{"id":8474,"date":"2020-12-30T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T09:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=8474"},"modified":"2021-01-18T14:25:50","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T14:25:50","slug":"bringing-down-the-barriers-to-truly-sustainable-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/bringing-down-the-barriers-to-truly-sustainable-agriculture\/8474\/","title":{"rendered":"Bringing down the barriers to truly sustainable agriculture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patrick Holden CBE, Founder of the Sustainable Food Trust, spoke to The Innovation Platform<\/em>\u2019s International Editor, Clifford Holt, about issues such as the Agriculture Bill, Brexit, and the \u2018land sharing\u2019 versus \u2018land sparing\u2019 debate.<\/h2>\n

In response to the worsening human and environmental crises that are associated with the vast majority of today\u2019s food and farming systems, Patrick Holden CBE founded the Sustainable Food Trust (SFT) in 2011. The organisation envisions a world in which food and farming systems that nourish the health of the planet and its people are firmly in place.<\/p>\n

In order to accelerate the transition to more sustainable food and farming systems, the SFT works catalytically on a global scale to influence and enhance the work of other organisations, rather than replicating existing initiatives.<\/p>\n

The Innovation Platform<\/em>\u2019s International Editor, Clifford Holt, spoke with Holden about some of the SFT\u2019s goals, as well as his thoughts on issues such as the Agriculture Bill, Brexit, and the \u2018land sharing\u2019 versus \u2018land sparing\u2019 debate.<\/p>\n

Could you begin by outlining the work and role of the Sustainable Food Trust? How do you operate, and what do you hope to achieve?<\/h3>\n

In the UK, the Sustainable Food Trust is a recognised charity, and in the USA, we are a c3 not for profit organisation. We also operate throughout the wider world. I established the organisation in 2011 when I left the Soil Association, where I had been for some 20 years.<\/p>\n

During my time at the Soil Association, I had developed a range of contacts with both individuals and organisations all over the world, and we had been quite successful within the context of organic farming to develop standards and promote a separate market based on the standards we had worked on in the 80s and 90s. That market and the standards underneath it became a framework to enable thousands of farmers and growers throughout the world to operate in a more sustainable and regenerative way in order to remain economically viable.<\/p>\n

Towards the end of my time at Soil Association, I had come to realise the threats posed by climate change, biodiversity loss, and all the other existential threats that confront us, necessitate a more inclusive approach. Indeed, it had become increasingly evident that unless the whole of agriculture, both locally and globally, transitioned to systems of food production which rebuilt the natural capital we had lost during my farming lifetime, then we might end up making our planet uninhabitable.<\/p>\n

At this time, I was approached by some of those who had backed me while I was with the Soil Association and who suggested that I form an organisation with a mission which is related to those aims and objectives. The result was the Sustainable Food Trust. Our mission is to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable food systems, and while we have a particular emphasis on Europe and North America, our mission is truly global.<\/p>\n

We work on three levels, essentially attempting to be a catalyst for change. These are:<\/p>\n