I have lost count of the times that I've introduced myself as a "farmer's daughter". I feel strangely compelled to flag my connection to land and to agriculture; it is often one of the first things people learn about me.
I can trace this conversational compulsion back to the moment I left our small family farm on the Welsh Borders to go to university at the age of 18, when I found myself living in a town for the first time. The irony of the fact I spent the first 18 years of my life trying to get away from the farm to chase more exciting urban adventures does not escape me, yet still I would doff my hat to the hinterland at any given opportunity-just so people knew where I really belonged.
I am good at city life; happiest tapping away at my laptop in some hipster café, sipping an Americano. Yet simultaneously, and oh-so-powerfully, I am terrified of disconnection - losing the part of myself that grew up in a rural culture, in the upland farming community I call home. This fear, silly as it may seem, pops up in my deepest thoughts, poking its nose into fundamental life decisions: "Do I want to be a parent? My child would not be a farm kid. They would not have what I had."
A dear friend of mine, a single mum and fellow farmer's daughter, struggles to fathom life with someone not from a local farming background, substantially narrowing her dating options. For her, the continuation of rural culture, identity and community are the most important considerations for her and her child.
I am convinced many millions of people around the world the great rural diaspora - would recognise what I describe.
The shift from a rural identity to an urban one is a big deal, even if you wanted to leave. My family (on both sides) have been farming along one small section of the border between Shropshire and Powys since the 1700s, and probably long before. Those roots run deep.
この記事は BBC Countryfile Magazine の September 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は BBC Countryfile Magazine の September 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Guilt-Free Meat? - Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians
Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians. Livestock farming around the world is facing scrutiny because of its greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, the sector contributes somewhere between 11.1% and 19.6% of total emissions. Meat production is roughly twice as bad as the production of plant-based food, according to some analyses. And beef is the worst of all. Study after study has suggested that, in order to curtail the devastating effects of climate change, we ought to shift to a diet containing less meat - or even go vegetarian or vegan.
Discover Cider Country - Explore mellow golden countryside, pedalling between medieval villages, historic inns and fruitful orchards, on a delightful Herefordshire Cider Circuit adventure with Julie Brominicks
Explore mellow golden countryside, pedalling between medieval villages, historic inns and fruitful orchards, on a delightful Herefordshire Cider Circuit adventure with Julie Brominicks. I'm cycling Porter's Perfection, one of three cider circuits developed for Visit Herefordshire over the past few years. Each showcases a section of this bucolic county's loveliest villages, pubs, orchards and cidermakers via lanes suited to bicycles - e-bikes for hill-averse cyclists like me. The idea is to allow you to appreciate the sights, sounds and smells of cider country while traversing roads never meant for modern cars. If you have dodgy knees, or are keen to indulge in the local adult apple juice as you go (remember, it's illegal to cycle while under the influence), Visit Herefordshire also promotes cider bus routes.
TOP 10 WILD AUTUMN FOODS
Make the most of seasonal abundance with foraging tips and recipe ideas from wild food expert Liz Knight
The taste of England
Amid pastures farmed by her family for more than four centuries, Mary Quicke is reviving forgotten dairy traditions to produce delicious Devon cheeses
How to eat 30 plants a week
As science proves the many health-boosting benefits of eating at least 30 different plants each week, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall shares recipes to help you meet the magic target
RARE RAFT SPIDER MAKES A COMEBACK
Thanks to dedicated conservation work, this impressive but vulnerable arachnid is resurgent in East Anglia
SPECTACULAR STONEHENGE FINDS
Following the latest astonishing revelation about the Stonehenge Altar Stone's Scottish origins, Dixe Wills looks at recent discoveries that have changed the way we view this impressive and enigmatic Neolithic monument
GALLOWAY NATIONAL PARK DEBATE
Would this protected status bring welcome recognition and attention - or overcrowding and problems for farmers?
Farmers are valued, so why do they feel we don't care?
For farmers out in their fields in all seasons, worried about the future as dramatic levels of rainfall blamed on climate change damage their crops, inflation and uncertainty push up their costs and what they see as unfair imports threaten their livelihoods, here's a spot of unexpectedly good news: the rest of us think you are doing a good job.
Pumpkin patches
Find the perfect jack-o'-lantern for Halloween at a pick-your-own pumpkin patch. Some are simple affairs in tranquil countryside; others offer activities ranging from ghost trains to spooky mazes.
