About Us

Patrick is the founder and chief executive of the Sustainable Food Trust. Patrick’s extensive advocacy work centres on the importance of transforming our food and farming systems to address climate change, reverse biodiversity loss, and improve public health. This work includes regular broadcasts and talks at public events.

After studying biodynamic agriculture at Emerson College, Patrick established a mixed community farm in Wales in 1973. His farm is now the longest established mixed organic dairy holding in Wales, producing an-award winning raw milk cheddar-style cheese, Hafod, from the milk of 90 Ayrshire dairy cows.

Patrick was the founding chairman of British Organic Farmers in 1982, and director of the Soil Association from 1995 and 2010, during which time the organisation led the development of both organic standards and the market for organic foods. He is a Patron of the UK Biodynamic Association and, in 2005, he received a CBE for services to organic farming. In 2022 he was awarded an honorary doctorate for international work in sustainable agriculture from the University of Wales Trinity St David, bestowed upon him by the then Prince of Wales.

Adele has been working with the SFT since 2013, now overseeing the organisation’s strategic activities. In recent years, one of her major focuses has been the development of a project called the Global Farm Metric – an internationally common framework for measuring on-farm sustainability. She is also currently an advisor to the Scottish Government.

In 2020, she undertook a part time secondment with the Welsh Government, and in 2019 she completed a part-time secondment with DEFRA, both times working to develop metrics for monitoring the new post-Brexit farm support schemes. Previous to these roles, she has a background in geography and soil science.

As Senior Scientific Adviser at the Sustainable Food Trust, Richard is the lead author on a number of reports and briefing papers and plays a key role in overseeing projects, campaigns and events.

He was previously an editor of the journal New Farmer & Grower (now called Organic Farming) and was chairman of the Soil Association’s Symbol Committee, which first drew up detailed organic food and farming standards in the 1980s. He led the Soil Association’s campaign against the misuse of antibiotics in agriculture for 17 years, and has written widely on issues relating to agriculture, including the underlying causes of bovine tuberculosis and Johne’s Disease, the importance of grass and grazing animals, the true cost of food systems and the importance of small abattoirs for local farming communities.

As an organic, 100% grass-fed cattle and sheep farmer, he manages 390 acres on the Cotswolds, along with his sister Rosamund (author of The Secret Life of Cows), with a high emphasis on animal contentment and nature conservation.

Fabia joined the Sustainable Food Trust to work with the team to take the Global Farm Metric to the next stage of consensus and adoption, and to Chair the GFM coalition working group.

She first met Patrick Holden in 2015 when CEO of the Rothschild Foundation, director to the family office and board member of the Waddesdon Estate. She was looking for answers to how a responsible land owner could ensure that their land was passed to the next generation in a better state – environmentally, economically and for greater public good. This led to Sustainable Food Trust’s work into the establishment of a common language and framework for measuring the sustainability of our land management systems.

Fabia remains a board member and trustee for a number of family offices, Non-Executive Director of Whitley Asset Management, Trustee of the Illuminated River Foundation and Director of Waddesdon Wines Limited.

Richard is the Director of Harmony in Education for The Harmony Project, and facilitates the SFT’s work in campaigning to transform education around food, farming and sustainability.

With over 30 years teaching experience, including as Headteacher of an Ofsted graded Outstanding School for 18 years, his work in redesigning a curriculum around Nature’s principles of Harmony has already begun inspiring the next generation of teachers and children.

Richard believes passionately that the best way for children to be motivated in their learning is when it makes sense to them and when they have a key role to play. Through combining core skills to purposeful enquiries of learning, the children start to develop their own vision of how they want to see their world and just as importantly what they can do to make it happen.

Lesley Mitchell is Policy Director for the Sustainable Food Trust, leading an expert team to develop policy, evidence and advocacy to drive the regeneration of food and agriculture. Previously she led Forum for the Future’s global food systems practice for five years.

Lesley is a specialist in systems change for a sustainable future and has worked with some of the most ambitious and forward looking major multi-national corporates, as well as major global conveners like WBCSD, stretching ambition and equipping partners to deliver their climate, environment and development ambitions and building diverse collaborations bringing together unlikely allies to innovate where no one player can solve a challenge alone.

