Speciality Food Feb/March 2024

specialityfoodmagazine.com 23 THEGREEN ISSUE 2024 WHY SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS There’s a huge amount to unpack on the topics of the future of farming, food security, and sustainability. It’s clear much needs to change to ensure we continue to support homegrown, robust supply chains that put feeding people well and being environmentally sensitive at the top of the agenda, alongside paying those working in agriculture fairly. The UK desperately now needs arbiters of change within government and policymaking to address these concerns, and assure a brighter future for the people and the planet. At Speciality Food we’ve been proud, in this edition, to really hone in on some of the environmental issues affecting fine food and drink producers and retailers. We hear from experts and insiders what’s needed to strengthen the UK’s position, and action that’s already happening to make a difference. Within this section we explore the sustainable credentials of frozen food, exciting technology advances in packaging and spirits, speak to some of Britain’s ‘greenest’ dairies, and celebrate the successes of just a few of the sector’s Sustainable Champions. The Green Issue is part of our own ongoing commitment to platform leading voices in sustainability. We hope you will find the content within the following pages enlightening, informative, and engaging. CHARLOTTE SMITH-JARVIS | EDITOR (MATERNITY COVER) INSIGHT ADVICE INSPIRATION 62% OF FARMERS PARTICIPATING IN THE FARM PRACTICES SURVEY INDICATED IT’S IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS WHEN MAKING FARM BUSINESS DECISIONS DEFRA A s extreme weather becomes more common, it’s hard not to dwell on the impact that our poor choices have on the environment. Food waste is one obvious environmental issue, but the full story is more complicated. Almost half of our food’s sustainability impact comes from how it is grown, far more than its transport or packaging, or eventual waste. Half a century of increasingly intensive farming hasn’t worked for the planet or built resilient farm businesses. Shoppers increasingly know this. Issues like climate change are beginning to be taken seriously and are informing their habits – despite the ongoing challenges associated with the ‘cost of living’ crisis. The complexity of these issues can feel overwhelming. If only there was a label to guide them, a farming system taking a joined-up approach. Enter organic. Organic farming can be good for the climate, as it cuts emissions by reducing fertiliser and pesticides, which are also hugely damaging for wildlife. Reducing agrochemicals ROB PERCIVAL HEAD OF FOOD POLICY, THE SOIL ASSOCIATION ‘Organic is increasingly being considered as the most sustainble option for consumers’ produces healthier soils, helping to store more carbon from the atmosphere. Plus, organic farms use less energy on average, and livestock are fed at least 60% grass instead of imported soya from Latin America. The benefits mean organic is increasingly being considered as the most sustainable option for consumers. The sector is constantly evolving. New software like Growing Good makes ordering a veg box easier. And independent retailers have started signposting the benefits of organic in store, making direct supermarket RRP comparisons – highlighting the relative cheapness of organic whilst improving footfall and spending. At the same time, we need government investment, robust legislation and standards that encourage innovation. Farmers need access to information, training and support to develop their practices and help the sector grow. There are no magic bullets to solve the climate crisis – we need long-term thinking, and this is the place to start. “T he thing about businesses like ours is they are really really sustainable,” says Emma Mosey, co-founder of Yolk Farm in Yorkshire, and current chair of the Farm Retail Association. “As a farmer, you can either expand, get bigger, and likely become less sustainable, having to rely on chemicals, or you can go ‘B to C’ and diversify, more sustainably, while remaining small.” Farm shops, Emma says, have a duty of care when it comes to protecting the environment that “makes sense when it comes to providing the best for customers, but also from a business point of view too. “Rural businesses, in particular farm shops, more often than not grow their own produce (for example we grow vegetables close to our shop), and some have their own animals, using local abattoirs. The animals are not moving very far, and are incredibly local. We also tend to have a really strong basis of local producers and suppliers. At our farm shop, 96% of what we EMMAMOSEY CO-FOUNDER, YOLK FARM YORKSHIRE ‘Farm shops have never been more important’ sell comes from suppliers within 30 miles.” This way of working and stocking makes farm retailing a strong model where sustainability is concerned. “Because we are not using resources beyond our area, and because the money people are spending in our shops is going back into the local economy. Also, we pay our staff, and they spend money in the local area,” adds Emma. “It’s a way of maintaining the planet, while maintaining the robustness of our local connection so we can continue to flourish.” When you run a farm shop “everything you do anyway is as sustainable as possible. We care about our patch of earth, and it makes economic sense. For example, we use produce in lots of different ways. If the cauliflowers aren’t perfect, we will use them to make soup or a cauliflower tart in the restaurant. We only pick what we need when it’s fresh, and our kune kune pigs are our waste warriors. They eat around two tonnes of waste from the shop each year!” Emma “genuinely believes” farm shops are crucial for the future of food, particularly with commodity farmers leaving the industry in droves. She sees them as becoming ‘hubs’ where customers can be assured they’ll be able to buy fresh, seasonal ingredients at a fair price. “I do think we are at this crunch point. People are being paid to leave farming, or are turning farms into conservation areas, which is great on paper, but look at it in practice. Riverford Organic did research showing 51% of farmers are thinking of leaving the industry. It’s quite terrifying really because no one is replacing them. If our plan is to do less of our own production and to import more, it doesn’t seem like there is a plan to solve the problem of food in this country. If we do have a Covid situation again, or war, we won’t have the resources to feed ourselves.” Another dimension to food security, Emma adds, is the rising prevalence of ultra-processed foods over fresh food in the UK. Again, she feels farm shops, but also genuine farmers markets, have a part to play. “We’re missing that connection with real food and educating people around how to cook. I think farm retailers and farmers’ markets have a massive part to play in the future of how we feed people. If the government want to get good food to people in an affordable way, markets that source from local farms are a credible, sustainable option.”