Wicked Leeks - Climate Special - Issue 8

ISSUE 8 | AUTUMN 2021

SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND ETHICAL BUSINESS

People power What the worker shortages mean for sustainable food.

Climate special

- Special reports from COP26 - Communities come together - Living for a new era

BETH THOREN,

Director of environmental action at

PATAGONIA on people, climate and nature

Plus: What next for palm oil | Sustainable Christmas | Mushroom magic

NEWS

Welcome

Wicked Leeks magazine is published by Riverford Organic Farmers.

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T

his issue, which goes to press as world leaders meet in Glasgow to discuss possibly the last chance to avert climate catastrophe, unsurprisingly has a theme of climate.

And whatever was, or wasn’t, agreed during these talks, there is an undeniable feeling of momentum that we have tried to capture in these pages. Whether it’s Guy Singh-Watson’s new-found belief that taxing fossil fuels is the one clear call we can all get behind to scale up a green transition (pages 6-7), or the inspiring story of one community coming together to tackle transport, energy, and biodiversity loss, along with regular advocacy with local MPs (page 9).

While we do need the big changes to happen, a lifestyle shift is not to be underrated.

And perhaps what is most appealing in changing to a lower-impact life is the growing body of research showing how these changes (whether it’s avoiding the stressful and expensive consumer

cycle or exploring how to eat seasonally) have tangible benefits for happiness. You can read more about these approaches on page 10, and in our lifestyle section, dedicated to living for a new era (pages 30-33).

There is also a neat link between wellbeing, fulfilment, and happiness with our other focus in this issue: people. Worker shortages might sound like a depersonalised supply chain story, but actually there is a chance to reshape our food system with people at the heart (pages 22-24). People are also at the heart of campaigning by activist brand Patagonia, as explained by our cover star and the company’s director of environmental action, Beth Thoren, whose clear-headed words on why and how she faces the climate and nature crises head on are a hugely inspiring read.

Nina Pullman Editor, Wicked Leeks @nina_pullman

CONTENTS & CONTRIBUTORS / ISSUE 7 NEWS / 3 - 5

12

Patagonia’s plan to save the planet

OPINION / 6 - 11

FEATURES / 12 - 29

LIFESTYLE / 30 - 39

Campaigner and writer Vicki Hird on how we can eat and farm to protect vital insect life and biodiversity. P8-9.

Journalist Anna Turns asks what next for palm oil after a ban on new plantations in Indonesia expires. P28-29.

NEWS

NEWS

Left: Veg box schemes and food hubs bring farmers closer to the end consumer.

Most farmers ‘would prefer not to supply supermarkets’ By Nina Pullman

M

ost farmers would prefer not to supply supermarkets, and see better opportunities for their own livelihoods, protecting nature, and connecting with their local communities elsewhere, a new survey has found.

A poll by sustainable food alliance Sustain of 500 farmers across England and Wales found 86 per cent were currently supplying a supermarket or a large food processor, but only five per cent would ‘prefer’ to continue doing so.

In a representative sample of small to medium farms, including arable, livestock, dairy, horticulture and mixed, the survey found the top three preferred places to supply food were a food hub (55 per cent), direct sales, such as through a veg box scheme (36 per cent), and the eating out

sector (29 per cent). The reasons cited for why farmers preferred these options were a better price, business stability, more control, direct links to customer, and supporting climate and nature ambitions.

The report also highlighted case studies of supply chains that are working well for farmers, such as the Helston Local Food Hub in Cornwall, which works with 30 Cornish food producers and where 80 per cent of each £1 spent by the consumer goes back to the farm. Another example showed how Manchester-based Organic North, part of the Better Food Traders network, can keep its prices affordable while paying staff and producers fairly because they are a co-op without shareholder pressure.

“We would like to see all our produce being sold to local consumers who would

be able to better appreciate its provenance as a result of seeing the system in operation on some of their favourite countryside walks,” one farmer respondent wrote.

Half of those asked said lack of access to affordable finance meant they couldn’t switch markets, alongside lack of time to research, plus no local customer base.

Sustain said the new data provides a “valuable picture of how and why farmers want to access better and fairer supply chains”. The survey also highlighted the need for local infrastructure like veg box schemes, auctions and markets, and social networks, to allow this transition to happen.

Currently, infrastructure like grading, storage, packaging, distribution and trading of food is highly centralised, large-scale, and suited to complex and long-distance supply chains.