Before joining the SFT, Megan studied for a degree in International Politics and then gained a Masters degree in Food and Water Security at Aberystwyth University. Following some work as a lambing assistant in Devon, she joined the SFT as an intern, moving to a full time role as a policy assistant before becoming communications manager. Megan now works on our policy, campaigns and comms, linking these important areas together.

She currently lives on her family’s Somerset farm where they rear sheep and spin and sell the wool.

Megan is currently on maternity leave. 

As Head of Projects, Bonnie oversees a wide range of SFT activities, including the Feeding Britain campaign, Beacon Farms project, and work around food education and local food.

She joined the SFT in 2017 to support the development and delivery of SFT projects and events. A large part of this work included managing the establishment and evolution of The Harmony Project – an SFT led initiative, working with educators to help them put Nature’s principles of Harmony at the heart of teaching and learning. Bonnie has a background in food anthropology and environmental science with a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences from the University of Amsterdam, and a Food Anthropology MA from SOAS University of London.

Bonnie grew up in rural Somerset on a diet of cheese and pickle sandwiches and has loved food and farming ever since! She is excited to be part of a growing movement of people who care about where their food comes from, and hopes the work of the SFT will help to inspire farmers, producers and citizens to move towards more sustainable food production and consumption.

Claire takes the lead on the operational management of the Sustainable Food Trust, as well as playing a key role in our strategic development and overseeing fundraising and financial activities.

Before joining the SFT, she spent eight years as Project Manager for Ecoworks, a community urban food and environmental organisation in Nottingham. There, she managed a number of projects including the box scheme and café alongside community horticulture and healthy eating projects.

Claire is currently on maternity leave.

Richard joined the Sustainable Food trust in 2021 to oversee research activities, including within the Global Farm Metric and across a range of other projects and focus areas.

Since 2011, his research has included applying quantitative and qualitative methodologies to problems as diverse as guillemot breeding productivity, the pollination niches of buttercups and the research priorities for animal health modelling. His current focus is on implementing change towards more sustainable grassland-based livestock farming.

Prior to joining the SFT, Richard was a Lecturer in Sustainable Systems at Aberystwyth University. He has expertise in high nature value and climate friendly livestock farming. Before gaining his PhD in pollination ecology in 2011, he held positions as a countryside ranger at a number of nationally important UK nature reserves. Away from work, Richard is a keen walker, sea swimmer and writer.

Robert works alongside others in the research team, helping to produce reports and briefing papers on a number of subjects, including the hidden cost of UK food and the role of grazing livestock in sustainable food systems. More recently, he carried out the research behind the Feeding Britain report, which explored the impacts on land use, food production and self sufficiency following a nationwide transition to regenerative, agroecological farming practices.

Robert comes from a hill farming family in Highland Perthshire, producing organic beef and sheep as well as trees. He has always been interested in the relationships between land use and the environment, and it’s an incredibly exciting (if challenging, and sometimes disheartening!) time to be working on these issues.

Imogen supports the research team in keeping up to date with the latest scientific evidence and report writing. She also assists with communications and policy work to ensure our messages are based on current research and policy events.

After completing her Biology degree at the University of Bristol, where she focussed on plant biology, molecular genetics, and the ecology of food production, she spent time volunteering with the Soil Association before joining the SFT as an intern. Imogen is currently studying for a master’s in Food Policy at City, University of London alongside her work.

Imogen is drawn to the link between people, food and nature. She believes that promoting equitable access to land, employment opportunities and food are the strongest ways to ensure that the food system can support the planet and everyone who lives on it.

Suzy is the project manager for the Global Farm Metric. She is responsible for coordinating the coalition and stakeholder engagement around alignment, testing, trials and adoption of the GFM as a common assessment of farm sustainability.

Prior to joining the SFT, Suzy worked with smallholder farmers and farmer organisations in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Malawi and Peru building capacity around sustainable agricultural production, processing and market access towards more responsible, resilient and inclusive supply chains.

She particularly enjoys working on cross-sector initiatives and brings 20 years experience working with public, private and non-government organisations in Senegal, Uganda and Afghanistan on planning and delivery of agricultural and rural development programmes.

