Many of society’s environmental and health goals cannot be met without tackling chemical pollution and there are huge wins to be had right now. Let’s not miss this window of opportunity to create a healthier and more sustainable future.
Keywords: agriculture, biodiversity, food, health, markets campaigns, policy work, toxics and pollution
Applied research ensures that actions to combat global challenges such as biodiversity loss are effective, resources are used efficiently, and outcomes for nature and people are understood and sustained. But government funding for such research is being reduced, just when we need it most.
Keywords: agriculture, biodiversity, conservation, research
Summary of Dr Garnett's presentation at the EFN Retreat. Most people agree that our food system is broken, but views on what constitutes a good food system are wildly divergent. Tara sketched out four different sustainable food discourses, the arguments they make, and the questions they leave unanswered.
Keywords: agriculture, food
From "veggie burgers" to "vegan sausage rolls", Europeans have been enjoying plant-based meat and dairy for decades. But in October 2020, the European Parliament voted on a plan to ban the plant-based sector from naming their products with the everyday language people use to describe these foods. Following a funder-supported campaign from The Good Food Institute Europe in collaboration with other international non-profits, leading businesses and thousands of consumers, MEPs voted to reject this attack on plant-based meat. Richard Parr, Managing Director of GFI Europe, describes how the willingness of their funders to support a collaborative approach enabled their small team to have an outsized influence in defeating the veggie burger ban.
Keywords: advocacy, agriculture, collaboration, food, policy work
Vicki Hird reflects on several years of hard work to win a better approach to UK farm policy via the brand new Agriculture Act, making the case that flexible funding was key to allowing the Sustain alliance to adapt to a rapidly changing political and policy environment. The Act is now here, but the hard work has only begun.
Keywords: advocacy, agriculture, effectiveness, policy work
We believe our current food system is broken, causing not just environmental damage, but epidemics in obesity and diabetes, poverty amongst food and farm workers, and the mistreatment of animals. Last year the Food Ethics Council was commissioned by a group of funders to conduct a census of CSOs in order to develop a picture of the voluntary sector on food, farming and fishing in the UK. The census indicates that the challenges faced by the food system are getting worse. And despite the best efforts of CSOs, the sector’s response is not commensurate with the scale and urgency of the challenges.
Keywords: agriculture, collaboration, communications, effectiveness, food, funding overseas