When asked about food systems, most people favour a system that provides access to a healthy, diverse diet for everyone in the population; that works for the environment and for farmers; and they’re especially keen on vibrant local food economies – delicious foods as part of place-making.
Indeed, most people we speak to in Lincoln would like to buy local food – but acknowledge that it is not easily available.
They are keen to support our local farmers and food producers – but the disconnect between farming and food seems to be widening.
I wonder if, like me, you felt a little depressed by the latest fast-food chicken joint opening in central Lincoln last month – so many worlds away from the vibrant local food culture we at the food partnership aspire to.
Although this is where notions of “local” start getting messy…
How many chickens??
According to a recent report from the Wildlife Trusts, Lincolnshire produces more broiler chickens than any other county, and we’re number 6 for pigs and laying hens.
If that comes as a surprise to you, it is thanks to the local planning system doing its job very well indeed: Intensive Poultry Units (IPUs) are big, ugly and typically contain 40 000 birds in each shed at any one time – i.e. they stink to high heaven! It is very deliberate that they are well out of the way – and outside of the public’s notice, they continue to proliferate.
At age 35 days, the chickens emerge from their honking houses by the lorryload. This has recently become unpleasantly apparent to me, as one of the many cyclists using the new Lincoln Eastern Bypass regularly. Especially in summer, the pong of lorries with live chicken cargo makes me want to hold my breath for about 30 seconds after they pass (obviously not a possibility on the uphill leg of the journey!)
How much land??
What is still less visible than livestock units in the lovely Lincolnshire countryside, is the amount of land used to produce poultry feed.
Livestock consumes around 38% of UK grown wheat; and far more seriously, soy feed grown in the global South is driving deforestation of some of the most pristine and essential ecosystems on the planet.
How much poop??
Also going un-noticed is the disposal of poultry waste, and the impact of nutrient pollution on water courses.
Manure, when well managed, is beneficial to the soil and to crops (I use it on my allotment!). But in the quantities that it is now being generated, the reverse is true.
On Lincolnshire’s low-lying, well-drained farmland, nutrient-polluted water is pumped out to sea – too dirty and expensive to treat for drinking water.
However, as our summers become hotter and drier, water availability is becoming increasingly limited, with implications for irrigation for vegetable production, as well as households and industry.
Toxic Trade-off
There is a trade-off, you see, between one type of farming and another.
The claims by the industry about food security and economic growth should be seen in the light of the low number and low quality of jobs associated with cheap chicken, the increasing risk of zoonotic disease, energy-intensivity and sensitivity to heat-stress of ILUs, over-reliance on imports and volatile global markets for feed, and the impact on ecosystems and public amenity locally.
I write this, not to make the case for veganism (although there is a strong case to be made, and full respect to the veggies and vegans in our city), but to unpick a little of the complexity around local food, and the kind of farming we want more (or less) of in our county.
With thanks to the Lincoln Independent for publishing this article in their January 2026 print edition
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