Eating is an agricultural act
'Prompted by the wisdom of poet and philosopher Wendell Berry, I am writing
at the end of our 60th year to outline a vision for the Soil Association –
and the scale of the task ahead.
The history of the Soil Association has two distinct phases. The first
followed the 2nd world war when food security concerns dominated. Guaranteed
prices for food was introduced and chemical fertilisers became widely available.
This combination unleashed an era of industrial agriculture. It was an unstoppable
tide against which even the powerful ideas of the founders could not prevail.
Our second phase which has spanned 25 years was driven by the idealism
for around a hundred farmers and growers who undertook a monumental challenge
– to construct a platform for the development of sustainable agriculture.
This work included drafting organic standards, helping organic producers to
share knowledge and organise co-ops and communicating to like minded consumers
that they could support these early pioneer organic producers by buying their
products in the market place.
Today’s statistics – the £1.6 billion organic market
and the 30% annual growth are ample demonstration that the Soil Association
has primed an enormous pump. The power of motivated citizens to use their buying
power to build a more sustainable food and farming future has been unleashed.
However, this historic achievement is not enough. We need to do much more
if we are to avert an ecological catastrophe triggered by global warming. Although
it is not widely realised, agriculture and food distribution contribute the
largest single share of carbon emissions, so reducing this carbon footprint
must be seen as a number one priority. To do this we need to increase the organic
land area from the current 4.5% to 50% and beyond, and to prepare for a world
where energy and resource scarcities necessitate decentralised food and farming
systems.
This new challenge for the 21st Century constitutes the 3rd phase of the
Soil Association’s work. Since food and farming is of such central importance
to our health and the health of our children, to the protection of wildlife
and the environment, to the vitality of our culture and even our sense of identity
and our rootedness in the landscape, there can surely be no more important effort
than to bring about the transformation I have described above.
Unfortunately, the super tanker of industrial agribusiness has destroyed
much of the fabric of our food culture over the last 50 years. Today we live
in a world of anonymous, commodity food centrally processed and distributed
by articulated lorries with an enormous yet largely hidden energy cost.
The Soil Association’s future will be devoted to rebuilding our food
culture, to relocalising production and distribution. It is about reconnecting
the public with their food through direct contact with those who produce it;
about ensuring that every child visits a working organic farm by the age of
11 and much more.
During our first 30 years, the Soil Association demonstrated that it had
the philosophy and vision to transform the future of our agriculture.
During our second 30 years we have shown, through our track record that
we have the power, the sense of purpose and the organisational capacity to bring
our ideas in to the world and make a difference. Now we need to make them mainstream.
To enable us to undertake this vital work upon which our future food security
could depend, we need to unleash the huge potential of consumer power and build
an informed public body of opinion.
That’s why we need you to be involved. If you share our vision, please
join us today. I pledge
that all the support we receive will be harnessed in the most effective possible
way to build a more sustainable food and farming future.'
Patrick Holden, Soil Association director
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