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The AGtivist

The AGtivist finds: poisonous, noxious & polluting matter routinely pumped into rivers

Following the biggest ever legal action relating to environmental pollution in the UK, WL's The AGtivist looks into the factors contributing to the degradation of our waterways

Activism Animal welfare Environment and ethics
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Features

UK’s first qualification in sustainable hospitality, a sell-out success

Nick Easen meets the driving forces behind a new course which aims to shake up the UK food scene from the inside-out

Eating out Eating and drinking Ethical business
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News

Global Plastics Treaty hopes to tackle worsening problem

In spite of big commitments by key global players, plastic production is accelerating, writes David Burrows.

Environment and ethics Ethical business Plastic
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Opinion

WL op-ed: Hook, line & sinker – the truth about fish farms

Claims that farmed fish are a sustainable and ethical source of protein are fantasy, warns Amy P. Wilson

Animal welfare Environment and ethics Fish
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News

“Safe levels” of glyphosate cause cancer, new study finds

A comprehensive carcinogenicity study on the world’s most used herbicide challenges the 'safe levels' guidance on glyphosate

Environment and ethics Farming Health
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News

UK Gov reveals anticipated new food strategy

Will the new 'good food cycle' deliver fairness, security, environment recovery & better health outcomes? David Burrows takes a first look.

Ethical business Farming Politics UK Gov
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News

Megafarms receive 5x more investment than sustainable farms

Despite big, green commitments by the world banks, the sums don't add up. David Burrows investigates.

Business Farming Finance
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News

The ‘Better Chicken Commitment’ lie

The Better Chicken Commitment has come under scrutiny, with leading signatories yet to make any progress on their promises, finds David Burrows

Animal welfare Eating and drinking Farming
Features

Cracking progress on cage-free eggs while others fall fowl of commitments

Sustainable Food Series Animal welfare Eating and drinking
Features

Fish of the Day: the chefs & suppliers diversifying how we eat & why

Sustainable Food Series Eating and drinking Fish
The AGtivist

The AGtivist finds: poisonous, noxious & polluting matter routinely pumped into rivers

Activism Animal welfare Environment and ethics
STORY OF THE WEEK

Legislation is essential to ensure a level playing field. Without it, responsible businesses risk being undercut by less committed competitors and cheap, lower-welfare imports Tracey Jones, Global Director of Food Business at Compassion in World Farming

Features

News from the farm: Fuelling the fire – the biodiesel fantasy

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Features

UK’s first qualification in sustainable hospitality, a sell-out success

Eating out Eating and drinking Ethical business
News

Poultry pain can be reduced for a few paltry pence

Animal welfare Ethical business Meat
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Veg that tickles more than your tastebuds

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How healthy soil is foundational to good health

Agroecology Biodiversity Environment and ethics Organics Soil
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Why it’s time to resurrect our heritage veg

Eating and drinking Farming Grow your own Seeds
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News from the farm: The best end to the best growing year

Eating and drinking Farming Guy Singh-Watson
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Do eco-scores help consumers make better choices?

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FOOD, FARMING, FAIRNESS. Wicked Leeks is a digital news channel joining the dots between food, farming & people, published by @riverford ⬇️SUBSCRIBE

Hospitality is a vast consumer of resources; it’ Hospitality is a vast consumer of resources; it’s why the sector is under intense pressure to address its environmental impact and promote more sustainable practices. But with most businesses just tinkering away tokenistically at the edges, there’s hope for a more vigorous approach. This is why the UK’s first ever qualification in regenerative and sustainable hospitality has just launched, reports Nick Easen.

When it comes to being more sustainable, the vast majority of restaurants, hotels, and pubs are paying lip service to this challenge. Adoption of best practices is patchy at best, so is innovation. Similarly, knowledge on how to seriously reduce emissions, source through ethical supply chains or supercharge the circular economy is very limited.

