Congratulations to all behind the Royal Highland Show
Great to launch the #ScottishAgroecologyPartnership- a shared voice for #Agroecology lnkd.in/eFhrW7xd
@ffc-commission.bsky.social has evidenced that a transition to #agroecology is economically & agronomically plausible lnkd.in/etFvakye
With the landmark Good Food Nation Plan reaching its final publication, itβs an exciting time for Scottish food policy π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώ
In a new blog, FFCC's Kirsty Tait reflects on the unique opportunity that the Good Food Nation Actβs local five-year plans offer to ensure citizen voices are heard.
Read on π
π’BRIEFING: Power in the system - how to shift it for citizens, farmers & nature
πYou can now read a briefing of this webinar, (in collaboration with @ffc-commission.bsky.social) collated & written by Nina Pullman, food systems writerπtinyurl.com/5aaad3cfWe
Interested in the progress of #agroecology in #Scotland?
Proud to be a member of the new Scottish Agroecology Partnership and see it launched at the Royal Highland Show tomorrow
Come and join us to find out more π
Nature Finance β Public or Private? Monday 28 April 2025 4:00β―pm 6:00β―pm This online event will explore where the money to finance nature recovery should come from, and how rural communities can thrive as Scotlandβs natural environment is improved. Should we rely on the public sector to step up to the challenge of reaching Net Zero and bring socio-economic benefits? If so, how do we raise the taxes to pay for that in a fair and equitable way, for example on the "polluter pays" principle, through a carbon land tax or through other property taxes? Which specific tax reforms are most likely to hasten nature recovery in Scotland? Without finance, achieving these goals is nigh on impossible, so it comes down to the age- old question: Where does the money come from?
Speakers at SEDA Landβs Nature Finance event include @johnmuirtrust.bsky.social director David Fleetwood, who will advocate for JMTβs carbon land tax, while @graememccormick.bsky.social will outline an annual ground rent model to replace all other taxes. No parroting allowed β only original thinking
The Nature Finance, Public or Private? event will be chaired by Nick Drainey, Scotsman news editor turned freelance journalist, who excels at cutting through jargon. Sophie Cooke will explore how different approaches to funding nature restoration might affect us personally, through her poetry.
Poster for SEDA Land's Nature Finance β Public or Private? on Monday, 28th April, 4-6pm This online event, organised by SEDA Land, will explore where the money to finance nature recovery should come from, and how rural communities can thrive as Scotlandβs natural environment is improved. Should we rely on the public sector to step up to the challenge of reaching Net Zero and bring socio-economic benefits? If so, how do we raise the taxes to pay for that in a fair and equitable way, for example on the "polluter pays" principle, through a carbon land tax or through other property taxes? Which specific tax reforms are most likely to hasten nature recovery in Scotland? Are Regional Land Use Partnerships (RLUPs) an appropriate vehicle to coordinate public and private investment to deliver landscape and catchment scale collaboration? Is luring in more private finance the way forward? Maybe it is a combination of the two? The debate will be in the context of Scotland, with its limited devolved powers and wide regional differences. The panel will look in broad terms at at ways of addressing climate change and improving the environment β carbon sequestration, reversing biodiversity loss, flood management β and the benefits this can bring in terms of employment, strengthened communities, recreation, education, and health & wellbeing. Without finance, achieving these goals is nigh on impossible, so it comes down to the age- old question: Where does the money come from?
Each of the six panelists at our Nature Finance, Public or Private? event is committed to nature restoration with community involvement, but each believes in a different approach. The hope is they will find some common ground.
π
28 April, 4-6pm
π Online
ποΈ seda.scot/monday-28th-...
Next Thursday, Charlie will be discussing the findings with FFCCβs Mhairi Brown and Jez Fredenburgh in an FFCC x @afnnetwork.bsky.social Webinar called βPower in the food system - how to shift it for citizens, farmers & natureβ.
Book your spot here: www.agrifood4netzero.net/events/power...
Instead, the report makes the case for much more ambition from government β with potential policy levers not just falling to Defra, but also departments in charge of tax, health, trade, education, welfare and housing.
Read in full here: ffcc.co.uk/publications...
FFCCβs Dr Charlie Taverner on Farming Today this AM, discussing our new report βPaying the Priceβ, which shows farmersβ incomes have barely risen for 50 years, farms have been forced to consolidate & intensify, and the UKβs food & farming resilience is at risk.
