Speakers

I am a small-scale farmer in south Devon running a social enterprise called Common Flora. We grow some food for local shops and perennials for our volunteers to enjoy but our produce is largely non-food, harvested and processed on site. We are 2.2ha/5.5acres site and certified organic. Half the site is planted to young mixed woodland where 11 species each have their own business plan. The woodland forms the perimeter and provides shelter with understorey planting of other useful species.

I am running a collaborative project with 2 other local social enterprises supporting 5 more local farming families, linking them with people facing food poverty and seeking solutions to food insecurity and decline in biodiversity. Please see this link https://www.commonflora.co.uk/abundantlife
I am an ethnobotanist with BSc Plant Biology from University of Wales Bangor and MA Environmental Anthropology from Goldsmiths, University of London. I have conducted ethnobotanical action research among a women’s farming co-op in high Andes, with Welsh speaking women on Anglesey and among Eastern European women living in this country. I am a northerner but have lived in Devon and Cornwall most of my life, a mum and a grandmother.

Giles Adams comes from a Somerset farming family, living next door to his brother’s dairy farm.
He is advising on SFI this year with particular emphasis on diversification, which reflects his role as Chair of Visit Somerset and experience in leisure and hospitality.

Jerry has experience in arable and mixed farming having run the family farm in Devon for 25 years. The farm was initially a dairy farm eventually converting to organic and being run as a beef, sheep and arable unit. At the same time, he converted a range of farm buildings into a holiday cottage complex, was chairman of a local farmer owned co-op grain store and became involved in the grain supply chain nationally.

Jerry is interested in a systems approach to farming and looks at farms as a whole system rather than just a mix of enterprises or a series of crops in rotation. He is also looking at options to reduce cultivations within organic rotations and the adoption of more agroecological and organic type systems in non-organic farms.

Abby Allen is Director of Farming at Pipers Farm and the author of The Sustainable Meat Cookbook. She is also a trustee for Devon Wildlife Trust and represents the Nature Friendly Farming Network as a Farming Champion. Abby is a passionate campaigner for sustainable, fair farming and is committed to providing a voice - and a positive future - for small scale, family farms.

Charlotte Barry is a director of Sustainable Food Cornwall, a co-founder of Camel Community Supported Agriculture (Camel CSA) in Wadebridge, and a board member of the CSA Network.

She is a keen gardener and environmentalist, and a regular volunteer for the National Trust, Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the RSPB. For many years she kept and bred free-range poultry.

She spent her entire career as a journalist and journalism trainer working in print, broadcasting and online.

Antony is former Producer BBC Radio 4‘s The Archers, his No Way Back production won the Silver Medal at the New York Radio Festival. For the stage he is the director of Dogwood Productions, a CIC specialising in new writing. The company is the national partner of the RNLI and its new musical, produced in collaboration, has just finished an extensive tour of the north of England, as well as performances at the Lyric, Hammersmith.
Dogwood’s themes often relate to communities largely overlooked by mainstream media. It’s The Shearing Gang reflected current rural deprivation, whilst the new musical placed the story of past and present lifeboat crew in the context of the hardships experienced in coastal communities. Antony also directed No Finer Life a musical that celebrated the early days of regenerative farming.
Antony’s other theatre work includes Chicane’s Law at The Gate, Troubaritz for Framework Theatre, The Promise, a ballad opera that toured cathedrals, and Radio, Radio that was created for and performed in the hold of a cargo ship.
His broadcasting career included roles as Managing Editor of BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music and Programme Director at Talk Radio. Antony is also a visiting professor in creative arts at a university in the south of England.

13th generation Exmoor hill farmer David Brewer has spent three years transforming every aspect of his family's once conventional 450 acre farm in the pursuit of soil health, climate change mitigation, biodiversity recovery and, above all, the production of nutritionally valuable organic food for his community and beyond.

David and his family are determined to prove that connected wildlife landscapes, 3D farming and the equal and full integration of environment, habitat and food production can deliver robust, profitable and responsible farming fit for the challenges of the 21st century and beyond.

Manda Brookman has been working in Cornwall for the last 20 years in the field of change, resilience and creative disruption. Prior to moving to Cornwall, she worked on a range of third sector organisations over 12 years on local, national and international programmes around social and climate justice, with a focus on networking and communications. Once in Cornwall she co-founded CoaST, the One Planet Tourism Network, with over 3,000 members across 50 countries, and the Café Disruptif network providing support for social justice and environment "creative disruptors", with great focus on the intersection between the climate, social and ecological crises. Her work at the moment is focused on the health and climate crises, and how the best way of getting to grips with them is to work on projects which address both at the same time – and as one splendid example in action, how access to good food, grown well, by the community for the community, is delivering human, community and planetary health benefits. She reckons our community grower network is our natural immune system – and worth every ounce of our collective effort to nourish!

As First Milk’s Chief Impact Officer, Mark Brooking is the driving force behind the dairy co-operative’s emergence as a leader in dairy sustainability, steering the decarbonisation of the supply chain starting on its members’ farms.

Mark was brought up on a small dairy farm in South Devon but was encouraged to look beyond the home farm and moved in the agricultural supply chain, starting as a cattle specialist.

Early on, Mark recognised the opportunity given to farmers by successful co-operatives and was part of the team which established Milk Link, where he was membership director.
Leaving seven years later, Mark worked as a consultant in the food and fabric supply chain with organisations such as Patagonia, Textile Exchange and Ikea to develop global environmental and animal welfare standards.

By now, Mark had also taken on management of the home farm and within a couple of years, had won the regional NFU biodiversity award in recognition of the work done to improve habitats.

Mark became membership director at First Milk in 2017, seeing it as an opportunity to put into practice all he has learnt through his career. He says it is about championing how farmers can be part of a successful food chain while protecting and enhancing nature and the world we live in.

A lover of mountain biking, yoga and allotmenting. Charlotte has a background in sustainability in the theatre and events industry, now bringing the same passion and energy to help drive the sustainable movement in Primary Healthcare. Curious about how working across community and GP practices, we can create positive tipping points towards climate action in healthcare and improve the health of both people and the planet.

Matt worked with his Cornish butcher for 10 years in London, setting up a supply chain to London restaurants. His idea was to return to farm red ruby cattle and sell to the same restaurants via his butcher.

A chance visit to a brilliant jambon producer in Extremedura gave him a eureka moment. The meat from iberico pigs is so good because they walk a long distance in their earth life and then put on fat very quickly when entering acorn fields.

Matt realised there was potential to do something similar with cull ewes. He now mob grazes these older sheep, using them to increase productivity and biodiversity in his sward. His mantra is ‘watching is working’. His sheep get, on average, an extra six months of life.