“When you go to catering college you are taught virtually nothing about what sustainable hospitality actually means, in terms of, for example, procuring food or beverages or local sourcing. The issues are extremely complex, nuanced, and not well understood,” explains Geetie Singh-Watson, founder of the @bullinn_totnes  which has launched the course in partnership with @foodmadegood  and the @apricotcentre 

She adds: “There are also a lot of false narratives out there with some people and outlets blatantly lying about their so-called green credentials. A lot is done in a naïve way. This must change through education.”

The new level 3 award is a UK first. The 12-week course, which is Ofqual-recognised, sold out in seven hours and was oversubscribed. It will be held at Baddaford Farm, the home of Geetie and Guy Singh-Watson and the @baddafordcollective By basing the course at a working farm, the goal is to facilitate a deeper understanding of the land and the people who work on it.

Read the full feature on Wicked Leeks, via the link in our bio.
How much does it cost to improve the welfare of fa How much does it cost to improve the welfare of farmed chickens, so they experience less ‘pain’ and more ‘pleasure’? That is the question researchers at the Welfare Footprint Institute, in the US, set out to answer, writes David Burrows. 

“What fundamentally matters for any sentient being is how good or bad they feel, for how long, and how intensely,” the institute’s Cynthia Schuck tells Wicked Leeks. A brief moment of severe pain has a different welfare impact to discomfort lasting weeks [and so] by quantifying these dimensions – valence (positive or negative), intensity, and duration – we capture what animals actually experience rather than what we assume about their welfare based on external conditions,” she adds.

There is a lot of attention on poultry pain at the moment: intensification of production has the potential to reduce carbon and costs for example, but at the expense of animal welfare standards and extension of other forms of environmental pollution.

Read David's full feature on Wicked Leeks, via the link in our bio.
To be a successful farmer one must first know the To be a successful farmer one must first know the nature of the soil.” Xenophon, Oeconomicus, 400 B.C.

As consumers, we have become a lot more aware of the food we buy — where it’s grown, whether it’s organic, even how nutritious it is — but we may not extend that to thinking about the way the soil itself has been treated and cared for, writes Melanie Rendle. 

Yet taking care of the soil and preserving its health and fertility without resorting to pesticides, synthetic fertilisers or other practices used in conventional (non-organic) farming remains one of the biggest challenges facing organic farming today.

Read Melanie's full feature, How healthy soil is foundational to good health, on Wicked Leeks, via the link in our bio - we'll link it on stories too.

#soilhealth #regeneration #climatechange #soil #regenerativefarming
Have you ever bought something labelled ‘ethical Have you ever bought something labelled ‘ethical’, ‘local’, or maybe ‘environmentally-friendly’, or even with a ‘low carbon footprint’ claim, and then thought: this tastes better too? 

If so, you are not alone, writes David Burrows. There is actually a growing body of research to show that eating food that aligns with your values can actually taste better. Regardless, it will likely make you feel better.

Food companies know this. In fact, some of them understand you, your choices and your triggers better than you do. And this is one of the reasons they cannot resist greenwashing: if you are prepared to pay more for something that, in your mind, tastes better and makes you feel better, it matters not whether the food actually is better.

One of my favourite studies on this topic was conducted in 2013, but provides a glimpse of the power a ‘green halo’ can have on our decision-making.

Researchers at the University of Gävle in Sweden conducted a “fun” experiment in which students were given two cups of coffee: they were told one was ‘eco-friendly’ and the other was not. Most said they preferred the taste of the eco-friendly one but both coffees were in fact identical. 

Half the participants were also told they had preferred the non-eco-friendly option and those that placed a high value on sustainability said they’d still pay more for the eco-friendly coffee despite not liking it as much.

The study showed not only the power of eco-labelling but also the “greenwashing potential”, the researchers told me in 2021.

Read the full feature on Wicked Leeks, via the link in our bio.

About us

Wicked Leeks is published by Riverford Organic Farmers.

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Riverford grows and sells organic food through its award-winning veg boxes, delivering across the country to a loyal band of customers who share a passion for good food, good farming and good business.

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