Foot and Mouth: The Human Cost

The outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth disease in the UK in 2001 caused a big crisis in British agriculture and tourism. The epizootic was the cause of the slaughtering of 10 million sheep and cattle.

The culling of animals was well documented visually in the press but there was little focus on the effect of the Foot & Mouth crises on the farmers, rural residents and the tourist industry. These images are a result of travelling across the country interviewing people who were all affected by the foot and mouth crisis. Everyone from farmers - to beekeepers - to hotel owners - to kids, opened up to Pal Hansen and told of the devastating effect the culling had on them and the countryside.

The disease was halted by October 2001.