For all those who missed the excellent BBC documentary on Peak Oil and it’s potential impact on farming broadcast, last night, Friday 20th called A Farm for the Future. It will be repeated tomorrow, on Sunday 22nd February.

Presenter and co-producer Rebecca Hosking explores the importance of oil in farming and the potential impact of peak oil. The film has a passionate narrative centred on Rebecca’s small family farm in South West England and how it can manage the transition away from a fossil fuel economy.

Colin Campbell and Richard Heinberg contribute, permaculture, biofuels, biodiversity, forest gardens, gardening vs farming, industrial farming and no-till farming are all covered. Present methods cannot go on feeding the U.K. (and many other countries around the globe) as they are highly dependent on fossil-fuel. The film concentrates on the necessity to find a new way to feed the nation. If you are unable to watch the film, Rebecca has provided a feature length article for the UK’s Mail on Sunday newspaper.

“What we can say without any shadow of doubt is that petroleum man is just about extinct by the end of the century. That poses the thorny, difficult question, will Homo sapiens be as wise as his name implies and figure out a way to live without oil which is the bloodstream of virtually everything.” Colin Campbell.

Above all, the presentation comes from the heart. It is sure to capture the imagination of many people who, not least due to the deepening recession, are primed for new ideas like never before.

Within the BBC, the Natural History Unit is one of the most conservative and it is amazing that the film ever got made. The producers had to fight very hard to get the film made at all with many top executives at the BBC calling it “messed up propaganda”.

The hope is that with the Natural History Unit producing a film with peak oil at its heart, the gates are now open to all the other departments such as News at Ten, Panorama, Horizon etc. to cover peak oil. There is knowledge and understanding of peak oil within the BBC but also nervousness about reporting.

Repeated Sun 22 Feb, 17:00 on BBC Two (and also available on iPlayer).

Via The Oil Drum Europe