Collaborative centre of excellence for nature friendly farming
Soil Association Exchange aims to create industry-wide knowledge sharing and collaboration to enable farmers to make positive environmental and social changes on their farms.
We are proud to launch this initiative, which brings together multiple high-profile food retailers, major producers, suppliers, and investors. We are joining forces to work collaboratively as part of a brand-new centre of excellence for nature-friendly farming
The project will put farmers in the driving seat, providing them with the measurement tools, the know-how, and access to the relevant financial opportunities to be rewarded for their positive contributions to the environment and nature.
Soil Association Exchange has already brought together a consortium of major food businesses, who are rising above commercial interests and working collaboratively to affect positive change. This initiative, more than ever, has a valuable role to play where society and legislation are increasingly asking farmers and those in our food supply chains to consider the environmental impact of their actions.
Until now, it has been hard to scientifically measure the environmental and social benefits that farming brings. Soil Association Exchange will be an exchange centre for innovative practice and excellence. By capturing and disseminating the outcomes achieved from innovation, it will be well positioned to help scale and accelerate the changes necessary.
The initiative will provide opportunities to truly measure the impact of sustainability so that all those who work off the land or within the food supply chains can see – without question – the benefit of agroecology.
The project aims to capture, share and grow the impact of good farming practice by:
- rigorously but simply measuring and recording the social and environmental outcomes achieved by farming and land management practices;
- offering opportunities to learn from and share good practice; and
- ensuring farmers and land users are financially rewarded for practices that are good for people and the planet.
An open invite to the UK farming community
Soil Association is keen to welcome all farmers and predicts this project will be a valued tool accessed by the vast majority of land users, regardless of where they are on their journey to agroecology.
Soil Association Exchange will listen to the needs of farmers and promote conversation between all stakeholders in our food supply chains. This approach will help form and shape the future of the project and will play a central role in designing a framework for sustainable land management and farming in the UK moving forwards.
The current advisory members working together on this initiative, include Sainsbury’s, M&S, Nando’s, Wheatsheaf Group (the food and agriculture investment arm of the Grosvenor Estate), The Cibus Foundation, Arla Foods, and Omsco.