Ex-JLS member JB Gill has spoken to Radio 5 about his career change from the pop and R&B boy band to a farmer, sharing why he is in favour of culling deer in Britain.
While co-presenting a BBC Radio 5 live Afternoon Edition show with Nihal Arthanayake, Gill challenged BBC Radio 5 listeners to consider that since there are over a million deer in the UK – the highest level in a thousand years – it’s important to cull deer to safely manage the countryside.
“I think there’s definitely something to be done in terms of the protection of our countryside. There’s also a bigger issue for farmers who are under pressure to produce more food and to sustain an industry that is growing year on year,” he said on the proposal of widespread culling.
The ex-boyband member quit the glamourous life of pop six years ago to become a farmer, and has since then advocated for protecting the countryside and responsible farming.
He also suggested the idea of “rewilding animals” as another potential solution: “Effectively, you introduce lynxes and bears back into the wild and effectively they would do the job that they were intended to do.”
When asked about being a black farmer, Gill admitted he doesn’t know that many black farmers, or farmers from ethnic minorities: “I don’t come from a farming background. For me it’s always been a passion about my food and acknowledging a connection with the countryside.”
Gill shared that coming from a Caribbean family, he always knows where he can get certain foods from when he visits.
In contrast, while Britain offers a much bigger variety of food, we don’t really care about where it comes from: “Responsibility needs to be taken to actually understand where that food has come from.”
That’s why he’s so keen to use the platform he built through his music career to advocate for issues facing the farming industry: “Until it’s a crisis, sometimes you don’t even hear about it.”
Gill recalls that when he announced his career change six years ago his fellow JLS band members were “slightly disbelieving” but “extremely supportive.”
“It’s something I think the boys can appreciate and they understand where I’m coming from and they support it absolutely,” he said.
> Borislava Todorova
Former JLS Member JB Discusses Farming Issues
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