Short format Episode 13.1

Question 1.

How and why did you end up in your current position? 

Zac tells us of his journey to the position that involved seeing the huge human and ecological impact that conventional mono-cropping has in the central valley in California and how spurred on by this he came back to the UK determined to make a difference.

https://www.riverford.co.uk

The first in our slightly revised format CLEAR talks to Zac Goodall, Head of Sustainability at Riverford.

Zac tells us of his journey to the position that involved seeing the huge human and ecological impact that conventional mono-cropping has in the central valley in California and how spurred on by this he came back to the UK determined to make a difference.

Riverford should need little introduction to anyone interested in food and farming having been pioneers in the direct to home model of food delivery selling seasonal organic veg boxes and later expanding to meat, dairy and other products.

Zac's job is huge and varied but he outlines how Riverford will continue to push to be ever more sustainable through it's production methods and explains to us how farm data is gathered, used and fed back to be on a model of continuous improvement.

This podcast will also be serialised into smaller question by question films.

https://www.riverford.co.uk/

If you want a deep dig into the different types of fat, want to know your omega 3 from your 6 and how the way we produce our foods influences the fat content then this will be an enlightening conversation.
Gillian is an animal nutritionist and has worked in this field for decades. She beings a wealth of knowledge about how farming methods of production cause variation in the fatty acid composition of animal based foods. 
We discuss in some detail the differences between Omega 3 and 6 and dispel some myths as we discuss the roles of these in the human body, and, as ever we discuss how method of production labelling is inadequate in the UK and how to make better informed decisions about the food you choose.

 
Technical notes below:
 
Better nutritional quality in grass fed milk and beef (policy or consumer target note):  

https://www.nibio.no/en/projects/suscatt/work-package-5/_/attachment/inline/45ec8925-646d-4b53-aa08-3cfef5857de4:3691975b19f6d184def67c6985548ff0d9228a03/Suscat_tn_241%20ed.pdf
  
 
Nutritional quality of pasture fed beef (farmer focused note) : 

https://www.nibio.no/en/projects/suscatt/work-package-5/_/attachment/inline/45ec8925-646d-4b53-aa08-3cfef5857de4:0a8745184a90a92daa932d30185a225d5891ae2e/Suscat_tn_242.pdf

Honor describes herself as Food Systems Specialist & Avocado aficionado!
She has worked extensively in food policy both here in the UK and in the USA giving her an incredibly thorough knowledge of how the global food system operates but it is her upcoming book that we wanted to talk about.

Now available for pre-release orders on Amazon her book 'The Avocado Debate' looks at the environmental, political, social and economic impacts of one of the world's favourite fruits. (yes it's a fruit!)

The take away is that the issues described about the avocado are largely present in all global commodities, this is a fascinating insight as to how we can better manage this supply chain.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Avocado-Debate-Changing-Planet/dp/1032443898

This interview switches it around as Fidelity Weston of CLEAR talks to CLEAR's communication consultant Glen Burrows about his life journey that has led him to be guiding this podcast series.

Fabia Bromovsky is the Director of The Global Farm Metric which is a common framework to understand, measure and monitor the state of farming systems globally.
It is designed to establish a common language that aligns existing metrics in the food and farming industry around a holistic view of farm-level sustainability.

In this conversation we discuss the importance and difficulties of collecting farm data and how that data can be used by both industry and government.

https://www.globalfarmmetric.org/

https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabia-bromovsky-29710043/?originalSubdomain=uk

Steven Jacobs is a strong supporter of CLEAR and in this discussion we dig into what the term organic means, both from a legal and environmental viewpoint.

We discuss how organic is arguably the first standard that not just offers regenerative agricultural practices but legally ensures that they are adhered to.

A fascinating part of the discussion looks at how France has taken control of eco-labelling by instigating a robust system of proof and accountability that comes from farm data, this is very closely aligned to the purpose of CLEAR here in the UK.

Vicky Hird's passion for transforming our food and farming system started with a lifelong fascination with insects, or bugs as she refers to them in her newly published book 'Rebugging The Planet'

She's been campaigning and researching food and faming for 33 years and brings a wealth of knowledge to the conversation.

We're including links to many of the campaigns Vicky discusses in the conversation

Sustainable Farming Campaign
https://www.sustainweb.org/sustainable-farming-campaign/

Sustain's News letter
https://mailchi.mp/sustainweb/farming-and-supply-chain-update-july

Action on river pollution
https://www.sustainweb.org/news/jun23-industrial-agriculture-toxic-waste/

Thoughts on Environmental Land Management
https://www.sustainweb.org/blogs/may23-role-policy-supporting-agroecology/

Unpicking food prices report
https://www.sustainweb.org/reports/dec22-unpicking-food-prices/

Food Hub Pilot scheme
https://www.sustainweb.org/news/may23-group-call-for-food-hub-fund-pilot/

Why ditching the horticulture strategy is a backward step
https://www.sustainweb.org/blogs/may23-horticulture-strategy-illogically-ditched/

Soy feeds report
https://www.sustainweb.org/news/jun23-soya-feeds-report/

Rebugging the Planet book
https://rebuggingtheplanet.org/

Real Bread Campaign
https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/