Listen from 3 mins in bit.ly/4kI9j5c
Ferm hoose up on the rental market as an 'rural escape'
It never was a place of escape for tenants who lived, worked, loved and lost there
Always been a place of connection. For me, to my people, community, nature and how I made and continue to make sense of the world.
We have rural all wrong
Who holds the power in the food system and who is profiting? What is the impact of this inequality and corporate control on farmers and growers, our health, nature, and ability to tackle climate change? What can be done about it?
Fascinating event coming up from @ffc-commission.bsky.social :
π Push for low-cost calories has cheapened British food
π Farming incomes have barely improved in real terms for 50 years
π Tiny number of big businesses dominate our food chain
πΎ UKβs long-term food resilience at risk in volatile world
πͺ Govt must fix dysfunctional economy for public benefit
'Whatever funding government wants to put towards agriculture, it needs to address the underlying issue of cheapness β the decades-long push for low-cost calories, concentration of power in Big Ag and Big Food & huge hidden costs on health & nature.'
Great to publish this timely analysis today π
Canongate Wall is one of my favourite places - a wall of amazing words, so many of which stop you in your tracks.
Your chance to choose more of these from three of our best - all past Makars #LizLochhead #JackieKay #KathleenJamie
Wrong tree, wrong place π
#GoodNews - all the sessions from the @orfc.bsky.social this year (and previous years) are now freely available online.
Lots of brilliant #agroecology ideas
orfc.org.uk/orfc-archives/
π½οΈ Last week, FFCC CEO Sue Pritchard featured on
@foodfoundation.bsky.social's podcast.
Responding to The Food Foundation's latest 'Broken Plate' report, Sue brought citizen voices into the fold with #TheFoodConversation.
Listen in full π tinyurl.com/2s3zb74p
More on food π tinyurl.com/93prrbuy
With industry taking more than their fair share of seats at the table when it comes to influencing food policy, now is the time for government to rebalance the scales and listen to what citizens really want.
In our latest blog, FFCC's Head of Food Futures Mhairi Brown discusses the governmentβs response to the @houseoflords.parliament.uk Food, Diet and Obesity Committeeβs Recipe for Health report, which included an βunprecedented analysis of food industry lobbing."
You might be interested in this:
Jim Carruth: Experiences of a Modern Day Farmer Poet
19 March, Alloway. Free, ticketed.
In this talk Jim Carruth β poet, Glasgow Makar, & farmer β shares some poems & discusses the challenges & changes facing farmers today
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/highlight-...?
We've put together a handy digest of Professor Tim Langβs new report: Just in Case: 7 steps to narrow the UK civil food resilience gap buff.ly/4jT0h4Y concluding that we need to move from reactive food policies to proactive, community-centred resilience planning π
Celebrating all my farming women and all those I work with #WomenInScience
Who don't often think of themselves as scientists but whose working lives science runs through.
Progress being made towards greater #equality in #farming & #crofting but still a way to go.
All power to your elbows πͺ
An infographic from FAO showing the positive relationship between pulses contributing to soil health and healthy soil providing ecosystem services in return.
πΏ Pulses and soils: a dynamic duo that sustain one another! ππ§ͺ
Pulses improve soil health and well-maintained soils allow pulses to thrive.
For #WorldPulsesDay, explore this complementary relationship with @fao.orgβ€΅οΈ #SaveSoil
Love this!
20 years ago yesterday, on the 9th February 2005, Scotland's world-class public access rights came into force. A remarkable achievement! ππ₯³π€©ππΆββοΈπββοΈπ²π©βπ¦½π΄πΆ
Read more: scotways.com/ken/a-brief-...
Citizens are getting their voices heard πͺ
Last week, our Scotland Director @kirstymtait.bsky.social and #TheFoodConversation participants Kay and Louise met with @amcarmichaelmp.bsky.social β MP for Orkney & Shetland and Chair of the EFRA Committee... 1/3
Animals - and their relationships - so much more complex than we have given them credit for
If you want a quick intro to my new βJust in Caseβ report on civil food resilience, listen to the first story in Feb 6 BBC Farming Today: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m.... Food resilience ought to be centred on society, the public, citizens, us. Read βJust in Caseβ to walk you through the realities.