For the past 8 years she has been coordinating the upkeep of a community garden with the local primary school, the local community and the Canal & River Trust. Her background in agronomy is useful, but most valuable is learning from others and developing it together. As a public garden it provides a valuable green space for all to enjoy.

Lydia works with Marina to support the delivery and roll out of the farm trials for the Global Farm Metric team and to design and deliver the future farm trials programme.

Previously she worked as the Project Manager for Agricology – a sustainable food and farming platform set up by Daylesford and run by the Organic Research Centre. She has an MSc in Carbon Management and a BSc in Geography from the University of Edinburgh. Lydia also worked as a Marketing Manager for The BBC Good Food and BBC Gardeners World Live events, before spending a year at Ballymaloe Cookery School, which led her to a role as a private chef at Daylesford.

Lydia’s love of food was inspired by a childhood of wholesome, home cooked food and no day beginning without a freshly baked loaf of Irish Soda bread. But her interest in pursuing a career in sustainable food and farming was affirmed at Ballymaloe Cookery School. Not only did she develop an understanding of sourcing quality produce but that most importantly, it all starts with the soil!

Marina works alongside Lydia to oversee the development, delivery and analysis of the Global Farm Metric’s national trials.

Previously, she studied Marine Engineering for 5 years, until one day she understood that what made her happy was food and sharing moments with her loved ones, like her mom and grandmother – and so she became a chef to further explore food and her own culture. After working in different restaurants around the world, Marina began to question her relationship with food and the planet. She stepped out of the kitchen and far back to the roots of food itself, farming.

A new passion was unlocked and it became her personal responsibility to try to influence others’ relationships with food in the same way. For Marina the best way to spend a day would be fermenting and pickling everything she has in her kitchen – pickled nasturtium seeds are the new capers!

As Trials Officer, Anna works with Marina to support the development, analysis, and delivery of the national Global Farm Metric trials.

Food and food production has always played a central role in Anna’s life through countless hours spent picking cherries, apples and plums in her family’s orchards, but also through her specialisation in international value chain management. Anna has a BSc in Social Sciences and Economics, and a MSc in Natural Resource Management. She previously worked in the Woodland Trust’s Insight Team to support the leadership team with audience understanding, project evaluation and planning.

Anna then took a sabbatical and spent a year travelling Europe working in olive groves, on vineyards and herding sheep under cork oaks. Sampling great local food (Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, Slovenian natural wines, Portuguese bifana, Poiré Domfront, raw milk cheeses from Grazelema with carne de membrillo) was a highlight of the trip!

Anna returned to the UK and now lives in Pembrokeshire where, prior to starting her current role, she worked for a small community benefit organisation coordinating a citizen science project monitoring the health of the River Nevern catchment. She also led a county wide apple juicing project which turned more than 6 tons of apples into juice.

Olivia works in the Global Farm Metric team, her main focus being the international application of the GFM, through her work with Regen10.

Olivia started her career as a farm and equine vet in Cornwall, attending to the varied veterinary needs of large dairy herds, small-holdings of single pygmy goats, and everything in between! Rainy days TB testing provided the perfect conditions for chatting to farmers about the future of agriculture and piqued Olivia’s interest in regenerative and agro-ecological farming. Realising agriculture’s capacity as a solution to, not just cause of, climate change and biodiversity loss inspired her to supplement her practical knowledge of the food and farming industry with rigorous training across the pillars of sustainable development through a Masters in Development Practice from Trinity College Dublin.

Olivia is interested in the social dimensions of agriculture – the farming identity and the need for a just rural transition. Although not growing up on a farm, she has always been most at home surrounded by animals and nature (and preferably the sea) and hopes that the work of the Sustainable Food Trust will facilitate the reconnection to the land and deep understanding of the provenance of food that is necessary for our shared future.

As Communications Manager, Victoria works to spread the word about the SFT’s mission to enable a more sustainable food and farming system.

Overseeing our digital channels, Victoria develops the SFT’s communications strategy, helping to ensure that the importance of our research and projects is recognised and that our content is accessible and engaging.

