible work of Martin Lines to life. Martin is an arable farmer from South Cambridgeshire and CEO of the Nature Friendly Farming Network – one of 10 Environment Partners for We Feed The UK.
This poem was written and performed by Liv at COP28, where the Hot Poets have been working with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Resilience Frontiers.
“Do you want to know are greatest hope for the planet? It’s regenerative farming. Half the habitable world is farm land, that’s 608 million farms. If we get the farmers onboard and regenerating 20% of the land then we can turn biodiversity and climate around within a decade. This poem is about one of the farmers who is leading the charge.” Hot Poets
We Feed The UK launches at Liverpool’s Open Eye Gallery on Thursday 8 February. Exhibitions and poetry performances will run from spring 2024-2015, celebrating the people and nature-friendly practices who hold the key to a healthy future.