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News

The AGtivist: whistleblowers call out rapid intensification of meat & dairy industry

A scathing new report makes startling claims about the practices of the food industry – and it's written by those on the inside

Activism Animal welfare Environment and ethics
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WL Meets

WL Meets: Josiah Meldrum – putting the pulse back into veg

The co-founder of Hodmedod's Whole Foods is determined to get beans back onto our plates, and with good reason, finds Nick Easen

Eating and drinking Environment and ethics Plant-based
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The AGtivist

The AGtivist finds: 1000s of live animals exported through the Northern Ireland loophole

In May 2024, the export of live sheep, cattle, and pigs was banned in England, Wales and Scotland – but not Northern Ireland. The AGtivist explores the outcomes of this flaw in legislation.

Activism Animal welfare Farming
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News

WL Glossary #4: ‘Corporate commitments’

When Big Food giant, Nestlé, recently bowed out of a global alliance on climate commitment, eyebrows were raised. David Burrows goes in search of the truth.

Climate change Business Dairy
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News

The AGtivist finds: “superbugs” in multiple UK meat supply chains

Ten years ago, the UK government warned that the use of antibiotics in livestock farming presented a critical threat to public health. What's changed since then? The AGtivist investigates.

Animal welfare Health Meat
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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
News

The AGtivist: whistleblowers call out rapid intensification of meat & dairy industry

Activism Animal welfare Environment and ethics
Features

News from the Farm: Soups, “stewps” & Sunday safety nets

Eating and drinking Health News from the farm
Features

How community projects are building a brighter future for British farms

Agroecology Community Farming Organics
STORY OF THE WEEK

Less than 1 per cent of the UK population achieves all dietary recommendations in the Eatwell Guide. One in 10 households – and one in seven with children – struggle to afford enough food. At the same time, a third of our food still goes to waste.  Nick Easen, Wicked Leeks

Features

Westminster Food and Nutrition Forum uncovers dire truths within UK food system

Agroecology Food waste Politics Diets
News

KFC’s Better Chicken Commitment bites the dust as less than 1% progress is made

Eating out Animal welfare
The AGtivist

The AGtivist finds: 1000s of live animals exported through the Northern Ireland loophole

Activism Animal welfare Farming
WL Meets

WL Meets: Gunhild Stordalen, founder of EAT, on achieving a ‘planetary health diet’

Activism Health Diets
Features

The invisible pesticide problem

Pesticides Health
News

WL Glossary #4: ‘Corporate commitments’

Climate change Business Dairy
WL Meets

WL Meets: Josiah Meldrum – putting the pulse back into veg

Eating and drinking Environment and ethics Plant-based
Opinion

News from the farm: Cider, community & muddled thinking

Community Farming Guy Singh-Watson
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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

To be a farmer, you need to be curious. To questio To be a farmer, you need to be curious. To question what’s ailing your livestock, why a crop failed, or how to fix some machinery. Historically, the chances for discussing your thoughts and observations were many: at your local weekly market, at parish and young farmers’ events, or even with fellow workers on the farm, writes @annamariejulyanwriter 

External factors – from global commodity prices to the weather and changing government policy – continue to buffet the sector, and with the average UK farmer working a 60-hour week, loneliness is an increasing problem.

“Once characterised by close-knit rural networks, farming communities have seen a major shift over the past 50-100 years,” explains Stephanie Berkeley, manager of the @yellowwelliesuk which offers advice and support. 

“Mechanisation, consolidation, and declining rural populations have eroded traditional bonds, reducing the need for shared labour and weakened local institutions. Where neighbours would have gathered for harvests, the farmers of today often work in isolation, for long hours, supported by technology.”

Stephanie highlights new forms of connection, through marts (auction markets), mental health initiatives (see Mind Your Head or The Farming Community Network), and online communities.

There is huge and often untapped power in connecting with others, as four very different farms have found.

Read the full feature on Wicked Leeks, via the link in our bio.
Baked beans and green peas are ingrained in the na Baked beans and green peas are ingrained in the national psyche. But recently we’ve fallen out of love with them. The average Brit consumes only one tablespoon a day, much lower than the 80g recommended. More than 40 per cent of people eat none at all. It’s why Josiah Meldrum wants to rekindle our relationship with beans, peas and legumes, writes Nick Easen for Wicked Leeks. 

