Scrolling through social media at the weekend I spotted a post from a woman complaining about the fact she couldn’t read an online article published by a newspaper because it was behind a pay wall. She declared as a result she “would no longer follow the page”. Another person raged that people have no money to pay for reading articles. I was tempted to respond that I no longer shop in the local supermarket because they don’t give away the groceries for free.

We all love a bargain and God knows we’ll be looking for more of them in these strange times. But when it comes to journalism and farming, there are some who believe that journalists and farmers live off fresh air.

There was the initial argument that flying a planeload into the country during a lockdown wasn’t safe

The furore over the arrival of seasonal workers into Ireland recently was another example of the contradictions and disconnect between consumers and food production. There was the initial argument that flying a planeload into the country during a lockdown wasn’t safe. It prompted the suggestion that there are plenty of Irish people who would be glad of the work. That in turn elicited the response that no Irish people would do that work for the minimum wage which in turn begged the question why don’t these big companies pay more?

That is not to say that workers should not be paid a living wage by big food companies who can afford to

Well maybe if we were willing to pay more for our punnet of fruit, these jobs might not be so low-paid. That is not to say that workers should not be paid a living wage by big food companies who can afford to, but if our attitude towards food and journalism is so cheap, then it only serves to suppress the value of their labour.

The EU multi-annual financial framework talks have been put on ice in the pandemic which in turn will have implications for the rollout of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). It is certain that the CAP budget will be cut which means less to divvy out among the EU’s 10 million farms. There are some in the EU parliament who won’t lose much sleep about that. Surely that’s worrying in a crisis like this where food security was never so important?

Tackling climate change will be the centrepiece of the new policy with farmers among the frontline workers

Supports for Irish farmers through CAP represents a cost of about €1/day for every man, woman and child in Ireland and around 30c a day across the EU. That’s the price of ensuring a safe, traceable, affordable and secure supply of fresh food for its 500 million citizens. Tackling climate change will be the centrepiece of the new policy with farmers among the frontline workers. There are whispers that agriculture be excluded from any post-pandemic bailout or that food production shouldn’t be rewarded until it cleans up its act. But holding farming to ransom like this would be fatalistic in the climate battle.

Farmers will follow the money

Non-market income makes up the bulk of farm salaries. It would be putting the cart before the horse to demand that farming be starved of financial oxygen at a time when the marketplace is so volatile. For all our sakes and the future of the planet, farmers must convince the doubters that they need investment and incentives rather than rewards to reduce emissions.

It’s no time for finger pointing. Farmers will follow the money. Consumers and environmentalists of which we are all in reality, must realise that farming is like no other business and needs public money to ensure food supply and climate action. As in journalism, if you want quality, you must pay for it.