Free Thinking

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Free Thinking: Soil, Chickens and City Farms

Soil, Chickens and City Farms

BBC Radio 4 - Free Thinking, Soil, Chickens and City Farms

Ahead of world soil day, Anne McElvoy looks at changes to both rural and urban farming.

From the start of city farms to the history of chicken keeping and soil management, Anne McElvoy meets researchers looking at what we can learn from changes in agricultural ideas.

Soil degradation threatens our ecosystem and is among the most significant problems at a global level for agricultural production, food security and sustainability. World Soil Day 2022 on December 5th aims to heighten soil awareness so ahead of this, Anne McElvoy explores changes to both rural and urban farming. Mike Collins charts the evolution of the city farm; Jim Scown considers the relationship between soils, science and literary realism in Victorian Britain; Catherine Oliver asks why a growing number of city dwellers are rising with the rooster & discovering community in chicken keeping and Paul Wright, a film director, discusses his documentary, Arcadia, which captures the magic of rural Britain and our changing views towards the land and has a soundtrack from Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp). 

Jim Scown is a New Generation Thinker and Post Graduate Researcher at Cardiff University 
Catherine Oliver is a lecturer in the Sociology of Climate Change at Lancaster University.
Mike Collins is a trustee at Bath City Farm and has written a forthcoming piece for BBC History Magazine on the early history of the City Farm 
Paul Wright's documentary, Arcadia is being screened with the soundtrack by Adrian Utley (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp) performed live in Sunderland on November 30th and can be seen in Leeds and London March 2023 

You can find more discussions about Green Thinking in a collection on the Free Thinking programme website also available from the Arts & Ideas podcast feed - programmes includes episodes about mushrooms, forests, rivers, eco-criticism and designing the home https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07zg0r2

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