The Source

Nutrition can be confusing. The one thing we all agree on however, is that Ultraprocessed Foods, UPFs, are ruining our health. There is now also a thirst for a reconnect - to nature, to self and to others. This is fabulous news for our British farmers and food producers! The tide is turning - farmers are being appreciated for what they are - no longer seen as merely commodity producers, but the guardians of our land (as are all of us) and the food-makers that they have always been for us.

I work in an exciting, albeit niche space! That interface between what goes on in the soil in which our food grows, the animals which provide some of our food and how this impacts our health with our gut microbiome at the core. I’m immensely proud to support our farmers with communications on this - spreading awareness and sharing the real-life stories behind our food! 

From my perspective, I’m seeing this knowledge and the thirst for it becoming more and more widespread - in schools, the workplace, slowly within our food system, families teaching their children - this year’s Open Farm Sunday seeing 257 farms across the nation welcome nearly 180,000 visitors!

This gradual change combined with an ever-increasing search by many for a new approach to ‘whole’ health (for people and planet) is something I find much hope in.

Love British Food is a precious part of this hope, ensuring that gradually, our high quality British produce is embedded in communities, reaching industry and the public sector -  schools, hospitals, universities, prisons and, not least, our own shopping baskets. 

When we reconnect - we discover a beautiful story of nature and our health - there’s an uncanny similarity between what goes on in our gut and what happens in healthy soils. Just as our precious and diverse gut microbes release nutrients from our food and also help our biology to thrive, soil microbes do the same for the crops that grow in it, and grazing animals have a vital role to play in restoring diversity to our soils. This system is an ancient one! Thankfully, the turning tide on prioritising biodiversity in nature and a quest for healthier food will allow this ‘ancient way’ to thrive once more.

So this Love British Food Fortnight, let’s strive to continue our journey towards sourcing quality British, seasonal food, with animal welfare standards among the highest in the world. With our support, our farmers can achieve the climate-friendly goals they’re striving for.

We just need to place real value on our food.