They arrive on the farm very plain, and leave with a flavoursome fat cover. He sells to a good number of London restaurants via his butcher and business is growing rapidly.

He currently farms 100 acres of pasture. They have a large grant to develop agroforestry next winter and have taken on 20 acres of what will hopefully turn into culm grassland using the sheep. Matt has proven he can feed a lot of people with high quality meat, increase biodiversity and help the local economy.

Simon joined the Trust from Natural England, where he was responsible for managing six of their National Nature Reserves in Somerset, including those on the Somerset Levels. With this invaluable experience, his role at the Trust is, with the support of its science and data resources, to pioneer the development and delivery of the Trust's Nature Recovery Network strategy - the aim of which is drive county-scale biodiversity net gain by enhancing and connecting species-rich habitats within which wildlife can thrive, that people can connect to, and that restore a healthy and vibrant natural environment capable of adapting to a changing climate.

Tim Coates is a 3rd generation farmer - currently in aggressive regenerative agriculture transition. He is a Director of the North East Cotswold Farmer Cluster community interest company, England’s largest farmer cluster and is also the Managing Director of the Evenlode Landscape Recovery - the cluster’s Natural Capital Special Purpose Vehicle. Tim was the co-founder and Chief Customer & Regulatory Officer of Oxbury Bank Plc, the UK’s only dedicated bank for food, farming and the rural economy where he implemented a Responsible Impact and Natural Capital approach to strategy, including being the first UK Financial Institution to fully disclose under the TNFD framework. He has advised numerous financial institutions on interactions with the rural community, including contributing to reports and research by Bankers 4 Net Zero and the Green Finance Institute. He also sits on the Board of the Oxfordshire Local Nature Partnership.

Jake is a certified lab technician with Dr Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web, and has a range of experience on ecological projects, with training in dryland restoration techniques to reverse the desertification process occurring in many parts of the world. This has provided him with an essential mix of skills to build resilience into UK agricultural systems, including the use of soil microscopy to guide soil regeneration. His background spans the fields of ecology, soil microbiology and ethnobotany which he uses to transfer the knowledge learned of soil biodiversity and living systems into UK agriculture.

Niels Corfield is an independent farming advisor and trainer. He works with producers and landowners to implement regenerative systems, across all farming types.

ffinlo is the Editor-in-Chief of 8point9.com and has worked in farming, land and food business policy for over 20 years. As Chief Executive of Farmwel (2016-2022) he gave evidence to UK parliamentary committees and advised ministers and the Committee on Climate Change on the role of agricultural climate gases. ffinlo founded the Food & Global Security Network in 2020 and published Soil Health: A security threat profile, prior to COP26. ffinlo has presented at the European Parliament and advised ministers and senior leadership teams in many European countries. His TEDx Talk, 'We can't solve the climate crisis without cows', has proved highly popular with regenerative farmers and innovators.

Max Cotton is a retired political journalist who has managed a smallholding near Glastonbury for the last 25 years. He broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 about food self sufficiency and recently presented a series called Growing Solo.

As Head of Nature Food and Resource, and Deputy Director of Business Banking, Simon is responsible for ensuring this happens on a daily basis through the loans Triodos make to new and existing customers!

Simon works with Tridos’ sector specialist to identify those SMEs, charities, developers and community organisations that have projects which deliver true impact and where we can add value through our shared values and sector knowledge.

Nigel recently retired as Head of Horticulture at Cannington but continues to work in the industry as National Lead Assessor for horticulture apprentices, as an examiner for the RHS and as a tutor and course writer with specific interests in organics, permaculture and wellbeing. He is a passionate advocate of sustainable and resilient horticulture and currently runs a small community permaculture project near Wells and is also involved in a new agroecology project at Bridies Farm in Glastonbury. He has previously delivered courses on sustainable horticulture at Yeo Valley Organic Garden and is a qualified garden designer.

Cerys Dehaini is an Architect and Regenerative Design Consultant with a deep commitment to sustainable and community-centred design. As the Director of Squirrels Architecture, she leads a practice dedicated to creating spaces that harmonise with the environment and foster strong social connections. Cerys lives on Higher Barn Farm, where she and her family have transformed the land through permaculture design into a diverse and abundant agroforestry system. This includes a no-dig community market garden that not only supplies fresh produce to the Roadwater community but also offers education and hands-on experiences in ecological food systems and field-to-fork processes.

Beyond her architectural work, Cerys is the Co-Director of With the Wild CIC, a social enterprise rooted in the values of community resilience, environmental stewardship, and nurturing connections between people and nature. She also co-directs the Good Vibe Veg CSA project at Horner Farm, promoting sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty. This November, at the LandAlive Conference at the Bath and West Showground, Cerys will co-host a workshop on Community Supported Market Gardens, where she will share her experience and passion for regenerative, community-driven food systems.

Merrick has worked at all levels of the public sector including on the Board of Natural England. He is experienced in Urban Regeneration, Strategic Planning and Rural Land Management. He directed the Rural Pathfinder for the South East of England, was a member of the Government’s Cross Compliance Board and the Agri-Environment Working Group. He was President of the Landscape Institute between 2016-2018 He is the founding Trustee of the Learning Through Landscapes Trust. He can be contacted at mhdt@btinternet.com

Mark Drewell, co-founder of UK-based food system innovator, New Foundation Farms. New Foundation Farms focus on deep transformation in the food system that creates healthy people, healthy nature and healthy farm businesses and rural economies. In reimagining the food system as a solution to the ecological crisis, giving local, nutrient-dense resilient food for all at a delivered cost for citizens that is less than shopping at Lidl or Aldi they have built detailed financial models of the impact of different regenerative farming systems on farm enterprise profitability.

George became Chief Executive of the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) 27 years ago in January 1997, having worked at the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF) in Whitehall, London, and in the Country Landowners Association (CLA) headquarters.

George has represented the TFA on the Rock Review Tenancy Working Group and the Tenancy Reform Industry Group, since its formation, and was a member of Amaeth Cymru, the Welsh Government Strategic Framework Partnership Group for agriculture. He is a National Trust Specialist Volunteer on land-use and Governance issues, a Trustee of the Arthur Rank Centre and a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies.

In 2022, George was presented the Farmers Weekly Lifetime Achievement Award and at the 2023 British Farming Awards, the Outstanding Contribution to British Farming. He is also part of the leadership team of the Reading Elim Pentecostal church.

