Looking around our beautiful countryside in Cumbria today, with ewes in their inby ready for lambing, dairy herds in their daily milking routine and the hardier Belted Galloways out on the fells as part of regenerative grazing programmes. You could be lulled into a false sense that nothing has changed in generations.
But this year marks 25 years since the start of the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak in the UK and the catastrophic destruction this epidemic brought. I have to say that, in this county at least, it’s not an easy anniversary to speak of. The subject is only ever mentioned in Cumbria with caution and sensitivity. For, unless you know the person you are speaking to you cannot anticipate their reaction.
For some it was the devastating disease that in a hammer blow forced a change in their farming policy and practice that allowed the next generation to continue but for others (the majority) it was a cruel and catastrophic loss still felt a generation on.
Ask a farmer who is always quick with their reply, and they might take a minute of silence before they can respond - eyes tear and throats dry. And those who didn’t succumb to the virus will tell of their own hardship and difficulty coping through the isolation and lockdown with no recompense.
Of course it was not just the farmers. The tourist industry was shut down, hoteliers, restaurants and shops suddenly found their diaries empty and the millions of tourists their business relied upon banished from the fells. It was a devastating time for all.
Our task today is two-fold. We need to hold this (almost sacred) story, helping those who have buried the pain so deeply to cope when life forces it to come out and to help next generations to understand what their parents and grand-parents went through and of the strength and resilience they found to cope with the crisis and aftermath – for that is their story too.
Secondly, we need to speak prophetically to government and policy makers about the real concern of a repeat epidemic. After 25 years and numerous reports and ongoing research we are still as vulnerable and susceptible today as a generation ago.
Every successive government has failed to put in place the safeguards needed. And now, with constant reports of illegal meat being brought into our country and food system, unchecked and with no surety of it being disease free and government policy that drives towards larger and more intense agriculture we fear a repeat. All this makes the 25th anniversary a hard topic to cover but let us not be silent in our responsibility.
Creator God,
you ordained that we care
for all creatures and creation.
We lament the devastation
caused by the 2001 Foot & Mouth epidemic -
the loss of livestock and livelihood.
Forgive our inaction, when policy
causes us to live lightly with our responsibility.
When our practice means that we show
little reverence to your laws
and the possible consequences.
Help us to live as you ordained,
To care deeply and live well together
with all your created order,
today and every day. Amen