26. What role for England’s grassland farming regions in the transition to a sustainable food system?

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Cattle and sheep farming is the dominant farming activity of the grassland regions of England, of which the south-west of England (SWE) holds a significant place as the country’s biggest regional area of farmed grassland. We posit the prevailing view that cattle and sheep farming is the only place-appropriate food production activity in grassland regions creates a traditionality of grasslands (TOG) narrative that may serve to position these regions at odds with the direction of policy in the UK which seeks to arrest and reverse the triple health, environment and climate crisis. We combine early findings from our PhD research, using mixed methods, to study past and present food production in the SWE. Thematic analysis of research data finds the TOG narrative is composed of multiple elements that intertwine physical limitations of land with human-made limitations of the wider food system. This more nuanced understanding highlights the multiplicity of other stakeholders who have a role and responsibility to facilitate change throughout the whole supply chain, creating space for co-design of a future role for the SWE as an integral part of a sustainable food system in the UK.