Annual review
First of all: thank you
We could not have achieved any of what you're going to read about in this annual review - from supporting more than 70 Community Supported Agriculture projects and farms to hard-hitting reports about the state of the nation's hospital food - without you. We really do appreciate all the support you have shown us over the past year.
When I returned to the Soil Association as director in March 2011 (I previously spent five years in the food and farming team) I was bowled over by the progress that had been made in my absence. The Food for Life Partnership had smashed its targets in schools; our campaigns against factory-farming had scaled new heights; the foundations had been laid for Britain’s first sustainable food city. My list could go on, but we would be sending you a rather lengthy review if we were to write about all our work!
That's why, as well as providing you with stories that bring to life a number of key aspects of our work, we have included 'a year in numbers' - an overview of all that we've achieved in 2010–11. I hope it will make you feel as proud as I do.
Now we must look ahead - and in these economically straitened times of rising food prices alongside ever-declining wildlife and a renewed threat of more industrialised farming, we have truly got our work cut out. To address these and many other issues that affect everybody's lives, it is absolutely vital that we reach out as an organisation and become more relevant to more people. We have developed a new organisational strategy that will help us to achieve this. I hope you will be keen to play a part in this exciting new chapter of our work.
In the meantime, please enjoy reading about some of the important, inspiring work you have helped make happen over the last year. Many thanks again for your support.
Helen Browning OBE
Chief Executive