A Mucky Business with Tim Farron
Oct 7, 2026 · 31 min · 16 segments
The end of party conference season is here, and that means it's time for our final episode looking at the big stories coming out of it! This week, Tim is joined by Conservative MP Rebecca Smith, who…
Tim FarronHost
Rebecca SmithGuest
I suspect it's arriving wherever you are too, and with it, the seasonal celebration of harvest.
Now, when I was at school, even though I lived in a relatively urban area, not many farms around, I didn't go to church or attend a church school, we still did harvest festival services at our school.
The fact that you are living and breathing and able to listen to this show right now is a reminder that God has indeed answered your prayerful request that He would give you this day your daily bread.
Tragically, though, we've become too disconnected from the realities, the stories behind our meals, the farmers who care for the land, growing the abundance of crops and tending to the herds and flocks of animals.
In Westmorland, where I live, 1,600 wonderful farmers are scattered across the lakes and dales.
Many of their families have cultivated food in those valleys, on those mountaintops for centuries.
In fact, there have been farms on the Cumbrian fell sides with pasture grazed by livestock for at least 6,000 years, if we to believe the archeologists.
For most of human history, the majority of people have been closely involved then with food production and processing, but no longer really.
We live in a unique moment when we can go to the supermarkets and buy packaged food without knowing anything about the people and places involved in food production.
The harsh reality is that many farmers are struggling to make any money from their work as their input costs rise, while supermarkets and processors suppress the price that farmers get paid.
Psalm 24 declares that, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it," every field, every farm.
So how do we echo His love for the world in the way we produce and eat our food? Gathering and sharing food is woven into the story of the children of Israel.
In Exodus 16, we find Israelites in the desert between Elim and Sinai grumbling against Moses and Aaron, complaining about their food.
But God never breaks His promises, and He blesses them with exactly what they need.
"I will rain down bread," manna, "from heaven." You see, in the decentralized food economy of the desert, there is enough for all.
It isn't hoarded by the powerful few, and that should give us a clue as to what our attitude should be to material things in general, but to food in particular.
I suspect it's arriving wherever you are too, and with it, the seasonal celebration of harvest.
Now, when I was at school, even though I lived in a relatively urban area, not many farms around, I didn't go to church or attend a church school, we still did harvest festival services at our school.
The fact that you are living and breathing and able to listen to this show right now is a reminder that God has indeed answered your prayerful request that He would give you this day your daily bread.
Tragically, though, we've become too disconnected from the realities, the stories behind our meals, the farmers who care for the land, growing the abundance of crops and tending to the herds and flocks of animals.
In Westmorland, where I live, 1,600 wonderful farmers are scattered across the lakes and dales.
Many of their families have cultivated food in those valleys, on those mountaintops for centuries.
In fact, there have been farms on the Cumbrian fell sides with pasture grazed by livestock for at least 6,000 years, if we to believe the archeologists.
For most of human history, the majority of people have been closely involved then with food production and processing, but no longer really.
We live in a unique moment when we can go to the supermarkets and buy packaged food without knowing anything about the people and places involved in food production.
The harsh reality is that many farmers are struggling to make any money from their work as their input costs rise, while supermarkets and processors suppress the price that farmers get paid.
Psalm 24 declares that, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it," every field, every farm.
So how do we echo His love for the world in the way we produce and eat our food? Gathering and sharing food is woven into the story of the children of Israel.
In Exodus 16, we find Israelites in the desert between Elim and Sinai grumbling against Moses and Aaron, complaining about their food.
But God never breaks His promises, and He blesses them with exactly what they need.
"I will rain down bread," manna, "from heaven." You see, in the decentralized food economy of the desert, there is enough for all.
It isn't hoarded by the powerful few, and that should give us a clue as to what our attitude should be to material things in general, but to food in particular.
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