The Bishop of Wakefield calls for prayers 

for struggling farmers

The Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Rev Stephen Platten, has called on people to pray for the whole food production chain from struggling farmers, in the UK and elsewhere, to those that do not have enough to eat.
 
Backing the Enough Food For Everyone If*  campaign, the Bishop emphasised the call for governments, companies and individuals to work together to take the necessary steps to reduce the millions currently going hungry and the amount of food wasted.
 
At the other end of the food chain, he added, those who produce food also need prayers. Farmers in the UK, for example, are facing cuts in their income of up to 50 per cent due to weather damage, according to latest estimates from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
 
"The world produces enough food for everyone, yet nearly a billion people are starving," said Bishop Stephen. "If we all work together we can make dramatic progress towards ending global hunger - IF. But we must not forget those who produce that food.
 
"The UK, in recent months, has seen dreadful weather that has ruined crops and disrupted harvests. The end result, according to DEFRA, is that many farmers face a cut in income of up to a half. Such crop failures can happen anywhere, so, while we pray for an end to global hunger, we should pray for those who produce the food, too."


* www.enoughfoodif.org

see also the Diocese of Oxford project to help churches think about Food Matters : www.foodmatters.org.uk