The Soil Association's Annual Conference took place 18-19 November 2008 at The Passenger Shed, British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, Bristol

Fossil fuel depletion, climate change, diminishing soil and water resources and population growth present an unprecedented threat to global food security. To address these challenges Britain and every country in the world needs a future food plan.

Download audio and presentations from the conference:

» conference programme [PDF, 499 KB]

Plenary session one - Britain's food systems: the need for a change
Chair: Rosie Boycott, London Food Authority
Policy: Dr Caroline Lucas, Leader, Green Party
Energy: Jeremy Leggett, Executive Chairman, Solarcentury
Soil: Professor Pete Smith, Chair, Plant and Soil Science, University of Aberdeen
Food: Patrick Holden, Director, Soil Association
» download the audio [mp3, 32 MB]
Please note: this recording is 1 hour 30 minutes long. Downloading may take some minutes.
Presentation:
» Pete Smith [PPS, 1.5 MB]

Plenary session two - Feeding Britain: current strategy
Chair: Monty Don, President, Soil Association
Rt. Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Followed by feedback from Food for Life Partnership student ambassadors (aged 14–16)
Panel discussion with session one speakers
» download the audio [mp3, 34 MB]
Please note: this recording is 1 hour 37 minutes long. Downloading may take some minutes.

International lecture
Dr Vandana Shiva: Soil not Oil
» download the audio [mp3, 15 MB]
Please note: this recording is 43 minutes long. Downloading may take some minutes. Also, please note this recording begins mid-sentence.

Plenary session three - National food planning
Campaign: Peter Melchett, Policy Director, Soil Association
Policy: Professor Tim Lang, Food Policy, City University
Society: Rob Hopkins, Founder, Transition Network
Community: Julie Brown, Growing Communities
» download the audio [mp3, 30 MB]
Please note: this recording is 1 hour 24 minutes long. Downloading may take some minutes. Also, please note this recording begins mid-sentence.
» read 'An inconvenient truth about food', a report on Britain's food security
This report was based on 'Rethinking Britain's Food Security' - a research report for the Soil Association, written by David Barling, Rosalind Sharpe and Tim Lang of City University London.
Presentation:
» Rob Hopkins [PPS, 197 KB]
» Tim Lang [PPS, 22 MB] Please note this is a large file. Downloading may take some minutes.

Closing plenary session - Transition America
Community Supported Agriculture: Judith Redmond, Full Belly Farm, California
Healing through horticulture: The US prison experience: Cathrine Sneed, Counsellor
» download the audio [mp3, 17 MB]
Please note: this recording is 47 minutes long. Downloading may take some minutes.

Workshop 1 - Soil: myths and facts
The importance of soil carbon in combatting climate change. With Pete Smith, the UK's leading soil scientist, and featuring an extract from Deborah Garcia's new film 'In Good Heart: Soil and the Mystery of Fertility'.
Presentations:
» Gundula Azeez [PPS, 143 KB]
» Pete Smith [PPS, 867 KB]

Workshop 2 - City food plans
The challenge of feeding people in cities. Most of us live in cities. How do we feed the people of London or Leeds in future, and what is the Soil Association doing to put new ideas into practice?
Presentation:
» Emma Noble [PPS, 5 MB]

Workshop 3 - Livestock
Tackling the arguments for reducing meat consumption and livestock production. Examining the organic options and the place of livestock within sustainable and climate-friendly food and farming.
» Workshop notes [PDF, 62 KB]

Workshop 4 - Trade
Business as usual or change? Business representatives explore how current trade models may need to adapt to future challenges and if more localised, community led models are feasible in a global economy.
Presentation:
» Adam York [PPS, 32 MB] Please note this is a large file. Downloading may take some minutes.
» Workshop notes [PDF, 29 KB]

Workshop 5 - Soil: taking action
Organic farmers and growers sequestering carbon – and the phosphate challenge ahead. Pete Segger and Thomas Harttung talk about reducing soil carbon through practical action. With Peter Melchett and Carlo Leifert.
Presentation:
» Carlo Leifert [PPS, 2 MB]

Workshop 6 - Farm energy
Reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Exploring the new challenges and opportunities for farmers to play a central part in renewable energy supplies.
Presentations:
» Alex Dyson [PPS, 5 MB]
» David Fulford [PPS, 879 KB]
» Richard Harvey [PPS, 19 MB] Please note this is a large file. Downloading may take some minutes.

