C.L.E.A.R. Campaign

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.

Lucas Daglish has a fascinating background with his food journey starting as a chef he globe trotted ending up in Michelin star restaurants and eventually taking a job as a buyer. Working as a buyer led him to want to know more about how sustainable our food system is and this line of enquiry led him to undertake a degree in food policy while still having a full time job.

Now Lucas is Sustainability Manager at the The British Meat Processors Association, a job which isn't without challenges. We discuss a lot of the misinformation surrounding the impact of meat production and of course how labelling can play a role in making the industry more sustainable.

Judith is someone whose career has bridged the gap between the private sector and policy at the highest level and therefore makes for and incredibly well informed podcast guest.

Judith is Chair of the Environment and Business Committee and a member of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee and the People and Pay Committee.

She has worked in the food and drink industry for over 35 years starting her life in manufacturing before moving into retail at Marks and Spencer. From 2004 to 2021, she worked for Sainsbury’s as Director of Sainsbury’s Brand with responsible for all aspects of Sainsbury’s product offer.

Judith is a biochemist, nutritionist, has an Honorary Doctorate in Agriculture from Harper Adams University, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST), and the Royal Society of Arts and Manufactures (RSA).

From 2013 to 2018 she was Chair of the Governments’ AgriTech Council, and now sits on both the Food and Drink Sector, and Natural Environment Research Councils.

She was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to Farming and the Food Industry, and is a Commissioner on the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission.

Judith now advises government on food policy as deputy chair of The Environment Agency. The Environment Agency is a Non-Departmental Public Body set up under the Environment Act 1995 to take an integrated approach to environmental protection and enhancement in England. It has major responsibilities in flood management, water resources and quality, climate change, land quality, chemicals, pollution prevention and control, waste, conservation and biodiversity, fisheries conservation, air quality and navigation.

Rich Osborn is founder and CEO of Equilibrium Markets, a tech based platform to revolutionise how our food supply chain operates. The platform creates efficient data transfer between the actors in the chain that offer a greater level of transparency and data gathering helping chains to be shorter and more efficient as well as connecting smaller farms and producers so they can access larger markets more easily.

We talk about his vision for the future of food and how correct labelling can bring greater knowledge to the consumer leading to better decision making and improvements in human and environmental health.

CLEAR talks to Dr Nick Palmer, Head of Compassion UK which is the UK branch of the non-profit Compassion in World Farming. 

He previously worked in as Director of Policy at Cruelty Free International, after serving as MP for Broxtowe from 1997 to 2010.

Nick is a lifelong supporter of animal protection and during his time in Parliament was vice-chair of the All-Party Animal Welfare Group.

His Parliamentary career included a period as Parliamentary Private Secretary for DEFRA, as well as membership of the Treasury, European Affairs and Justice Select Committees. He has a PhD in mathematics and speaks six languages.

Nick is an experienced spokesperson having made appearances across a range of media channels including Sky News, BBC News, BBC Radio 4 Faming Today, BBC Radio 5 Live and LBC Radio. Nick has also been quoted extensively in national media outlets including The Times, The Guardian, Woman’s Health, Huff Post and New Statesman.

In this discussion Dr Palmer talks about his support for CLEAR and why our current food labelling system is misleading as well as how moving to a more agro-ecological model of food production would benefit everyone from consumers to farmers and of course, the animals.