Emmylou Harris är i Sverige och uppträder i kväll på Way Out West. Hennes medverkan där har uppmärksammats av bland andra Patrik Ohlsson, ordförande för LRF Värmland.
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"Dear Mrs Harris,
First of all, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Patrik Ohlsson, and I am a Swedish beef farmer. At the same time, I am Chairman of the Swedish Farmers Association in the County of Värmland.
I am aware that you have for many years recognised and supported the important work of American family farmers by performing on many occasions at Farm Aid events, and in this way raising the level of awareness among ordinary people for the difficult situation faced by many American farmers in hard-working rural communities. It is a well-known fact that country music and farming share the same common background and fundamental values. And it is my firm belief that country people myself included are your strongest fan base.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first Farm Aid concerts, and I know you have made a significant contribution to many of them. These events have given pride and hope to a lot of rural people who are struggling to make ends meet with long working hours and difficult policies, not to mention difficult weather conditions. The same situation is shared by farmers all over the world, and as a consequence the light you shed on their problems in the course of these important events also shines on a farmer like myself, living and working in Sweden.
Thank you for honouring both us and your own country background. I was extremely happy to learn that you were awarded the prestigious Polar Music Prize here in Sweden. I assure you that we your farming fans from all over the world are very proud on your behalf. I should also like to welcome you to the Way Out West festival to be held in Gothenburg in August. Unfortunately, three years ago, this festival made a point of not serving meat. This year, a decision has been taken not to serve any type of dairy products at the festival. In both cases, the ban was introduced for claimed environmental reasons.
This years announcement was made on June 1st the same date proclaimed by the UN food and agriculture organisation FAO to be World Milk Day. As if this were not enough, it also highlights a large number of myths on the subject of food and farming that are quite simply false. And by doing so, it sheds a bad light on the family farming community.
This makes me sad. The products from oats that are used as a substitute for dairy products are also agricultural products that are grown by Swedish farmers. Good! These products are also much better from a number of environmental aspects than other substitutes for people who want that instead of dairy products. This should preferably be explained with facts, not by casting a bad light on other products and production forms.
Brief facts: The environmental footprint generated by Swedish dairy products is far smaller than that of many other food products, based on nutritional value. Most parts of Sweden have reliable and sustainable precipitation and water levels. We should utilise this fact to produce large quantities of food. At the same time, doing that is beneficial to the global environment.
We have very low environmental impact in Swedish farming over all. Large areas of land in Sweden are unsuitable for growing food without the help of livestock. Many soil types and climate situations are only suitable for pastoral farming or for cattle, pig and poultry feed. Furthermore, the quality of cereal crops from these areas will only seldom be good enough for human consumption.
Livestock farming in Sweden, and many other parts of the world, is a climate- and environmentally smart way of utilising land and water resources that would otherwise not contribute towards the feeding of a growing world population. I know you have a strong involvement in animal welfare issues. Swedish farmers take pride in being good at this. We have among the strongest animal welfare legislations in the world. We have healthy animals that are well cared for as a result of good practises. In a lot of other countries 80 percent of the antibiotics are used for animals that are in good health in order to compensate for bad practises while in Sweden antibiotics are only used to a very limited extent in farming and only when they are really necessary.
With your pathos, solid reputation and long history from many Farm Aid events, you would be able to help prevent the false myths that are being spread by the Way Out West festival and instead honour the lives and heritage of the worlds hard working farmers. At the moment I have no idea how you can help us in this matter. But in an attempt to come up with a proposal I should like to invite you to visit some of my Swedish colleagues all livestock farmers during the course of your visits to Sweden later this year.
This would be an opportunity to learn more about a way of farming that could be an example for farmers all over the world. It would lead to better animal welfare, an improvement in human health and to a lower environmental impact from food and farming. If you would like to pick dates and locations that fit in well with your schedule, I would be pleased to make arrangements for you to meet my colleagues. Also, please feel free to invite any of the people from the WOW festival or the Polar Music Foundation. You decide on the terms and I will make the arrangements.
With my kindest regards,
Patrik Ohlsson"