Ben Eagle is the founder of RuralPod Media, a podcast production agency specialising in farming and the rural sector. His podcasts include Meet the Farmers and Rural Business Focus podcast and he has also produced podcasts for the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs, the Forestry Commission, Kite Consulting, Cornish Mutual and others. Ben grew up on a family dairy farm in Essex and has since worked on farms across the UK and in the conservation sector. His work has been published by Farmers Weekly, Wicked Leeks, The Guardian, Earth Island Journal and The Countryman and he has worked on projects with Agricology, the National Trust, Bristol University and Essex Wildlife Trust, among others.

My regenerative shifts began when I moved onto a small narrowboat at age 16, my first independent home! Learning hands on the cultures and practice of Earth care and People Care, I began living the question of how my gifts, passions and responsibilities can intersect. Alongside 4 years studying social change, economics and sustainability, then a Masters in Regenerative Food, Farming and Enterprise, I have been on a parallel journey with land, growing and practical regeneration. Amongst other start-ups and projects, my core work has been establishing Middle Ground Growers CIC from a single seed, an idea, into a successful regenerative farm and 200-member veg box scheme, employing 7 people and training 3 new growers every year. Combining the practical skills to start and manage a farm (the Hands), with the understanding of economics, social change and psychology (the Head), and the lived experiences of movement building, governance, community and people care (the Heart).

A sixth-generation farmer with a first-generation spirit, George Ford, along with his family, runs Nempnett Pastures. This small family farm, nestled in North Somerset, prioritises ethical and sustainable practices. George boldly transitioned from intensive, indoor pig rearing for commodity markets to raising high-welfare beef and poultry sold directly to end consumers. Inspired by nature; Nempnett Pastures balances producing nutritious food with environmental stewardship. They showcase their dedication through open farms, farm tours, and farm feasts – all fuelled by George's passion to reconnect people with their food.

Edward is a farmer, landowner & environmental adviser farming 870 acres of arable on the chalk downlands north of Dorchester. The farm unwittingly took its first step towards “regenerative farming” in 2000 when it stopped ploughing. Edward describes himself as a wannabe regenerative farmer making lots of mistakes and finding the whole thing both exciting and daunting. He has been interested in direct drilling since university days and has now adopted this as the main method of crop establishment - and discovered it is only a small part of a much bigger picture.

Zoe is a fashion ecologist and tex­tile systems designer. Combining experience of the mainstream fashion industry with regenerative agriculture, she explores how livelihoods focusing on collaboration, ecology and bioregionalism can support placed-based fibre and textile economies. Her focus is on natural material production, connecting food with fibre and developing new forms of governance and enterprise that work fairly for people and the ecosystems in which we reside.

Zoe works on projects with both wool and bast fibres with South West England Fibreshed. She is also a member of transformative fashion collective, Fashion Act Now, who are trying to change how people engage with fashion both as a concept and in practical terms. She recently founded not-for-profit Liflad CIC and the Bast Fibre Network to support the development of small-scale flax and hemp production in the UK.

Tamara is a strategy and innovation leader in the areas of Climate, Nature, and Innovative Finance. She is an advocate for regenerative agriculture and food systems transition because so many of the answers to our poly crisis lie within nature itself, and soil as the basis of all life.
Tamara is a trustee of Sustainable Food Somerset and one of the co-founders of LandAlive conference. She is also a Senior Associate of The Good Economy, and a Strategy Partner at Soil Association Exchange (Exchange). Tamara recently authored a report called Banking for Change: Addressing Financial Risk as a Barrier to Transition, with Exchange, Green Finance Institute (GFI) and British Business Bank, which explores the financial risk as a barrier to agroecological transition for farmers. Tamara has co-founded two start-ups, has held a senior innovation role in UK government, and has worked with corporate clients, within impact investment, venture capital, and development finance, and the wider financial system, as a strategic consultant and advisor. She has worked in Africa, Europe, South Asia, the UK, and the US.

Alexander Godfrey is a seasoned professional in the field of natural capital, regenerative agriculture, and climate finance, with over 10 years of experience in investment banking and environmental consulting. He holds an MSc in Global Energy and Climate Policy from SOAS University and a Harvard Negotiation Training certification.

She qualified at Leeds University Medical School in 1982, and worked as a junior doctor in General Medicine, Surgery and A&E. Disillusioned with conventional medicine’s inability to heal sick people, and its failure to enquire about the causes of illness or to do preventive healthcare, she left. But, in the 1990s, she was lucky enough to discover the British Society for Ecological Medicine, a group of doctors and other practitioners who practise nutritional and environmental medicine. They were asking the same questions that had gone unanswered for her throughout medical school. And they were finding answers, helping their patients to attain dramatically better health through changes in diet and nutrition, and through detoxification. Jenny trained with the BSEM’s post-grad course, and qualified in Ecological Medicine, learning in depth about the nutritional and environmental factors that affect our physical and mental health, and passing this information on to her patients and students.

Having studied the environmental history of hundreds of patients, she is now deeply committed to explaining the bigger picture – that what we are doing on our farms and elsewhere on our planet profoundly affects the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe, and therefore affects the health of our bodies and minds. This could be summed up as a transition from Pharma to Farmer (Jenny does have a small allotment).

Jenny is the author of two books:

• “Staying Alive in Toxic Times: A Seasonal Guide to Lifelong Health”, published in Jan 2020 by the Yellow Kite imprint of Hodder & Stoughton. (Since this book’s publication she has been on numerous podcasts from around the world and is in high demand as an interviewee and a presenter of live talks and webinars.)

• “Getting Healthy in Toxic Times: An Ecological Doctor’s Prescription for Healing Your Body and the Planet”. Published in July 2024 by Chelsea Green. This book explains the role of environmental pollution in creating our current epidemics of chronic, degenerative diseases, all of which are preventable if we can clean up our act on Planet Earth.

Stephen is the third generation in his family farming in South Northamptonshire and started his journey into regenerative agriculture in 2000.
As one of the founder members of BASE-UK, Stephen joined because he wanted to meet with likeminded people who would give him the confidence to continue with changing his farming practices.
He now farms with his wife Rebecca, son David, and daughter-in-law Jess. They have re-introduced livestock into the arable system to enhance the soil even further by mob-grazing cattle and over-winter grazing of cover crops. They are using schemes to help pay for proper fencing of fields to ringfence the land.

Jess is on a quest for self-sufficiency. She grows almost all her own vegetables and keeps chickens, bees & ducks. She is even trying her hand at growing barley and hops and brewing beer this year! Motivated by the hugely positive impact gardening has had on her own life, Jess is on a mission to inspire & help others to get growing. In February 2023, Jess started @happy_smallholding with the aim of helping people to grow food. She places a strong emphasis on growing organically, showing people how to promote biodiversity on the veg patch to foster resilience and productivity. She shares the highs and lows of semi-self-sufficient smallholding life.

