Ocado Retail and Soil Association: Farm to Fork partnership
Ocado Retail is the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket, and in January 2024, they officially became a strategic partner to the Soil Association charity.
As a food retailer, Ocado Retail plays a key role in connecting farmers and consumers, shaping demand for agroecological practices that benefit both people and the planet. Soil Association and Ocado Retail first worked together in our FAB Farmers project, creating learning networks and opportunities that spread the uptake of agroecological practices ‘in the field’.
After 1 year of partnership, we’ve launched 3 new programmes that build on this work – intervening for healthier and more sustainable diets across the food system: all the way from Farm to Fork.
Animal welfare standards as defined by the Farm Animal Welfare Council (government advisors) fall within three categories:
a life not worth living
a life worth living
a good life
Most welfare standards concentrate on the bottom two tiers, seeking to simply remove negative experiences for animals. Examples include banning confinement or removing the tips of hen’s beaks to reduce feather pecking.
But the Soil Association and Ocado Retail want to go one step further. We want to not only remove negative experiences but additionally bring in positive ones. We want farmed animals to live in environments that allows them to showcase natural animal behaviours and explore their interests.
We want all farmed animals to have a good life, not just a life worth living.
In Year 1, we’ve updated existing positive welfare frameworks with all new scientific research, legislation, and codes of best practice for dairy cows and laying hens. This year, we are doing the same for beef cattle and sheep, before piloting frameworks on farms. We will then do the same for meat chickens and pigs, showing how positive welfare for animals is both practical and profitable.
Develop nature-friendly farming practices
The Soil Association has always understood the value of learning networks and working together, which is why we're growing Agroecology at Scale. We’ve launched five demonstration farms across the UK to share knowledge of nature-friendly farming principles. They focus on different areas of farming, from dairy to grain crops, and meat to fruit and vegetables.
These demonstration farms showcase more sustainable ways of farming through peer-to-peer learning and provide learning opportunities for all farmers including farmers of the future. Through the programme, we have additionally worked with 43 Farming Advisors (and counting) who typically work with 5 farms each, to extend the reach of this knowledge.
In our first year of partnership, we’ve welcomed 142 farmers onto demo farms, representing 64 different farms across sectors – with learning networks that continue the journey.
We are one of the only charities working across the entire food system. Using this unique position, we are tapping into our networks and amplifying the diverse range of voices of those calling for change in the food and farming sector.
Through training in storytelling, media engagement, and networking, the Farm to Fork Ambassadors will share firsthand experiences, amplify underrepresented voices and bridge the gaps across the food system to drive meaningful change from farm to fork.
At the Soil Association, we know that we have ambitious aims. We want:
a fairer and more sustainable food system for all
a world where happy animals and healthy soils feed the world
farmers to be paid fairly for their work
If you know someone who would make a perfect Ambassador for climate, nature and health, or you would like to apply yourself, please find out more about Farm to Fork Ambassadors programme.
We know that we can’t make the changes needed on our own, but together we are connecting to different parts of the food system and driving meaningful change toward sustainability and healthier diets.
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