Having grown up on an organic mixed farm in Cornwall, Victoria spent over 10 years working within publishing and sustainable finance in Oxford, Sheffield, and Bradford, and now lives on the northern edge of Dartmoor National Park. When not busy spreading the word about sustainable farming, Victoria enjoys walking, rock climbing, good food and live music.

As part of the Communications team, Alice helps to get the SFT’s messages across through our content, newsletters, and social media. She’s responsible for other essential daily communications and admin tasks.

Alice has a background in communications and marketing within the charity sector, including Bristol Zoological Society and the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. It was in Cornwall that Alice gained a First Class Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communications from Falmouth University. She takes pride in working for organisations that make a positive impact on the world.

Alice grew up in a small village in Cornwall, surrounded by miles of green fields and farm life. Though now living in Bristol, she still enjoys escaping the hustle and bustle of the city and returning to the peace of the countryside. She is excited to be a part of the SFT and to immerse herself in the world of agriculture and sustainable food.

Morwenna’s role involves management of the SFT’s finances and systems, and ensuring that all other aspects of the SFT’s core operations run smoothly. She enjoys the overview of the team’s work that her role affords, and loves the team of people that she is lucky enough to work with.

Morwenna has worked in a variety of spheres, spending the first part of her career working in the arts, before retraining as an environmental professional and spending a number of years providing behaviour-change and carbon consultancy services to the public sector in Scotland. In 2011, feeling a growing sense of frustration with the mainstream winds, she threw off the bowlines and began a year of volunteering on organic farms, visiting intentional communities and cooking for permaculture and deep ecology courses.

She holds a deep belief that if we re-connect to the earth and its cycles we will find personal healing, and the motivation to create the new paradigm we so dearly need. 

Steph is responsible for the care of both our current and past supporters, keeping them informed about our work and arranging events through which they can connect with us. She also manages funding opportunities, alongside SFT project managers, to ensure our work can continue to develop.

She has extensive commercial experience as well as an MSc in Human Nutrition. Through her own businesses, Steph has exported consumer goods to Latin America and acted as consultant to the food industry on nutrition trend forecasting. For some years she has supported the SFT through her photography hobby and her images feature on the SFT website.

Steph has a particular interest in psychology and the reasons we have disconnected from the world around us. She is excited to develop ways to reconnect people with the land and with healthy, sustainable food. In her spare time, she writes poetry and children’s fiction with environmental themes. Stories include a girl who sets out to prove she can communicate with plants and a mole with an ambition to work on the woodland internet!

Alicia works as a freelance writer and website editor for the Sustainable Food Trust. She is able to use her understanding of sustainable food from the hands on perspective of growing food on a small organic horticulture farm in West Wales, Troed y Rhiw Organics, which she runs with her partner Nathan Richards.

Born in the United States, Alicia is a long way from home but loves her life in the wild west of Wales. She graduated with distinction from Stanford University and has an MA in the history of photography from the University of New Mexico. Before finding herself a small-scale farmer, Alicia worked for many years in the contemporary visual arts, working closely with artists as a curator, gallery educator and art critic.

Isabel helps SFT’s Deputy CEO, Adele, to keep on top of her busy schedule and support the rest of the team with event organisation, project logistics and comms work.

She studied Italian at university and has since taken on a variety of roles in the UK and Italy, including editing books, teaching English as a foreign language, organising tours of Florence and supporting an in-house legal team.

Isabel’s great grandfather was a farmer and she’s always felt drawn to rural life. In 2018, she set off to southern France to volunteer on organic farms and vineyards; learning about biodynamics and permaculture, helping to fill 20,000 wine bottles and repair drystone walls, and enjoying some excellent pesticide-free rose! The experience left her with a keen interest in sustainable living and the desire to learn more.

Rebecca provides day to day support to SFT’s Founder and CEO, Patrick.

She comes from a hill farm in rural Mid Wales which has been in her family for over 4 generations.  She has a passion for nature, conservation and the great outdoors which has led to her spending time living and working in both New Zealand and Canada. She studied Countryside Management at Bishop Burton College and regularly volunteers with her local wildlife trust.

When not working Rebecca likes to spend as much time as possible outdoors, whether that be in the garden or out exploring with her binoculars.