Ed manages a grassland family farm on the edge of the Mendips. The farm produces forage to sell and is on an agroecological journey guided by regenerative practices with a focus on how the farm can proactively combat climate change by holding water and carbon in the landscape and encouraging a thriving and biodiverse habitat. The farm also hosts creative workspaces, wild camping and has a gathering space for groups of people who want to reconnect with the natural world.

Andrea Gibbons brings years of experience in policy, strategy, community organising and economic development to her role as the Network Coordinator for Sustainable Food Places within the Soil Association. Currently also a consultant on the New Economy Organiser Network’s transformative organising training, she has also lectured in Geography and Social Policy at the London School of Economics and the University of Salford, and was co-lead of the Salford Anti-Poverty Task Force. She is a steering committee member of the Monmouthshire Food Partnership, and author of City of Segregation.

Caroline Grindrod is a pioneering regenerator with over 20 years of experience in applying regenerative principles to lifestyles, landscapes and businesses. She co-founded Primal Meats and Wilderculture CIC, and runs Roots of Nature LTD.

Roots of Nature LTD is a dynamic small regenerative business with a big impact dedicated to fostering a regenerative culture that acknowledges, supports, and values living systems. With a focus on driving change through communication, training, business strategy and creating influential networks. RON uses a regenerative design approach to help address societies complex challenges and work towards a more sustainable future. RON takes a 'whole system' strategic approach engaging at various levels of the food and farming industry to promote systemic change across the system.

This year, in collaboration with Clare Hill from Planton Farm, Caroline launched the Roots to Regeneration program. This year-long regenerative transition package for farmers and professionals represents a decade of research and development aimed at empowering key individuals in the food and agriculture sector to achieve systemic regeneration for people, place, and planet.

James' journey in support of nature recovery started in Australia where he grew up experiencing the excitement, freedom and tranquillity of the bushlands and coast which he then studied at the University of Queensland focussing on soils and water catchments. Having moved to England in 2000 James started working with farmers negotiating Countryside Stewardship agreements in Devon, Dorset and Somerset through the Rural Development Service that merged into Natural England in 2005. For the last seven years or so with Natural England he developed a farming and conservation strategy, was seconded to Defra to help create new environment schemes, worked with the lottery to develop the Green Recovery Challenge Fund and finally supported the national delivery of the England wide Nature Recovery Network.

Graham joined Farmers Weekly in the 1970s and went on to write for publications including the Daily Mail, New Scientist, and Private Eye. His books include The Killing of the Countryside, We Want Real Food, Grass-Fed Nation and now Underneath The Archers. He joined The Archers as scriptwriter in 1984 and has written more than 600 episodes. His stage plays include the musical No Finer Life, a one-woman show about regenerative farmer and best-selling author George Henderson. He is co-founder of the Oxford Real Farming Conference. A trustee with Sustainable Food Somerset, he is programme co-ordinator of the LandAlive conference.

Luke is a bio-hacking farmer and father of three, who has diversified his farming enterprises, with food and farming his greatest passion. Luke would like to help shape the future of agriculture, the way in which we think about climate change and how it interacts with farming, the way in which food is produced, processed, marketed, distributed and even eaten. Luke wants the next generation to look upon agriculture as an exciting profession that holds the key to our future health and happiness.

Roy works on the Hills to Levels project advising farmers and landowners on water management and water quality including design and location of Natural Flood Management (NFM) schemes to reduce localised flooding. Roy can also give advice about farm infrastructure and land management changes.

Rob is a sixth-generation farmer and professional ecologist farming in partnership with his girlfriend, Lizzie Hulton-Harrop. They use Holistic Management to inform their farming practice and as a result integrate planned grazing on the 1000+ acres of diverse pasture they graze with their Pedigree Angus herds.

Silas Hedley – Lawrence is a regenerative farmer, coach & consultant with a decade of experience in regenerative agriculture. Formerly farm manager at FAI Farms and English Farm, Silas has experience in both commercial and direct selling models. With ties to New Zealand through his family dairy farm and kiwi fruit orchards, he maintains an emphasis on lean, profitable farming systems that also deliver on increasing biodiversity and soil health gains. Find out more at grassfedfarmer.com.

Mark Helyar is Director of Theatre for Take Art. Based on a farm in South Somerset, Take Art is an arts organisation and charity that serves the predominantly rural population of the county.

One of the programmes we facilitate is Cultivate, a creative partnership that brings local food, arts and people together for the benefit of rural communities and the natural environment in South Somerset. We do this by delivering high-quality arts projects, performances, workshops and events that reconnect people to nature and the local food story, from farm to fork to festival. We work with local producers, farmers, artists, organisations and communities in, and around, Crewkerne, Chard Ilminster and South Petherton who share our passion for tasty, nutritious and affordable nature-friendly food.

Clare Hill runs Platon Farm, which supports livestock, a market garden, a food forest, and ‘Impeckable Chicken’, a project exploring ways to produce deeply regenerative poultry. She also co-founded Roots to Regeneration, an experiential regenerative agriculture training program aiming to facilitate a ‘whole system’ regenerative shift in food and farming.

Charlotte Hollins manages the Fordhall Community Land Initiative (charitable
community benefit society) which owns Fordhall Organic Farm, North Shropshire. Charlotte grew up at Fordhall and after leaving university, in 2006, she led the high-profile campaign working with many volunteers that saved Fordhall Organic Farm from industrial development, raising an amazing £800,000 in less than 6 months through the sale of £50 non-profit making community shares. Now England’s first community owned farm, Fordhall is a national asset and a pioneering example of what can be achieved when people care about the countryside and work collaboratively to safeguard it.

The Fordhall Community Land Initiative leases the farmland to tenant farmer, Ben Hollins
(Charlotte’s brother), who manages the livestock and farm shop on an organic and pasture-
fed livestock system. As the landowner, the Fordhall Community Land Initiative utilises the
land for community benefit through free farm access, events, volunteering opportunities, a
care farm, youth project, cafe, or educational visits. It employs 30 local people and is grateful
to the support of 100 volunteers annually.

The vision is to show that small-scale farming connected to the community can offer a viable
way of life for generations to come. The farms mission statement reads ‘We believe that by
restoring connections between hearts, minds and the soil, we will encourage and create
meaningful change, which helps build health and resilience within people and planet’.

