Sustainable Food Trust

🗞️ For July's edition of the Sustainable Food Trust newsletter, we bring you three new articles! 🐄 SFT CEO and organic dairy farmer, Patrick Holden, responds to the latest news that Denmark will introduce a cow carbon tax, explaining why he believes this isn’t the right approach to tackling climate change. 🎏 Our Executive Director, Adele Jones, reflects on this year's Groundswell festival – the 'Glastonbury of Agriculture' – including our own sessions which covered covering everything from holistic metrics to working with wool. 🗳️ As the general election looms – don't forget to vote tomorrow – we share our food and farming manifesto, which includes six commitments we'd like to see from the next government. Click the link in our bio to support our manifesto. Keep an eye on your inbox for this month's newsletter, out today, or if you're not already subscribed you can sign up via our website: https://lnkd.in/egMCkbbQ #GeneralElection #GeneralElection2024 #Manifesto #CarbonTax #Methane #Groundswell

🚨 Regen10's Outcomes-Based Framework survey is closing on Monday 22 July 🚨 If you’re an expert in agriculture and food systems with experience working with farmers and landscape stewards on regenerative and agroecological approaches, we would like to hear from you! Thank you to all those who have shared their insights so far - your expertise will help shape and refine the Framework, which aims to provide all value chain stakeholders with a shared understanding of how to advance equitable and inclusive regenerative food systems. To take part, press the link in the comments ⬇️ #Regen10 #Regenerative #FoodSystems Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), IUCN, Leaders' Quest, Meridian Institute, Systemiq Ltd., WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development, World Farmers' Organisation, Global Alliance for the Future of Food, Sustainable Food Trust, 1000 Landscapes For 1 Billion People, The Rockefeller Foundation, IKEA Foundation, McKnight Foundation

📈 The latest UK Climate Change Committee report released today assesses how far the UK has progressed in meeting its climate targets. Agriculture is in the spotlight as the fourth largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions at 48 MtCo2e (11% of total emissions in 2023, after transport, buildings and industry – and greater than the UK’s energy supply). Yet emissions reductions in agriculture were only 2.4%. As other sectors carbonise, agriculture will play an increasingly large part in the UK’s climate impact. Yet there is huge untapped potential to move from agriculture being part of the climate problem, to being a solution, while restoring biodiversity and delivering resilient food production. We need an urgent shift to regenerative farming that restores soil carbon, builds back nature and increase our resilience to climate shocks. Achieving this requires balancing multiple needs. We must address the climate challenge whilst also producing high quality food, meeting our nature targets and fostering healthy communities. The SFT’s report 'Feeding Britain from the Ground Up’ showed that, through regenerative farming, the UK can strike this balance. However, it requires policy and business support to incentivise producing food in harmony with nature, rather than treating these as two separate goals, whilst also raising the regulatory bar to reduce environmental harm. We recently wrote to the Secretary of State for Defra, The Rt. Hon. Steve Reed, to express the critical need for finance to accelerate the regenerative farming transition and the use of common metrics to measure and report on progress towards meeting our climate, nature and social goals. 🔗 Read our letter to Steve Reed here: https://lnkd.in/eGsxKGPS #ClimateChange #RegenerativeAgriculture #FeedingBritain

A bit late to the party, but it was great to host this panel last week at the UN Global Compact Network UK event at the The Conduit with Maria Carvalho from NatWest Group, Khanh Mach from Quorn Foods, Sandrine Ricard from Pernod Ricard and Eleanor Besley-Gould from Xynteo. Thanks Lily Venables for organising. The discussion was about where companies are at on their 2030 targets in line with the #SDGs. It’s a bit of a daunting time given how much we still plan to achieve in the next few years. If you include the one that’s about to happen, we have 6 harvests left to get some serious 💩 done. Key takeaways for me were: 1) pre-competitive efforts are absolutely key to solving the sustainability issues we face. A degree of competition around sustainability between companies is healthy but we must identify where honest collaboration is needed. Coalitions like the UN Global Compact Network UK, Sustainable Markets Initiative and WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development are crucial here. 2) we have to make this a financial no brainer, particularly for farmers. All the risk and bureaucracy cannot fall on their shoulders. This will take investment from the private sector to bridge the transition gap, but critically also the development of a long term business proposition for regenerative agriculture. 3) transparency and the use of harmonised data will be game-changing when it comes to procurement but also financial decision making. A common framework of metrics provides the glue which sticks all the different actors operating in the food system together, ensuring we all all pushing in the same direction, rather than 8 different ones.. 

Our Projects Officer, Olivia Boothman, recently spoke to FoodNavigator about the compatibility of the EU’s Nature Restoration Law with regenerative agriculture, highlighting the alignment of their goals, including a focus on improving biodiversity and enhancing soil carbon stocks. 🗣️ “Encouragingly, the EU Nature Restoration Law acknowledges that agriculture, when practiced according to regenerative principles, can form part of the solution to the nature crisis. This is a positive shift away from the dominant narrative which tends to segregate nature from food production.” Outcomes from regenerative agriculture are generally perceived as being wider than just nature restoration, as recognised by Regen10’s outcome framework, which is underpinned by the Global Farm Metric. 📢 To harness the full potential of regenerative agriculture to combat society’s many crises, Olivia advocated that, “It is imperative that government departments work together to realise these changes and, crucially, that farmers are supported through the transition to more sustainable farming and are recognised and valued for their contributions to society, not only as food producers but also critical custodians of the land.” 🔗 Read Olivia’s full conservation with Food Navigator here: https://lnkd.in/e6wnJ2mV #NatureRestoration #Biodiversity #SoilCarbon #RegenerativeAgriculture

