Soil Association: Organic by 2050

The first review Gordon Brown commissioned on becoming Prime Minister was an analysis of food issues. The resulting report published in July 2008 concluded that “existing patterns of food production are not fit for a low-carbon, more resource-constrained future”, and “existing patterns of food consumption will result in our society being loaded with a heavy burden of obesity and diet-related ill health.” This stark analysis chimes with the Soil Association's concern that the current UK food and farming system is not fit to meet the challenges of climate change, long-term costlier oil, or for providing a foundation for people's health. Unfortunately, the Strategy Unit paper appears to be a minority report and not the major influence over Government policy on food and farming, according to the Soil Association.

Hence the Soil Association has launched a campaign to mobilise the UK to change its food and farming system: A secure food future – organic by 2050. With 30 % of an individual's carbon foot-print made up of their food choices, food is the single most important, everyday means for tackling the challenges of climate change, fossil fuel depletion and future security of our food supplies. The Soil Association's overall campaign goal is to make a rapid transition from a food production system dependent on chemicals, global commodity markets and heavy use of oil, to a more resilient, localised, organic food and farming system powered by present day solar power, rather than one reliant on climate-damaging fossil-fuels made from ancient sunlight.
 

www.soilassociation.org