Lara Honnor created Skool Beanz Children’s Gardening Club run from their very own No-Dig allotment in Chilthorne Domer near Yeovil in April 2021 after being inspired by Greta Thunberg and children around the world standing up for the planet in her Fridays For Futures movement. Lara had just finished a diploma in Social and Therapeutic Horticulture and had previously worked for Charles Dowding and wanted to recreate the magic of his beautiful market garden for children.

Now in its fourth year, Skool Beanz is thriving, teaching children aged 4 - 13 how to grow delicious veg, beautiful cut flowers and how to garden to help nature with plenty of upcycled art. The clubs run after school, at weekends and holidays. Lara’s dream is to have proper children’s gardens and gardening clubs all over the country and beyond.

Agroecological farmer, award-winning journalist and bestselling author Kate Hughes swapped Fleet Street for an Exmoor hill farm, drawing on her experience in environmental and science writing to spend the last three years working with husband David Brewer to convert their once conventionally farmed 450 acre farm into an agroecological site dedicated to soil health, biodiversity recovery, climate change mitigation, and the production of nutritionally valuable organic food.
Her job is trees - including creating a 75,000 tree strong broadleaf woodland and planting 150 acres of agroforestry across arable and pasture. Kate and her family are determined to prove that connected wildlife landscapes, 3D farming and the equal and full integration of environment, habitat and food production can deliver robust, profitable and responsible farming fit for the challenges of the 21st century and beyond.

Chris has been lucky enough to have had a very varied career. He served in the Rhodesian Police in the late 1970's, was awarded a degree in Forestry in Bangor in the 80's and then commenced running the family farm in 1990. BSE forced him to find a real job and he subsequently spent the period 1997 to 2008 as an oil field drilling fluids technician. Because of the periodic nature of the work the farm was kept in hand but converted to organic status in 2003, and then commenced carbon auditing in 2008, followed by becoming a pasture only livestock farm. A constant theme has been an interest in wildlife and conservation, the culmination of which has between the Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the farm to create the Cornwall Beaver Project, although there is much more to see on the farm other than beavers. Chris is an agro ecological farmer and sits firmly in the land sharing camp, while accepting rewilding on grade 5 land is a very good thing.

I advise farmers how to increase biodiversity, sustainability, soil health and profit margins.
I'm also a farm advisor with the Soil Association Exchange program helping many farmers lower their carbon footprint
A keen birdwatcher, environmentalist, and occasional mountain biker based in Dorset. In fact, my ornithological interest led to me being involved in skylark and lapwing surveys in rotational grazing regimes with positive outcomes.
Mentor for BGS and PFL Level, 3 in Teaching and Basis cert in Sustainable Land Management

Andy Johnson is a freelance organic farming & food business advisor, based in Devon. He has worked for 40 years in the industry, organic for 25 years at Riverford Farmers and running his own egg farm, and before that, working on and managing conventional dairy and horticultural businesses. His key areas of support for clients are with technical, sales, business modelling & strategy and marketing.
Andy has spent lots of the last 5 years working to localise the food markets in Devon & elsewhere, working as a director of:
• the Seed CIC, community wholefood shop in Buckfastleigh
• Crop Community Limited, developing a local food hub and retail markets for South Devon
Also, he is a trustee of campaigning food charity Food Exeter, and an active member of the Devon Food Partnership, part of Sustainable Food Places.

Annie farms at Ampney Brook Farm in the Cotswolds, a 600 acre mixed organic farm producing heritage & population grains and Pasture for Life certified grass-fed beef. Alongside this Annie trains farmers in how to use simple soil tests to visually assess soil health with Soilmentor and mentors farmers in regenerative farming practises with Pasture for Life.

Pauline Laurent is an agronomist at Lin et Chanvre Bio, a French association dedicated to advancing the organic flax value chain and creating a long fiber hemp value chain. The organization collaborates with farmers, European industries and brands to promote sustainable practices.

Rebecca has been combining practical work as an organic grower and farmer, with research, campaigning and planning support for over twenty years. As the Landworkers’ Alliance Horticulture Campaigns Co-ordinator, she is author of “Horticulture across Four Nations” (2024), which sets out a vision for stimulating a market garden renaissance to increase UK domestic vegetable supply, and is the facilitator of the Defra Horticulture ELMS Test and Trial, “Growing the Goods. She is also a founder member of the Agroecology Research Collaboration, which aims to bring the research needs of agroecological farmers, growers and foresters to the attention of academics and funders, and build research relationships based on equality and mutual respect.

Martin is an arable farmer and contractor in South Cambridgeshire, His special interest is in farm conservation management, and he currently runs ELS and HLS and Countryside Stewardship schemes on land he manages.

Martin is Chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network UK and looks to sharing best practices and demonstrating what can be accomplished for nature and the environment while producing great produce. With the demands of climate change, reaching Net Zero is even more important and Martin wants to champion how this can be achieved through nature friendly farming whilst supporting and help to maintain profitable farming businesses.

Adam has worked in farming and conservation for 25 years and has a passion for farming systems that provide healthy food and landscapes for people and nature. He is Chief Executive of the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group South West and Founder of Wellington Community Food. He started his conservation career as a volunteer with the RSPB in 2000 and joined FWAG in 2006. Alongside a career as a farm adviser working across the Somerset Levels and Moors and Exmoor he has experience managing dairy goats, Exmoor Horn sheep, and in 2021 helped to found Wellington Community Food a community owned market garden now in it’s second year of growing.

Becky's background is as a social worker in adult and children's services and she came to Green and Healthy Frome with an interest in health and inclusion. Becky is on a journey of discovery about the interplay between the health of people and the health of the planet and what that means for our local citizens and for wider communities. She is passionate about food provenance and interested in equitable and affordable access to nutritious, local food.

Philip Lymbery is Global Chief Executive of the international farmed animal welfare environmental organisation, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF). He is visiting Professor at the University of Winchester in the UK, President of the Brussels-based umbrella body of nearly 100 leading animal welfare societies in Europe, Eurogroup for Animals, and is a founding Board member of the World Federation for Animals (WFA), a global membership organisation to represent the animal protection movement at intergovernmental level.

Philip is also a Leadership Fellow of St George’s House, Windsor Castle and Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.

He was appointed UN ambassadorial ‘Champion’ for the 2021 Food Systems Summit in New York and was appointed co-lead of the Summit’s Sustainable Livestock Solutions Cluster.

Philip is an animal advocate, naturalist, photographer, and author. He regularly writes and speaks internationally on animal ethics and the global effects of industrial agriculture (factory farming), including its impact on animal welfare, wildlife, soil and natural resources, biodiversity and climate change.

His most recent books include Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat (Bloomsbury, 2014), Dead Zone: Where the Wild Things Were (Bloomsbury, 2017), and Sixty Harvests Left: How to Reach a Nature-friendly Future (Bloomsbury, 2022).