“In a general sense, the results reveal that farmers want to shift away from the dominance and reliance of supplying supermarkets and large manufacturers, and instead, have a much greater diversity of market outlets like food hubs, box schemes, and independent retailers which they can access,” Sustain said.

“The data also provides insight into why farmers want to make those changes.

This includes fairer pay and more direct relationships with customers, as well as being rewarded for environmentally friendly farming, and building more resilient businesses.”

Ethical Christmas Gift Guide The annual Wicked Leeks Ethical Christmas Gift Guide is coming soon, for low plastic, low carbon, and ethically sourced gifts that don’t cost the Earth.

Go to wickedleeks.com and search Christmas Out 26 November Wicked Leeks. The only magazine combining the joy of food with ethical business.

ISSUE 8 | WICKED LEEKS 3

Join the conversation at wickedleeks.com

STAR LETTER

The whole climate crisis debate is about common sense versus big money/big business. We need, all of us ordinary folk, to make our voices heard in peaceful but assertive protest.

We must make this work and do what we need to do now.

Suzanne Rosemary.

Most read

WATCH

THE WICKED LEEKS COMMUNITY

culture & comments

NEWS / CLIMATE SPECIAL

on wickedleeks.com:

The latest Wicked Leeks film investigates hemp, the miracle green crop.

Scan to watch

1 Using your veg box: Ottolenghi-style 2 Best recipes for early autumn 3 Grapes top list of pesticide residues 4 Sustainable farmer faces housing threat

Oct @herdyshepherd1 | 30 reform It is time for land similar ith W . nd in Engla otland Sc in as s re su mea buy to s for communitie by ld he is land that s/large large landowner organisations.

@CarolineLucas | 27 Oct Yes, you heard that right - @RishiSunak is making flights cheaper.

Good thing there’s no #ClimateEmergency

start would A good place to s. be with common

DIARY Nov 19-21. New Networks for Nature, Bath. Singer David Gray is the keynote speaker at this meeting of poets, authors, scientists and environmentalists.

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Jan 5-7. The Oxford Real Farming conference, Oxford. The alternative food and farming scene comes together.

Food on the menu at COP26

By Louise Gray in Glasgow

I

have covered seven UN climate talks and they all start the same: with long queues, angry protests, and ‘scenes of chaos’ as the host city struggles to cope with 30,000 delegates. This year in Scotland it was no different.

World leaders zoomed down litter-strewn streets in blacked out cars to make ambitious pronouncements on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

US President Joe Biden vowed to “lead by example” by spending hundreds of billions on clean energy. Spurred on by competition with its fellow superpower, China promised to also invest in renewables, and our Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK will reach net zero by 2050.

Unfortunately, scientists agree it will take a lot more than warm words to make emissions fall enough to guarantee temperature rises stay in the safe limit of 1.5 degrees. The key, as the Queen pointedly put it shortly before the conference began, is to “do, not just say”.

If we are serious about bringing down greenhouse gas emissions it will mean switching our petrol cars for electric vehicles, powering our machines on solar, and heating our homes with wind.

In the last few years, world leaders have been happy to show off about these technologies, but they have avoided the ‘elephant in the room’ and emitter of 30 per cent of manmade greenhouse gases – our food system – for fear of upsetting voters. It felt like that changed at this meeting.

The US signed up to cut methane, a greenhouse

gas produced by ruminant livestock and food waste. China outlined plans to cut its meat consumption. And Johnson talked about plant-based alternatives to meat.

And it’s not just reducing meat that will help cut emissions. An agreement to halt deforestation by 2030 will add pressure on countries to stop cutting down trees to plant palm oil or soy. In fringe events, organic and agroecological farming was promoted as a way of cutting emissions from the use of artificial nitrogen fertiliser.

And in the food hall there was more than Irn-Bru and chips. Delegates could also choose kale ramen, woodland mushrooms, east coast seaweed, tempura broccoli, candied beetroot, venison casserole and veggie haggis.

In recent years Scotland has begun to show its food is about more than pies and offal.

It’s about pasture-raised beef, wild venison, and rare breeds of sheep. It’s about local cheeses, organic tatties, and soft fruits. It can be healthy, tasty, and low carbon. Things can change.

Scotland proved that at COP26 by serving a menu that is more than fried food. Now we just need to prove we can make the changes needed to bring down emissions, whether that is how we travel, work – or eat.

Leaders met to discuss climate.

