SFT Podcast: Finding Harmony, the evolution of agricultural education and influencing the influencers

What’s really going on in food and farming? Two farmers – Patrick Holden, founder of the Sustainable Food Trust, and Stuart Oates, founder of the Fossil Free Farm project – get behind the headlines to unpack the biggest stories shaping what we eat, how we farm and the future of the planet. Expect lively debate, real-world experience, and unique insights from some of food and farming’s top voices.

To mark the release of the recent documentary Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision – exploring his Majesty King Charles III’s lifelong commitment to the environment and his philosophy of Harmony – in this episode of the SFT Podcast, Patrick talks to Stuart about his involvement in the documentary and recalls first meeting the King in 1982. They also explore the philosophy of Harmony in more depth, including how we can bring harmonious practices into our everyday lives and why achieving this is now more important than ever.

Elsewhere in the episode, Patrick and Stuart talk about the evolution of agricultural education and the importance of influencing the influencers to enable a transition to more sustainable food and farming practices.

To join in the conversation, get in touch with us at info@sustainablefoodtrust.org or send us a message via any of our social media channels – let us know what you’d like to hear Patrick and Stuart talk about next time!

Timestamps:

0:00: Welcome back!

0:33: Patrick talks about his relationship with King Charles, first meeting him in 1982, the development of Highgrove Farm and their shared passion for organic farming

4:01: The King’s book: Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World

5:55: We are not separate from nature, we are part of nature

10:45: Striving for Harmony in a world of conflict

13:36: To achieve Harmony, where do we start?

18:02: Harmonious practices in our everyday lives

25:48: Patrick’s involvement in Finding Harmony

28:36: ‘Seeing is believing’ experience at Highgrove Farm

30:17: The evolution of agricultural education and need for reform

37:53: The history of Dumfries House

43:14: The interconnectedness of faiths/The King’s influence on connecting different faiths

44:52: How do we transform farming to become part of the solution, rather than the problem?

49:35: Influencing the influencers

53:31: What’s coming in future episodes

 

Follow Patrick and the Sustainable Food Trust:

https://www.instagram.com/susfoodtrust/ | https://www.instagram.com/hafodcheese/

https://bsky.app/profile/susfoodtrust.bsky.social

https://www.facebook.com/SusFoodTrust

https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-food-trust/

 

Find out more about Stuart and the Fossil Free Farm project:

https://fossilfreefarm.com/

https://www.instagram.com/camelstu/

https://www.youtube.com/@farmerstu

 

To listen to more SFT podcasts, featuring some of the biggest names in regenerative food and farming, head to our main podcast page.