Cultivated Meat to Secure Our Future (Lantern 2023) co-edited with Michel Vandenbosch

Tim Martin is the co-founder of Farm Wilder, a social enterprise that markets meat from farms with exceptional wildlife, and supports farmers in working more regeneratively and restoring biodiversity. Farm Wilder sells online, to butchers, and to restaurants across the South West and London.

Tim is also a freelance film producer, making films about wildlife friendly farming for Farm Wilder and its partners, as well as executive producing international wildlife films, previously for the BBC Natural History Unit and most recently for Netflix, with the Emmy award-winning series Island of the Sea Wolves

I feel this is a fantastic time to be a farmer, miller or baker. There has never been more interest in what we do, and I am truly fortunate to be a part of this journey. The level of experimentation, with a diversity of grains that enhance taste and nutrition, is incredible. There has never been more choice. Inspiration is everywhere in all parts of our food system. Food lovers today can explore and trace their food from source, right up to being live streamed coming out of the oven on Instagram! The next five years are going to be a real turning point for our food system. Here at Matthews, we aim to move to a majority Regenerative sourcing system. This will take time, science, commitment, and great partners - but we will get there. I am excited by the road ahead and, to use a milling analogy, we will keep our “head to the grindstone”.

Leona has more than 20 years experience working in commercial roles in FMCG. Now part of the First Milk team, she heads up the Golden Hooves and BV Dairy Commercial teams whilst also leading on consumer messaging across the wider First Milk Group. She has a true belief that food systems can, and should, be impacted positively by consumer demand something that is more important now than it has ever been. She is passionate, and protective, about the regenerative agricultural movement and excited about the opportunity for everyone to be able to eat regeneratively every day.

Marianne McHugh is the Agricultural Contracts Manager for Business Information Point, responsible for co-ordinating delivery of several farm business-focused projects across the SW. Chief among these is the Future Farming Resilience project which is supporting 2600 farmers through the agricultural transition period, across Somerset, Dorset, Cornwall and Devon. Marianne has previously worked in education, including as a Science teacher and Assistant Headteacher, but her background is in environmental research and land management, particularly in soil and water resource protection thanks to her PhD in soil erosion. Marianne is FACTS qualified and has also worked as a farm advisor in Devon.

Paul McMahon is a co-founder and Managing Partner of SLM Partners, an asset management firm that uses investment capital to scale up regenerative farming and forestry. Founded in London in 2009, SLM Partners is a pioneer of investing in natural capital. It invests in organic farming in the USA, forestry and orchard crops in Europe, and mixed farming and carbon projects in Australia. Overall, the firm has $650 million in assets under management and has partnered with more than 35 farmers and foresters. Paul leads the development of new strategies and sits on the Investment Committees of its funds and separate accounts.

Previously, Paul was Vice-President at Climate Change Capital Ltd and an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company. He has worked as an advisor on food security to non-profits and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. He has published two books and numerous papers on sustainable food and forestry, championing the investment case for regenerative agriculture for more than a decade. Originally from Ireland, he holds a PhD from Cambridge University and a BA from University College Dublin.

Luke created The Carbon Farm in 2019 to bring hemp to mainstream agriculture by introduction as a break crop and showcasing regenerative principles for farmers to imitate, to improve their soils’ health. His reasons are based solely on climate change mitigation and how mass cultivation of industrial hemp will sequester carbon back into our soils whilst the raw material can help bring an end to deforestation and provide industry with a much needed sustainable material choice for our future generations.

Tom Mitchell and his wife Karolina have a 320 cow spring-calving dairy on a Duchy of Cornwall tenancy on the Wilts/Dorset border. The whole farm is in Mid-tier and SFI schemes. No ploughing and minimal glyphosate are used. The farm has evolved into a regenerative and a low input system.
Heifers have been out-wintered on a neighbouring arable farm (chalk) since 2018. Some of this land has now been entered into herbal leys for grazing and silage (SAM3).

In 2020, Tom and Karolina have entered into a joint venture with a large arable estate 20 miles away. All 'non-dairy replacement' calves (mainly Hereford and AA cross) move there at about 4 weeks old and are reared outside from then on, integrated into the arable rotation. The cattle are mob-grazing river meadows/GS4 herbal leys and some down-land. They are then out-wintered on cover crops and/or bale grazing on pasture. A small suckler herd is kept predominantly for SSSI land etc. Anthelmintic use is minimised via regular faecal egg count monitoring. On average, there is between 550-700 head of cattle there. The daily management relies almost entirely on miles of mobile electric fencing, temporary water solutions, a 4x4 and an extremely competent stock-woman. There is very little other equipment or infrastructure.
The whole estate is very 'regenerative' with 100% direct drilling for a number of years, cover-cropping prior to all spring cropping, bi-cropping and multiple conservation projects.

Sally Morgan is an experienced organic, no-dig gardener, who loves to experiment and trial new plants, especially edible ones. With a background in botany and ecology, she has always gardened naturally and is passionate about creating a growing space that it not just healthy and productive, but is rich in biodiversity. She has travelled widely, both in the UK and further afield, seeking out ideas and inspiration that can be incorporated into her own walled garden. She is the author of several books on resilient gardening and the former editor of Organic Farming magazine for the Soil Association.

Andrew Neal’s research is focused on understanding the integrated behaviour of plant-microbe-soil systems, with the objective of developing a theory of soil as an extended composite phenotype. His research places organic carbon at the heart of soil, noting that “despite carbon’s critical role, the mechanisms underlying carbon dynamics and the link to soil water and nutrient availability are poorly understood.” “The concept of soil is still a source of contention, with society struggling to grasp its complexity and the effective management of such a multifaceted system. Modern techniques, such as shotgun metagenomics and X-ray computed tomography, are being employed in conjunction with the extended phenotype concept developed by Dawkins, the emerging processual view of biology and critical systems theory.

This is enabling a radical shift in the way soil is perceived.” Neal is a regular public speaker and his work has been featured on BBC Radio 4’s Inside Science, at New Scientist Live events and podcasts, as well as at the Parliamentary ERFA committee. He maintains an international portfolio of research, collaborating with colleagues in Australia, China, India and Uruguay.

Lucy Noad qualified as a vet from the Royal Veterinary College in 2010. She enjoyed an early career in dairy consultancy with a particular interest in animal health and welfare and knowledge transfer to farmers.
Running Woodhouse Farm in Wiltshire with her husband Robert, Lucy moved to working on the farm full time. She has spent the last decade milking, together with planning and managing the farm’s infrastructure investments and the herd expansion to 200 cows plus a switch to autumn block calving.
Lucy now spends her time immersed in all things regenerative. She works closely with First Milk and the Naturally Better Dairy Group to farm the best way she can to regenerate the planet, also engaging with other farmers and the wider industry to both learn and show how dairy can be a force for good in the climate crisis.
And she says she’s never been happier!

