Calendar

Intercropping offers the potential for more efficient resource utilisation, reducing pest and disease pressure and better competition with weeds. Members of the Innovative Farmers Field Lab on Intercropping in Arable systems have been experimenting with a range of intercropping and companion cropped mixtures on their farms.

David Casebow, at Sonning Farm (Crops Research Unit of Reading University), will take us on a ‘virtual farm tour’ of the trials at Sonning and share some insights from previous years. See a taster of David’s trials from last year here. Other farmers and researchers in the group will also share their experiences from on farm trials including Nuffield Scholar Andy Howard (Bockhanger Farms).

As a virtual alternative to the Field Lab meeting there will be an opportunity for all to share their own experiences, practical insights and questions in an informal discussion.

Necessarily postponed until 2021, COP26 will now be the first meeting of the world’s climate leaders in the wake of COVID-19. We will be seeking a pathway to recovery from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. COP26 will now be a vital arena in which to demand that this recovery, as yet to be imagined, be both a green recovery, and crucially a just recovery, that tackles the scourge of global inequality at the root, while reducing carbon emissions. As we’re now discovering so vividly, our futures are deeply interconnected; whether we acknowledge that or not, there is no path to ecological balance that doesn’t start by putting the goals of social and economic justice front and centre.

Now is not the time to stop talking about climate change.

In this webinar we will hear from activist from around the world to deepen our understanding of the connections between climate, the coronavirus and inequality, and explore how our response to these crisis can be anchored in justice and internationalism.

Speakers include:

– Jesús Vásquez Negrón, La Via Campesina

– Rhoda Boateng, Africa Regional Organization of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa)

– Lidy Nacpil – Coordinator of Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development, Philippines

A webinar for farmers and advisers with lessons from New Zealand.

A group of farmers in Norfolk have teamed up with researchers to investigate whether it’s possible for lucerne to provide extended grazing for sheep in the UK. Join us for an online discussion of this farmer-led research. David Cross, farms a dry mixed farm in North Norfolk and started the trial as he was looking for ways to provide reliable forage during the summer. As well as drought tolerance, there are a host of other potential benefits to growing lucerne from soil health to input reduction and increased lamb growth rates.

Join David, as he talks through what he learned from his time in New Zealand and how he intends to bring these lessons to the UK.

The Landworkers’ Alliance, CSA Network and Organic Growers’ Alliance bring you a webinar which explores setting up online ordering systems.

In these strange COVID-19 times, the importance of having a way to sell your produce online is even more important than before. However, it is a bit of a minefield out there and can greatly depend on whether you consider yourself tech-savvy or a digital luddite.

This webinar brings you thoughts from farmer’s and retailers who have done all of this before. What did they opt for, did it work out and what would they advise someone setting out to do?

The pandemic has increased the number of people struggling to access food. At the same time, many more people have become involved in providing emergency food services. So how do we ensure this work promotes dignity for those needing support?

To answer this question we have been working with staff and volunteers from community food initiatives across Scotland to design a workshop that will enable you to enhance dignity in your practice. Whether you are a new or experienced organiser or volunteer working in emergency food provision responses, this workshop will provide an interactive and engaging opportunity to reconsider how we may best adapt our practices to ensure dignity is at the centre of our work.

Join us in this online workshop to:

• hear about good practice examples in Scotland;
• learn practical tips and strategies;
• reflect on your own work;
• continue co-constructing an understanding of how dignity can be put in practice during this crisis.

To register please click on the Eventbrite link. We expect to continue running these throughout June and will update our calendar as soon as possible.

Please note that due to the participatory nature of the workshop you will require a computer in order to join.

Multispecies leys combine complementary grass, legume and herb species. A more diverse sward can provide greater resilience to climate extremes, benefits for animal health, soil quality and biodiversity. Learning about multispecies leys is a work in progress and this two part series will provide opportunity to share the latest findings and practical experiences. Join farmers, advisors and researchers in the virtual field to share ideas and experiences. Join one or both!

This third #FoodTalks of 2020 will explore how we can zoom out to address the multiple and intersecting climate, nature, obesity and democracy emergencies, and ensure they are not just firmly on the radar of politicians, businesses and food citizens, but are being addressed with the urgency they merit. As important as COVID-19 is, we must not let it push aside other critical issues. We will also discuss how many of these issues often have similar root causes and require unified efforts.

The pandemic has increased the number of people struggling to access food. At the same time, many more people have become involved in providing emergency food services. So how do we ensure this work promotes dignity for those needing support?

To answer this question we have been working with staff and volunteers from community food initiatives across Scotland to design a workshop that will enable you to enhance dignity in your practice. Whether you are a new or experienced organiser or volunteer working in emergency food provision responses, this workshop will provide an interactive and engaging opportunity to reconsider how we may best adapt our practices to ensure dignity is at the centre of our work.

Join us in this online workshop to:

• hear about good practice examples in Scotland;
• learn practical tips and strategies;
• reflect on your own work;
• continue co-constructing an understanding of how dignity can be put in practice during this crisis.

Please note that due to the participatory nature of the workshop you will require a computer in order to join.

The pandemic has increased the number of people struggling to access food. At the same time, many more people have become involved in providing emergency food services. So how do we ensure this work promotes dignity for those needing support?

To answer this question we have been working with staff and volunteers from community food initiatives across Scotland to design a workshop that will enable you to enhance dignity in your practice. Whether you are a new or experienced organiser or volunteer working in emergency food provision responses, this workshop will provide an interactive and engaging opportunity to reconsider how we may best adapt our practices to ensure dignity is at the centre of our work.

Join us in this online workshop to:

• hear about good practice examples in Scotland;
• learn practical tips and strategies;
• reflect on your own work;
• continue co-constructing an understanding of how dignity can be put in practice during this crisis.

Please note that due to the participatory nature of the workshop you will require a computer in order to join.

To register please click on the Eventbrite link. We expect to continue running these through June, the available dates will be updated as soon as possible.

The pandemic has increased the number of people struggling to access food. At the same time, many more people have become involved in providing emergency food services. So how do we ensure this work promotes dignity for those needing support?

To answer this question we have been working with staff and volunteers from community food initiatives across Scotland to design a workshop that will enable you to enhance dignity in your practice. Whether you are a new or experienced organiser or volunteer working in emergency food provision responses, this workshop will provide an interactive and engaging opportunity to reconsider how we may best adapt our practices to ensure dignity is at the centre of our work.

Join us in this online workshop to:

• hear about good practice examples in Scotland;
• learn practical tips and strategies;
• reflect on your own work;
• continue co-constructing an understanding of how dignity can be put in practice during this crisis.

Please note that due to the participatory nature of the workshop you will require a computer in order to join.

To register please click on the Eventbrite link. We expect to continue running these through June, the available dates will be updated as soon as possible.