A full scale renaissance of home-grown pulses would be the ultimate dream for the co-founder of @hodmedods 

This is what Josiah and his team have been busy trying to achieve since the founding of their company back in 2012. Inspiring us to eat more beans is at the heart of what they do. 

They’ve brought us a raft of UK firsts: the first ever commercial crop of lentils, then chia seeds, as well as the first ever British chickpea harvest. They’ve even resurrected a long-dead pulse – the Carlin pea – and delivered it to our kitchen tables. If there is one person who believes in the transformational potential of these nitrogen-fixing, field crops, it’s Josiah Meldrum. 

“What’s incredible about the fantastic power of pulses, is that you can easily get your head around them and therefore they can be an extraordinary lever for change. Just by asking people to eat a few more portions of pulses each week can really shift the dial. It is not a huge undertaking either and that in itself is empowering,” explains Meldrum. 

Read the full feature at Wicked Leeks, via the link in our bio.
In May 2024, the export of live sheep, cattle, and In May 2024, the export of live sheep, cattle, and pigs was banned in England, Wales and Scotland – but not Northern Ireland. 

In a feature for Wicked Leeks, new anonymous columnist The AGtivist explores the outcomes of this flaw in legislation. Here's an extract: 

On a freezing night early in January 1995, the Sussex port of Shoreham-by-Sea erupted into chaos. Hundreds of protesters blockaded the entrance in order to prevent a convoy of lorries transporting live calves – due to be exported overseas that night – from reaching a waiting ship. The demonstrators blocked the road and, despite the best efforts of police, forced the convoy to turn around. 

These dramatic events kickstarted a national wave of protests against the live export of the UK’s farm animals. Repeated demonstrations were seen at other ports throughout 1995, and even at an airport near Coventry after calves began to be flown out of the country. 

Opponents said the long distance transport of livestock was cruel, unnecessary, and involved excessive journeys to countries such as Spain, where animals would be fattened up for slaughter or re-exported elsewhere. 

The largely grassroots protests quickly morphed into a full-blown political campaign, led by big guns from the animal welfare world. Decades of protracted and often-bitter arguments followed, but, in May 2024, government legislation finally banned the export of sheep, cattle, and pigs. Campaigners and ministers alike were jubilant. 

But the story doesn’t end there. A flaw in the legislation means that the ban only applies to England, Wales and Scotland, with Northern Ireland – a powerhouse of livestock production – granted an exemption. This was because, according to the government, the region’s farmers needed “unfettered access” to lucrative UK and Irish markets.

Although most chose to focus on the good news, some campaigners and politicians warned that this “loophole” could see large numbers of animals continue to be subjected to lengthy journeys. 

Read the full feature on Wicked Leeks, via the link in our bio.
It was a searingly hot day in the Cotswolds this s It was a searingly hot day in the Cotswolds this summer when a number of women took to the stage at a regenerative farming conference. The topics at the ARK Summit included bridging debates, financing change, and leading regeneration, writes Anna-Marie Julyan (@annamariejulyanwriter) for Wicked Leeks. 

Dairy farmer, Sophie Gregory, (@farmer_in_training ) and farm manager, Annie Landless (@annielandless ) joined panels on sustainable farming, while farmer, Molly Biddell (@ruralmole ) shared her perspective as Head of Natural Capital on the Knepp Estate. (Famous thanks to its rewilding project and Isabella Tree’s seminal book Wilding.) 

In a later conversation about agricultural careers, Sophie suggested I also contact Claire Whittle (@dr_dowhittle ), a farmer and vet with a strong interest in dung beetles.

Hardy, fearless and refreshingly candid, these women are part of an increasingly visible cohort of women embracing opportunities in farming. 

Record numbers of women are enrolling on agricultural courses across the UK, bringing new perspectives at a time when agroecological farming (which is nuanced, responsive & holistic in its approach) makes headlines and captures young minds. 

Yet there is a way to go. Just 16 per cent of principal farmers and holders are female (19 per cent in the under-35 age group), and 40 per cent of farmers in the UK are over the age of 65, so who will take up the baton in future?

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

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Wicked Leeks is published by Riverford Organic Farmers.

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