James and his wife Henrietta have spent the last 38 years addressing the breakdown of rural and urban communities across the developing world, and in the UK, in very practical ways and always at a grassroots level. They took on a farm in Somerset for 18 years, teaching new farmers by getting them to run one of several traditional organic farming businesses for two years and then to go and take their skills elsewhere. They formed a rolling, village-like community there, providing a sense of belonging, which addressed the issues of the loneliness and isolation so prevalent amongst farmers today.

Rich has more than 25 years of leadership experience, formerly a Commercial Director at Procter & Gamble and, since 2013, at Equilibrium Markets (EM).
Over the past decade he has delivered strategic innovation in the food supply chain via multi-award winning Agile Chain technology and his CEO role at Emfood Consulting Ltd, providing tech and expertise to private and public sector organisations seeking to adopt more short food supply chains for financial, operational, environmental, social and economic benefit.
Rich co-founded the Dynamic Food Procurement Advisory Board in 2018 which brings stakeholders together from catering and farming associations and government departments and agencies with an aim to create sustainable SME producer access to public sector food and drink contracts.
Rich’s continued work and education of others into Dynamic Food Procurement led to recognition in the 2021 National Food Strategy and more recently by an independent inquiry into Public Sector food procurement in 2022 and a further independent government commissioned review in 2024.
Since 2022, Rich’s tech and consultancy partnership with Entegra, the Group Purchasing Organisation of Sodexo, resulted in the award of the Crown Commercial Service Buying Better Food & Drink public sector procurement framework management. This framework, launched in November 2024, enables a convenient and flexible route to market for public sector caterers via greater SME producer inclusivity, farm to fork sustainability and unprecedented supply chain transparency.
Rich speaks regularly about the role of short food supply chains and inclusion for SME producers in establishing a thriving, equitable and resilient food system.

Tim Parton is a world renowned regenerative farmer, speaking around the globe.
Tim Farms using biology and nutrition to replace synthetic inputs. He does not use Fungicides, Insecticides, growth regulators and very few herbicides. Cutting Nitrogen back to as low as 78kg/ha while still maintaining high yields. Balance is everything in growing Nutrient rich food.
Tim is also a director of the Green Farm Collective, a group selling carbon, natural capital and certified regenerative produce.
We are what we eat.

I’m a farmer reimagining my practices and place within our food system. I’m an advocate for agroecology. Why should we ‘turn here for nature, continue straight for everything else’? I love the productivity found between binaries, from which a more beautiful, complex and diverse food system emerges. A human scale system in which trust, relationships and community are the currency

A life-long environmentalist with a background in media and politics, most recently Environment and Nature Restoration Minister (2019-2024) where she steered the Environment Act through the UK Parliament, the largest legislation in two decades. A pioneer in her earlier media career, she was the first UK TV Environment Correspondent and a presenter of the first organic gardening series. With an environmental science degree, Rebecca comes from a long line of Somerset farmers – dating back to the 1500’s. She has worked in the field for the NFU, in rural research and ran her own PR and comms company. She has a special interest in gardening, growing and nature – where she uses her garden as a canvas.
She counts amongst her greatest achievements being instrumental in achieving the ban on plastic microbeads in washoff care and cosmetic products and in achieving extra protection for ancient woodland as well as setting up the Sustainable Soil Alliance.
Rebecca was awarded a Green Heart Hero Award form the Climate Coalition for her contribution to the environment and work on ancient woodland. And she is in the END report POWER LIST 2024 as one of the top 50 political change makers who have made the greatest contribution to green causes of the past 2 years.

Sue is the Chief Executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. Sue leads the organisation in its mission to bring people together to act on the climate, nature and health crises, through fairer and more sustainable food systems, and a just transition for rural communities and the countryside.

Sue’s background is in combined research and practice in leadership and organisation development for systems change, working with leaders across public, private and not for profit organisations, especially on complex partnership projects.

She is a Trustee of CoFarm Foundation and is an independent Governor at Royal Agricultural University. Living on an organic farm in Wales, Sue and her family raise livestock and farm for conservation.

Holly was brought up on a small organic dairy farm in Somerset, that foundation allowed the ethos of working in partnership with land and nature shape the foundations of career choices.
Holly has worked for Somerset Wildlife trust and The National Trust before returning to Farming as a tenant farmer. She farms 200 acres of permanent pasture and herbal lays with cattle, sheep, goats and chickens. She sits as a Trustee for Somerset Wildlife Trust and Vice Chair for England for the Nature Friendly Farming Network.
The farm has developed over the past five years to create a farming model that is aiming to be resilient to future climate change, with planting of wood pasture, silvopasture, water retention work and restoration of grasslands. The farm is driven to reverse biodiversity decline that has happened and is engaged in HLS and SFI.
The farm produce meats for their farm shop and seasonal food events, alongside partnership working with Good Vibe Veg, a CSA veg scheme now based on the farm.
Holly also delivers on farm education sessions for local schools and community groups to encourage a greater involvement and understanding in our landscapes for all.

Ben has worked in the commercial growing world for nearly 30 years and has a wide range of practical horticultural experience, starting his career growing vegetables for chefs, box schemes and farm shops. He now focuses mainly on integrating trees into farming systems.

He is Head of Agroforestry for the Soil Association and keeps his hand in on the field implementing a pioneering agroforestry system on a 1500 acre farm in Wiltshire.
He also works as an independent advisor, trainer and author, writing books for children and grownups, including most recently “Silvohorticuture”, “The woodchip handbook” and “Plant a tree – retree the world”

Ian has a lifelong involvement in all things soil, growing up on an organic farm, working in various roles helping farmers understand their soils. His present role is General Manager of Sustainable Soil Management. Over the last 20 years Ian has developed the most detailed soil test, which is widely used throughout the UK and Europe, allowing farmers a greater understanding of how best to manage their soil. Ian delivers soil presentations that are practical and engaging. Ian works across all sectors of agriculture building long term relationships between himself, the farmer and their soil.

Abby Rose is a farmer and soil health advocate, the co-founder of Vidacycle: making apps that support farmers to take a more regenerative approach to farming, including the Soilmentor Regen Platform in partnership with Nicole Masters. Abby is also co-creator of Farmerama Radio: an award-winning podcast sharing the voices behind regenerative farming. Based in the UK, Abby splits her time between working on her family farm, Vidacycle Farm, in Chile, and visiting farms on multiple continents learning from soils and understanding what it takes to build a more ecological farming future.

