FFS 031 - Farmers Facing Brexit

In this episode, we talk to Patrick Holden about the hopes and fears of British farming after Brexit. Patrick is a pioneer of the modern sustainable food movement. He is the Founding Director and current Chief Executive of the Sustainable Food Trust, an organization dedicated to accelerating the transition to more sustainable food and farming systems. Previously, he has been the founding chairman of British Organic Farmers in 1982, and the former Director of the Soil Association, where he played a key role in the development of organic standards and the market for organic foods for nearly 20 years. Patrick is also a farmer, and runs the longest established organic dairy farm in Wales, and wrote the world's first draft of the organic dairy standards in the 80s. In this episode, Patrick and I discuss: The mood in British agriculture towards Brexit The UK government's Brexit plan for agriculture Brexit: an opportunity for a decisive shift towards sustainable agriculture? Brexit's impact on subsidies, trade deals, EU migrant farmworkers, animal welfare and abattoirs What Brexit can teach the EU about agriculture Links: Sustainable Food Trust Website DEFRA Health and Harmony consultation paper Sustainable Food Trust Response to DEFRA paper The Guardian: 'UK has nearly 800 livestock mega farms, investigation reveals' You may also like: FFS 028 - Money Well Spent? Farm Subsidies in the EU FFS 024 – The Soilution: saving our soil, saving ourselves FFS 011 – Transforming Agriculture to Feed the Future