Prince Charles praises Marcus Rashford’s ‘off pitch mission’ tackling child hunger after footballer was subjected to racist attacks
- Prince Charles has warned modern farming is putting family farms at risk
- Prince of Wales said focus on producing plentiful and cheep food was putting smaller farms that are the ‘backbone of Britain’s rural communities’ at risk
- The royal made the comments in an essay for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme
- Comes ahead of tomorrow’s publication of the National Food Strategy
Prince Charles has praised Marcus Rashford’s work tackling child hunger after the footballer was subject to racist abuse online.
In an essay for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the prince cited Rashford’s ‘mission off the pitch’ as an example of the ‘extraordinary work’ being done to try and ‘build a better food system for everyone’.
Charles’s comments come after Rashford and teammates Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho received sickening racist abuse on social media following their side’s defeat in the Euros final on Sunday.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall joined Prince William in releasing statements in the immediate aftermath, with Charles re-releasing a quote from 2020 that said: ‘Recognizing the rich diversity of cultures which make this country so special – and in many ways unique – lies at the heart of what we can be as a nation.’
Speaking today, Charles said: ‘From field to fork extraordinary work is being done to try and build a better food system for everyone.
‘Be it Jamie Oliver promoting education and a balanced diet, Henry Dimbleby’s ambitions for safe, healthy and affordable food, or Marcus Rashford whose mission off the football field is to tackle child hunger.’
Prince Charles has warned modern farming methods are threatening the future of smaller, family-run businesses that are at the heart of British rural life
It came as Charles warned modern farming methods are threatening the future of smaller, family-run businesses that are at the heart of British rural life.
He added the loss of these smaller farms would ‘rip the heart out of the British countryside’ and ‘break the backbone of Britain’s rural communities’.
Charles’s comments come ahead of the publication of the National Food Strategy, the first major review of Britain’s food system in more than 70 years.
The report, published tomorrow, will explore the links between food production and environmental degradation including climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and the sustainable use of resources.
Speaking on the issue, Charles said: ‘Our current approach is forcing many small family farms to the wall. If they go, it will quite simply rip the heart out of the British countryside and break the backbone of British rural communities.
‘So if we want to have food that is healthy and produced in a sustainable way, we must support a diversity of farms that help them make the profound and rapid change the crisis demands.’
Charles added the loss of these smaller farms would ‘rip the heart out of the British countryside’ and ‘break the backbone of Britain’s rural communities’
In the essay Charles notes how he has watched ‘precious landscapes’ destroyed in the name of ‘efficiency’ in farming and argues the ‘hidden costs’ of modern industrial farming methods are not taken into account.
He cites how damage to soils and the emissions from modern farming contribute to global warming.
‘We must put nature back at the heart of the equation,’ he urged. ‘How we produce food has a direct impact on the Earth’s capacity to sustain us, which has a direct impact on human health and economic prosperity.’
On the topic of soils he said: ‘If we regenerate degraded soils around the world, we could capture as much as 70 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions. Only by benefitting nature can we benefit people.’
The royal added there are promising investment opportunities in innovative approach to agriculture.