Farming needs a touch of diversity

More ethnic minorities should find their way into the predominantly white and middle class world of farming, according to the country's best known black farmer.

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, who runs the Black Farmer brand, said Kent's agricultural industry would benefit greatly if more people from ethnic minorities and urban areas started farms.
 The Conservative parliamentary candidate for Chippenham in Wiltshire argued the farming industry needed "new ideas".

He said: "The big thing the farming community needs is fresh blood.
 "The relationship with the consumer has been lost because of the rise of supermarkets over the last 20 years. People from ethnic communities and urban environments know what food people as a community want and they could produce it.

"Change is essential to bring more interesting ideas into farming."
 Mr Emmanuelle-Jones moved to the UK from Jamaica in 1961 when he was just four years old. He was inspired to become a farmer by watching his father tend to his allotment in Birmingham as a child.

He said many ethnic foods are imported to the UK and argued that if farmers were producing it locally they could discover a cash cow.
 He added: "People from ethnic minorities should group together and buy their own land."

Stephen Paine, from the Kent Young Farmers Club, is carrying out a research project to try and find ways to attract more young people from ethnic minorities and urban areas to the industry.