Workshop 7 - Money
New models for financing food systems. How can we ensure our food systems remain viable in the current financial crisis, and reflect our aspirations for producer/citizen reconnection and mutuality in financial models that support increased food and finance security at a local level?
Presentations:
» Jim Brown [PPS, 1 MB]
» Neil Ravenscroft [PPS, 4 MB]
» Paul Sander-Jackson [PPS, 4 MB]

Workshop 8 - Going public
Currently transforming school food culture, and poised to engage caterers in all sectors, see how you can get involved in the Food for Life Partnership.
Presentation:
» Joanna Lewis [PPS, 2 MB]

Workshop 9 - Faith in food
Reconnecting Britain's faith communities with their food. Representatives from the Muslim, Hindu and Christian faiths discuss ways faith communities can deepen their connection with food and the environment, and be mobilised around their food.
» Workshop notes [PDF, 29 KB]

Workshop 10 - Community farm links
Building partnerships between citizens and producers. Examining practical models and approaches to building relationships between food producers and local people, changing our food culture and helping build resilient food systems.
Presentations:
» Heather Anderson [PPS, 22 MB] Please note this is a large file. Downloading may take some minutes.
» Jade Bashford [PPS, 44 MB] Please note this is a large file. Downloading may take some minutes.
» Kirstin Glendinning [PPS, 36 MB] Please note this is a large file. Downloading may take some minutes.
» Neil Ravenscroft [PPS, 11 MB] Please note this is a large file. Downloading may take some minutes.

Workshop 11 - Reskilling
Learning practical skills and inspiring the next generation of farmers and growers. How new farmers and growers can best access the knowledge and experience of existing producers.
» Workshop notes [PDF, 52 KB]

Workshop 12 - Agri-culture
More than food from farms. Exploring how organic farms can provide more for society than just wholesome food, through education, training and cultural activites.
Presentation:
» Phil Moore
» Website - Georgina Barney

The Food
A footnote by Phil Haughton of The Better Food Company. The catering was provided by a partnership between The Better Food Company and The Folk House Cafe.

We had the privilege of being able to provide the catering for the lunches and teas at the Bristol conference. We were delighted, excited and nervous. Never had we catered for such numbers, but I wanted to tell you about what I feel was important about what we offered. It was all organic, that goes without saying, it was predominantly very local. It was almost all made with fresh raw ingredients. The other element is a little less obvious, the threads that bound it all together. The contact I made with suppliers who gave or discounted some of the ingredients helped to give us a picture of what we were creating. We were determined that we should really push the boat out and feed the 400 delegates with very hand made, locally produced food, that there should be not one tiny bit of convenience because the business of feeding people is too important to compromise. The confession is that in the end we used organic mayo and tinned tomatoes bought in. I wish we had had the courage to go that bit further, but never mind.

The pork was from Peter Hemmings who I have been working with for many years now. I booked two pigs in for slaughter, dug out my chorizo sausage recipe and made the sausages. I cured the loins of pork and had them smoked up at Valley Smokehouse which along with the ham hocks helped to give the stew a big hearty flavour. The vegetables we used were grown by ourselves including the celeriac, baby carrots and baby beets. The green tomato chutney was especially made for the cheese sandwiches using our own green tomatoes. The beef, lovingly reared by Luke Hasel and Jim Twine, hung for four weeks, was fantastic and was complimented by the homemade horseradish sauce using freshly dug horseradish root. The salad leaf was freshly picked from the polytunnel hours before serving. The coffee was roasted in Bristol, the milk and cream from some of our dear friends Pam and Will at Manor Farm. The Clipper tea bags, the Pukka herbals, the Doves biscuits, and Hobbs House bread, hope I have not missed anyone.

All these foods brought together in this way have a much more important and powerful part to play in nourishing us than just the nutrition and flavour. It's part of a healthy, loving web that helps us know where we belong in this world. In the same way that we listened to some inspiring speakers, what they gave us was so much more than words, it was their passion, their wisdom and their profound connection with Mother Earth that fed us all so well. I believe that all those of us who work on the land and with food are hugely privileged and need to take every opportunity to share our food and land work with others. The conference left me feeling brim full of joy about being on this mad planet and delighted to have had the chance to feed so many great people who are making waves that work.

2007 Conference - One Planet Agriculture: Preparing for a post-peak oil food and farming future
» Listen to podcasts and view presentations from our 2007 conference