Soil Association policy director Peter Melchett takes issue with The Land editor Simon Fairlie's characterisation of its policy towards organic yields and meat consumption
Letter: We're upfront about organic farming's yields in the UK Peter Melchett | 22nd April 2010 Comment Food And Farming Organic Meat muckspreading.jpg Soil Association policy director Peter Melchett …
A new study sets out the huge benefits of organic farming to people and the environment, writes Peter Melchett, including more wildlife, healthier consumers and farm workers, lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced soil erosion and increased water retention. We need more of it, fast!
… which depends heavily on fossil-fuel based fertilisers - namely manufactured nitrogen and … requires other inputs such as labour, fuel, fertilisers (mined, manufactured or from other …
Lord Krebs, self-appointed spokesman for industrial agriculture, used the Oxford Farming Conference to attack organic systems for causing more climate change - a claim as demonstrably false as it is ludicrous, writes Peter Melchett. But across the city, the upstart 'real farming' conference was showing the way to a cleaner, greener and healthier future.
A tale of two farming conferences: the future is 'real' and organic Peter Melchett | 8th January 2015 News Food Farming GMOs Health Climate Change sandy-lane-broccoli-cut.jpg Lord Krebs, …
Organic farming has changed, but for the better, writes Soil Association head of policy and Norfolk organic farmer Peter Melchett. As never before, organic inspections are central to the delivery of environmental and animal care, and food you really can trust.
… farmers don't use manufactured nitrogen fertilisers, and already have to keep records …
By not properly discussing agriculture at national or international climate negotiations, we are avoiding tackling not just a huge source of emissions, but also a potential carbon sink
Agriculture: Copenhagen's blind spot Peter Melchett | 7th December 2009 Comment Climate Change Food And Farming Agriculture Soil Association Soil Carbon Copenhagen seedling.jpg By not properly …
The coast of Peru is being blighted by a fishmeal industry that's sprung up to satisfy the West’s voracious appetite for salmon – now marine life, human health and whole ecosystems are paying the price. Andrew Wasley and Jim Wickens report
How our growing appetite for salmon is devastating coastal communities in Peru Andrew Wasley Jim Wickens | 1st December 2008 News Fish Food And Farming Salmon Peru fishybusiness.jpg The coast of Peru …
As falling milk prices push dairy farm out of business, new mega-dairies and feedlot operations of 700 or more cows are filling the void, writes Andrew Wasley. Never mind the pollution, slurry lagoons, and heavy plant on country lanes - do we want the cows that produce our milk confined to sheds? And what's the future for traditional dairy farmers with small, well cared for herds?
… way of fertilising land than using chemical fertilisers and the amount slurry was no …
The way food is produced has a profound impact on its nutritional profile, according to research published in the British Journal of Nutrition. Not only is organic farming better for animal welfare, the environment and wildlife, writes Peter Melchett, but organic meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables all have tangible health benefits for the people who eat them.
… the key organic alternative to nitrogen-based fertilisers, and because of this all organic …
UK fund managers are selling investments in jatropha plantations as a wallet-swelling, planet-saving financial bonanza. But the reality for poor farmers is very different. Andrew Wasley reports
Jatropha biofuels: UK investors sell controversial crop as 'green' Andrew Wasley | 15th February 2010 News Energy Biofuels Jatropha Development jatrophaaa1.jpg UK fund managers are selling …
UK fund managers are selling investments in jatropha plantations as a wallet-swelling, planet-saving financial bonanza. But the reality for poor farmers is very different
Jatropha biofuels: UK investors sell controversial crop as 'green' Andrew Wasley | 15th February 2010 News Energy Biofuels Jatropha Development jatrophaaa1.jpg UK fund managers are selling …
Across Italy an invisible army of migrant workers harvests tomatoes destined for our dinner plates. Paid poverty wages and living in squalor, medical charities have described conditions as 'hell'. Andrew Wasley reports from Basilicata, southern Italy
… acute pressure as plants, irrigation systems, fertilisers, pesticides, and the harvest, all …
US researchers behind a study that showed links between gas drilling and sickness in livestock say a moratorium should be imposed on fracking in the UK until its impact on food safety can be assessed. Andrew Wasley reports
… move away from fossil-fuel based manufactured fertilisers to solar powered. The science …