While most Brits agree that self-sufficiency — growing your own food, cooking and rearing animals — could help beat the recession, about half say they lack the confidence to take such a plunge themselves, according to the Soil Association.

An online poll of 1,230 Britons conducted by Pollab Limited found that 92 per cent agreed the current financial crisis has made self-sufficiency and traditional skills more and more important. However, 51 per cent say they have no idea how to rear animals, 48 per cent say they have no rural craft skills, 47 per cent say they are less able than their grandparents’ generation to grow their own food and 45 per cent say they have fewer cooking skills.

Additionally, the Soil Association notes, less than one-third of the 300,000 acres of prime growing land in gardens and allotments in the UK is currently used to grow food.

In an effort to reduce that lack of confidence among Britons, the Soil Association — with support form the Daylesford Foundation — is launching 300 Organic Farm School courses over the next two years.

The hands-on courses will cover growing your own food, rearing animals, cooking and rural crafts, with specific classes in such areas as bee-keeping, vegetable growin, cider making, willow weaving and hedge laying. Participants will learn practical skills directly from organic farmers, growers and producers with personal experience.

“The Organic Farm School is about relearning skills which are vital to becoming more self-sufficient,” said Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association. “In the recession, this will not only be cheaper but it’s healthier for you and the environment too. I think one of life’s greatest pleasures is eating food that you’ve produced yourself.

Holden added, “My vision for the Organic Farm School is that it enables and inspires a whole generation of young people to acquire these vitally important skills from the very best practitioners — the farmers and growers themselves.”

The self-sufficiency poll revealed some telling discrepancies between men and women. Of the 92 per cent who said self sufficiency was important, 41 per cent of women strongly agreed, compared to just over a quarter (29 per cent) of men. However, similar numbers of both men and women admitted to feeling less skills at self sufficiency than their grandparents.

Confidence in home gardening skills also varied widely by region, with people in Scotland (58.1 per cent ) and London (56.3 per cent) feeling the least skilled compared to their grandparents — much moreso than respondents in Yorkshire (34.7 per cent) and Northern Ireland (33.3 per cent).

The Soil Association hopes to reach over 3,000 individuals — from young families and gardening newbies, to allotmenteers and wanna-be smallholders – with its Farm School.

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