Dr. Rebecca Sandover is a Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Exeter. She is a social scientist with research interests in Sustainable Food Networks, food policy partnerships and Public Participation in Climate Change policy making. Using a knowledge co-production approach, she has in recent years been investigating action toward the formation of sustainable food networks in the South West UK. Her research is particularly focused on building local food partnerships with local authorities, boosting access to sustainable local food, addressing food insecurity and issues of health and wellbeing. She is on the steering group of The Devon Food Partnership and Devon Food Insecurity Hub. Recently, she has also been researching Public Participation in Climate Change policy making, exploring the setting up and running of the Devon Climate Emergency’s Climate Assembly.

Ian is a long-standing member of Food Plymouth, the City’s recognised and pioneering Sustainable Food Places partnership. Serving on the partnership’s core enabling team and as a director of the Community Interest Company (CIC) which provides its infrastructure support, Ian is active in many aspects of Food Plymouth’s work. This includes a strategic support and development role in Plymouth’s three-pronged approach to household food security. Ian is also community research manager in the UKRI funded FoodSEqual (Food Systems Equality) Project’s Plymouth team, with the University of Plymouth. Additionally, Ian serves on the Devon Food Partnership’s steering group and its food insecurity sub-group and also acts as an advisor to the Torbay Food Partnership.

Gemma is a Land Agent and Chartered Surveyor with a wealth of experience in the rural sector. For a number of years, she has helped farmers and land owners with business advice and assistance with seeking grants. Gemma also has experience in the events, rural tourism and business membership organisations sectors, alongside first hand experience of running a business, making her well placed to provide support to many rural businesses. ​

Hugh is a freelance food journalist and writer covering producers, farming, food sustainability, pubs, the restaurant industry, lifestyle, travel, and street food, but also food and beer more generally. Hugh has a background in food and farming journalism, he founded Frome Food Network in 2021 and is co-ordinator of Frome's monthly farmers' markets.

Based in Cornwall, Tom is an organic farmer and has worked as a livestock nutrition consultant for over 25 years. He farms around 600 acres with his wife, Nicola, where they put regenerative and biological farming into practice, running an Angus suckler herd and growing organic oats, barley and fodder beet.

Tom’s view of regenerative farming changed fundamentally in 2017 after working in The States with the ‘father of biological farming’, Gary Zimmer of MidWestern Bioag.

Passionate about the wide-ranging benefits of good grazing management, diverse cropping and soil health, Tom believes regenerative farming practices offer a win-win when it comes to farm profitability, public ecosystem services and the wider environment.

Heloise is a small scale mixed organic farmer, with a particular interest in genetics as a tool for resilience and adaptability. Alongside her farming, she works for the Black Mountains College and co-ordinates a farm cluster; focusing on strategies and tactics to support a transition towards socially equitable and ecologically sound local food systems.

Managing grazing livestock to build biodiversity naturally. Retrained in Holistic Management to produce food, fibre and fuel from Fernhill Farm and surrounding solar parks, conservation areas, arable and dairy farms. Chairman of Mendip Hills National Landscape partnership and FIPL panels, redefining the role of livestock within our eco-systems, together with a passion timely wool harvesting.

Ian Wilkinson co-founded FarmED in 2013 and is the owner and Director of Cotswold Seeds Ltd. Ian is passionate about sharing knowledge of regenerative farming methods to capture carbon and improve the fertility of our soils. He is an advocate of mixed farming systems and especially those that incorporate diverse grass leys as part of their crop rotation.

Ian conceived FarmED, a not-for-profit demonstration farm centre in the Cotswolds, to be at the heart of local, regional and global agroecological transition. Last year, FarmED won the prestigious Ashden Award for Future Farmers, among other local and national awards. Since FarmED’s official launch in 2021, by King Charles, then HRH Prince of Wales, Ian and his team have welcomed over 25,000 visitors per year, who have included thought leaders and policy makers, scientists, academics, food industry, land agents, advisors, farmers and growers and the local community.

By championing farmers, leading inspiring farm walks and providing courses and events in a neutral space for debate, Ian works passionately to highlight how we can regenerate farming and food systems that nourish people and how we can do this within the limits of natural resources.

Tim has over 20 years experience within farming and associated systems – dairy, arable, deer, sheep & beef; both growing and processing; conventional and organic; large scale and small. This mass of experience has allowed the development of a wide range of experiential and theoretical knowledge, a key strength being his deep understanding of regenerative and low-input farming practices that work closely with natural systems and place soil health at the core. More recently he has completed the Nicole Masters CREATE program, a 9 month long deep dive into agroecological and regenerative farming systems. Since completion of the program Tim works within an advisory capacity through his organisation Earth Farmers, working with farmers on a context specific approach to transitioning their farming systems.

Previously a Vet in the UK and Canada, Lucy is now an award-winning Nutritionist with a MSc in Nutrition from King's College London. With over 30 years of experience in health, food and farming, she’s part of a passionate community of health professionals and food producers, learning from natural ecosystems, to make better health a reality. Previously a lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics, Lucy is also founder of The Gut Project, communicating on the power of real food and its provenance to restore health and wellbeing via our microbiome. Ambassador for Love British Food and delivering Nutrition training for Health Practitioners, Lucy lives on the edge of the Chiltern Hills with her RAF husband, two teenagers and Ruarie the border terrier. To find out more about Lucy's 'Gut Project' work reconnecting our health to biodiversity: https://lwnutrition.co.uk/ For allied Health Practitioners: https://shorturl.at/7TjWx For helpful food and health guides: https://lwnutrition.co.uk/guthealthguide

Sarah is a ‘steward’ farmer on the Ecological Land Cooperative (ELC) 20-acre site at Wyvern Fields, Sparkford, Somerset.

She is a partner/owner of Cider Apple Trees, a specialist apple tree nursery that is growing and saving heritage, traditional south-west apple trees for cider, eating, cooking and juicing.

Sarah is a member of the Cider and Orchards Committee for the Royal Bath and West Agricultural Show. She is always happy to represent the ELC as an example of the need for access to land for smallholders and land-based businesses.

Nikki is Head of Research at Pasture for Life, and a first-generation farmer based in NE Scotland, where she co-runs Grampian Graziers – working with local landowners to graze cattle for ecological and biodiversity benefit, whilst selling 100% pasture and tree-fed beef to the local community.
Nikki is currently undertaking a PhD in Agroecological Transitions and has interests in Holistic Management, agroforestry, and connecting folk with their food.