In order to demonstrate the positive environmental impact that regenerative agriculture can have, we need reliable and transparent data to support these claims. 🗣️ “We have to tell our story, and we have to tell our story with transparency and integrity.” – Prof John Gilliland of AHDB - Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board. Read more in Farmers Weekly: https://lnkd.in/gPmp6UQd A sustainability framework like the Global Farm Metric, provides a holistic approach for farmers to understand, measure and monitor the social, economic and environmental sustainability of their system. 🔗 Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/dfJnRKZj #GlobalFarmMetric #Sustainability #RegenerativeAgriculture #Data #Farming

We are pleased to welcome Adele Jones, Executive Director, Sustainable Food Trust as a speaker for the London Climate Technology Show. Adele Jones is Executive Director at the Sustainable Food Trust. She has been with the SFT since 2013, and now oversees the organisations strategic activities. In recent years, one of her major focuses has been the development of a project called the Global Farm Metric - an internationally common framework for measuring on-farm sustainability. She is currently an advisor to the Scottish Government. In 2020 she undertook a part time secondment with the Welsh Government, and in 2019 she completed a part-time secondment with DEFRA, both times working to develop metrics for monitoring the new post-Brexit farm support schemes. Previous to these roles, Adele has a background in geography and soil science. Take advantage of the Early Bird Offer and get Flat 15% OFF on Sponsorships and Exhibitor packages. Register today at https://lnkd.in/g5D9UXX5 #cts24 #cts #climatetechnology #excellondon #sustainablefuture #cleantechnology #climatetechshow #sustainableliving #carboncapture #greentech #netzero #sustainablesolutions #londonclimatetechnologyshow

Come along as we follow the participants of the Big Food Redesign Challenge as they experience the barriers, setbacks, and breakthrough moments in the race to create products that put nature first. In episode one ‘The beginning: using unwanted or forgotten ingredients’, Dunia Bora, Nutricandies and Spoon Cereals begin their journey to design products out of previously unwanted or forgotten ingredients. Watch now: https://lnkd.in/eCgAwAay _________________ The Big Food Redesign Challenge, in partnership with the Sustainable Food Trust and funded by People's Postcode Lottery, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and The Schmidt Family Foundation, brings together ambitious producers, retailers, start-ups, and suppliers to design new food products – or redesign existing ones – to regenerate nature. Featured participants: 🟠 Vincent, Founder / E.D, Dunia Bora, harnesses the power of an invasive species to create cookies and refreshing juices 🟠 Gustavo, CEO, Nutricandies, transforms often discarded parts of the cocoa bean into a rich and nutritious chocolate spread 🟠 Annie and Jonny, Co-founders of Spoon Cereals, creatively repurpose oat-milk leftovers and ancient grains to create hearty and nutritious porridge

📣 The Welsh government has made its latest announcement on the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), confirming it will commence in 2026 but as yet, there is little detail on revisions to the proposals.   🗣️ Commenting on the news, the SFT’s Policy Director, Lesley Mitchell, said: “We are pleased to see the extent of the consultation that has informed the Welsh Government’s latest thinking on the SFS. It is essential that the Government continue to work closely with farmers to achieve solutions that will work in all contexts, and that farmers are given the certainty that they need to move towards more sustainable practices. For the SFS to succeed, it is crucial that the new Labour government also recognises the key role the scheme will play in underpinning food security and nature recovery by dedicating sufficient resourcing to the Welsh agriculture budget.”   To read more about today’s announcement, visit https://lnkd.in/dbxU_J73 #SustainableFarmingScheme #SFS #FoodSecurity #NatureRecovery

At the weekend, we co-hosted a Beacon Farm event at Holden Farm Dairy to explore how farms can act as educational platforms, working together to inspire and inform people about the story behind their food. 🥘 The weekend included experiential workshops, creative discussions, farm walks and local excursions, with locally sourced food, music and entertainment. 🗣️ Speaking about the event, Sustainable Food Trust's Head of Projects, Bonnie Welch, whose work includes overseeing our Beacon Farms project, said, "The atmosphere co-created by everyone at Holden Farm this weekend, led to so many rich and inspiring conversations about the role of farm-based education in supporting the food and farming transition. By working together with Beacon Farms from across the UK and Ireland, we aim to open up opportunities for many more people to have access to 'seeing is believing' experiences on farms!" ✉️ If you'd like to find out more about our Beacon Farms project and how you could get involved, email bonnie@sustainablefoodtrust.org. 📸 Slides 1, 3 and 5 taken by Daniel Callen. #RegenerativeAgriculture #OrganicFarming #SustainableFarming #Sustainability #FarmToFork The Harmony Project, Ballymaloe Cookery School, Darina Allen, Square Food Foundation, Compassion in World Farming, Philip Lymbery, Sophie (Aplin) Gregory, Peter Byck, Stuart Oates, Ian Wilkinson FarmED - The Centre for Farm and Food Education, Carwyn Graves, Jamie Feilden Jamie's Farm, Charlotte Russell FRSA, Eden Project, Jez Fredenburgh