During my formative years (from 15 to 22) as a student in the early 1990's I worked hard and played hard on several local farms, picking strawberries, beans, lettuce, hops and general farm work. I enjoyed this work, it kept me fit and active, built up an understanding of different social groups and helped in part for me to find a job in the civil service linked to farming and conservation. We surely could be doing more to encourage our students to balance their academic career paths with short term but active, healthy, productive lifestyles that contribute greatly to our food economy in the UK. Faced with a loss of migrant workers, we must look to our own local populations,  and explore the benefits of a scheme to encourage those with a little more time on their hands to enjoy it out in the fields and contribute to our economy.  Jez Bretherton, Herefordshire.

Thanks for your suggestion Jez. I'll pass your comments onto the team.