Episode 27: The Sustainable Food Trust Patrick Holden CBE - What Is The Sustainable Food Trust?

Patrick Holden, CBE, is the Founder and CEO of the Sustainable Food Trust. Patrick Holden is the founder and CEO of the Sustainable Food Trust, whose mission is to work internationally to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable food and farming systems. Between 1995 and 2010, he was Director of the Soil Association, the UK organic advocacy and certification organisation, where he played a leading role in developing the organic standards and market. He currently leads a task force on measuring land use sustainability for the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), established by the then Prince of Wales in 2020. Patrick trained in Biodynamic farming at Emerson College and has farmed for over 50 years on a 300-acre mixed organic dairy holding, now the longest established organic dairy farm in Wales, producing a raw milk cheddar from the milk of 85 Ayrshire cows. He received a CBE for services to organic farming in 2005 and is Patron of the UK Bio-dynamic Agriculture Association. He became an Ashoka fellow in 2016 and was awarded an honorary doctorate for his international work in sustainable agriculture by the University of Wales Trinity St David in 2022. The mission of the Sustainable Food Trust is to accelerate the transition to sustainable food systems, inspired by our philosophy of the interconnectedness of the health of soil, plants, animals and people. Our vision is for future food and farming systems which nourish the health of people and planet and are equitable and accessible to all. TOPICS EXPLORED 0:00 – 2:09 – Introduction 2:09 – 6:14 – What is the Sustainable Food Trust and what type of work does it do? 6:14 – 8:07 – How did you become interested in sustainable food? 8:07 – 11:28 – What led you to create the Sustainable Food Trust? 11:28 – 13:37 – Who are some of the key people and organizations involved with the Sustainable Food Trust as strategic partners or other levels of involvement? 13:37 – 17:29 – What are some of the major challenges related to shifting to a sustainable food system? 17:29 – 22:12 – What is the Sustainable Markets Initiative and what are some of its key impacts? 22:12 – 25:02 – What is the Global Farm Metric and how was it developed? 25:02 – 27:03 – How does the Sustainable Food Trust work to create an informed body of public opinion to drive change? 27:03 – 30:54 – What are some of the key findings of the Sustainable Food Trust report A Good Life and A Good Death: Relocalising Farm Animal Slaughter? 30:54 – 35:13 – What are some of the key findings of the Sustainable Food Trust report Feeding Britain from the Ground Up? 35:13 – 37:40 – What are some of the most memorable moments of your career so far? 37:40 – 39:47 – What do you think are the most important things for society to do to shift towards healthy and environmentally sustainable food systems? 39:47 – 40:31 – Things to share and wrap up SUSTAINBLE FOOD TRUST INFORMATION https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/ https://www.sustainablefoodalliance.org/ RESOURCES Beacon Farms: https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/our-work/beacon-farms/ Feeding Britain: https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/our-work/feeding-britain/ Global Farm Metric: https://www.globalfarmmetric.org/ Local Abattoirs: https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/our-work/local-abattoirs/ Measuring Sustainability: https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/our-work/measuring-sustainability/ Sustainable Livestock: https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/our-work/sustainable-livestock/ Sustainable Markets Initiative: https://www.sustainable-markets.org/ True Cost Accounting: https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/our-work/true-cost-accounting/ FOOD FOR YOU AND THE PLANET PODCAST INFORMATION Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/food-for-you-and-the-planet/id1739416396 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7pkAIuXxl9dzD48b7qMOL1 RSS: https://feeds.libsyn.com/506343/rss Podcast Instagram: @foodforyouandtheplanet TAGS Food Environment Health Podcast Sustainability Agriculture Sustainable Food Trust