Groundswell 2022

Patrick Holden, CBE, is the Founder and Chief Executive of the Sustainable Food Trust, an organisation founded in 2011 with the mission of accelerating the transition towards more Sustainable Food Systems.

He farms 140 hectares in west Wales, producing Hafod, a raw milk cheese from the milk of 90 Ayrshire cows on what is now the longest established organic dairy farm in Wales.

He has been advising the Prince of Wales on sustainability issues since 1982. He was director of the Soil association between 1995 and 2010 is Patron of the UK biodynamic agricultural Association.

Jim works part time in the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, sharing the leadership of the Farming Transition work with Emily Linton. Jim comes to the Commission having completed a PhD in Environmental Humanities at Cardiff University and the University of Bristol. This research examined the changing understanding and use of soils over the last two-hundred years. He is based in Bristol and spends plenty of time in his native Cornwall.

Jim also works as a researcher on Cardiff University’s Science Humanities Initiative and is a member of the Agroecology Research Network at the University of Bristol. During his PhD, Jim worked with the Soil Association, writing a piece for their 75th anniversary on our changing attitudes to soil.

Glen Burrows is the cofounder of The Ethical Butcher and a former vegetarian of 25 years. He formed the company with meat trader Farshad Kazemian with the intention of bringing a new level of traceability and transparency to the meat industry. Glen’s career before founding the business was in photography / film and advertising, he brings this skillset to the brand and in just over a year of trading The Ethical Butcher has proven to be an industry disruptor as it champions the farmers which supply the business and tells their stories of regenerative agriculture getting this important message to the public. .Since its inception the brand has challenged all aspects of meat production and found itself a target for vegan activists for its claims of regeneration.

Back in January 2020 Glen coined the term Regenuary to challenge the movement of Veganuary which encourages a month of veganism, instead of avoiding animal foods regenuary asks people to look at sourcing as much as possible from regenerative agriculture for a month.

Polly is a mixed organic tenant farmer in South Wales on a 300ha lowland farm. The farm enterprises include a beef suckler herd, 500 Romney Ewes & 80ha of organic cereals in rotation. There is also a small organic pig unit to supply the farm butchery and meat box delivery business. 6 months of the year the farm also supplies weekly seasonal veg bags, to the local community.