Helen Browning OBE

Chief Executive

Helen has a very mixed organic farm Wiltshire, with dairy, beef, pigs, cereals and is now also experimenting with agro-forestry. Her products are sold through the Helen Browning’s Organic brand in retailers, big and small, as well as through her mini hotel/dining pub on the farm, and through her restaurant in Swindon. Her recent book ‘PIG; tales from an organic farm’, written with her partner Tim Finney, tells more about the trials and tribulations of their farming and food life.

She has been Chief Executive of the Soil Association since 2011, after a long involvement with the charity in a variety of exec and non-exec roles. She is a member of the Food Ethics Council, trustee of the RSPB and a Commissioner for the RSA’s Food Farming and Countryside Commission. She sits on the BBC’s Rural Affairs Advisory Committee and the National Food Strategy Advisory Panel.

Prior to rejoining the Soil Association, Helen was Director of External Affairs for the National Trust. She has had a number of roles in agri-politics over the years, including the Government’s Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food (‘the Curry Commission’) and chaired the England Animal Health and Welfare Implementation Group. Helen was awarded an OBE in 1998 for her services to organic farming.