CLIMATE SPECIAL / NEWS

Net zero Buzzword of the year award goes to ‘net zero’, as policymakers fall over themselves pledging to reach it. But what does it mean? Net zero is when the amount of greenhouse gases we emit is equalled by the amount we remove. This is done by reducing emissions, and then offsetting the remainder – but it’s also ripe for greenwash, thanks to ‘offsetting’ being such a dubious concept. The most important question should always be: how are companies and countries doing all they can to reduce emissions and shift towards a permanently lowcarbon way of living?

Agroecology While organic refers to the certified system of farming with no artificial chemicals, agroecology is more nuanced. It is farming in harmony with ecology, to the benefit of nature – but crucially, it places equal measure on equality, fair trade, and ethical business. As such, it is one of the more progressive visions for the future; one where the climate and nature crises are tackled in a way that puts people, and not corporations, at the centre.

Climate justice Similar to the above, the movement for climate justice is about a fair transition to a greener world. At the heart of this on the geopolitical stage is the need for climate finance: helping countries in the global south to adapt to much more severe climate threats which they themselves had little role in causing.

Nature-based solutions Restoring nature (like peat bogs, forests, kelp, and seagrass meadows) to store carbon, as well as for biodiversity, water and other benefits.

‘We are the alternative’ - smallscale farmers message to COP

S

mall-scale farmers, foresters and landworkers led a march at COP26 to demonstrate an alternative to ‘polluting’ industrial farming.

Led by The Landworkers’ Alliance (LWA), the group marched with tractors, veg and banners on Saturday 6 November in Glasgow, alongside others from the COP26 Coalition - a parallel meeting of climate justice advocates held during the conference.

They are calling for the UK to create a food and land-use system based on agroecology and food sovereignty, two principles which combine sustainable, nature-friendly farming with fair trade,

worker rights and ethical supply chains.

“Agriculture has historically been an afterthought in climate negotiations, but governments need to realise that our food, farming, and land-use systems must be addressed if we are to avoid climate chaos and global hunger,” said LWA head of policy and campaigns, Jyoti Fernandes.

“We’re mobilising at COP26 to show that alternatives to the destructive, polluting, and high-emission dominant farming models do exist – and to promote agroecological farming and sustainable forestry as real solutions to the climate crisis.”

Major funding for reforestation

S

cientists have warned that it’s about “planting the right tree in the right place” after world leaders agreed to halt and reverse deforestation at the COP26 climate talks.

114 leaders including from Brazil, Russia and Colombia, which together support 85 per cent of the world’s forests, said they will accelerate forest restoration and recognise the stewardship of indigenous people.

It is part of an attempt to make three systemic shifts – in private finance, trade in agricultural commodities, and the rights of indigenous people – to tackle deforestation.

Professor Alexandre Antonelli, of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, said: “Reforestation must follow best scientific practice – planting the right tree in the right place – and protection must start with the most biologically valuable ecosystems such as the Brazilian rainforests.

“Halting deforestation has been promised before but failed hugely. We Credit Stephen Elliott

The Green Glossary

Left: Trees are vital carbon stores. can’t afford repeating that: two in five plant species now face extinction – this is our last window of opportunity.”

There was also a commitment by CEOs from more than 30 financial institutions – including Aviva, Schroders and Axa – to eliminate investment in activities linked to deforestation, like palm or soy.

And a fund of $1.7bn was proposed to strengthen the rights of indigenous people. Tuntiak Katan, representing communities from the rainforests of Africa, Latin America, and Indonesia, said: “We will be looking for concrete evidence of a transformation in the way funds are invested.” While big businesses and countries made financial pledges inside the conference, outside, indigenous activists said they are more visible but still barred from positions of power, while Greta Thunberg told a rally: “Change is not going to come from inside there. That is not leadership – this is leadership.”

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OPINION

Letter to

planet

Earth

Tax fossil fuels and make market forces save us

GUY SINGH-WATSON Founder, Riverford Organic Farmers

O

ur campaign to fight climate catastrophe must focus on one thing above all others – possibly even to the exclusion of all others. We must push to make fossil fuels much more expensive, and leave markets and businesses to drive the change to a more sustainable global economy.

I have reached this conclusion reluctantly, after 30 years of campaigning for more enlightened business practices. My belief that businesses can harness humanity’s deeper motivations and work collectively for the common good culminated in Riverford becoming employee owned in 2018. I still long to live in a world which is not

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dominated by greed, mediated through markets; I hope others will follow our lead, choose more imaginative ownership structures, and work to benefit people and the planet as much as for profit. But the urgency of the climate crisis means that we must fight it in the world as we find it now. A world where greed and selfishness are deeply embedded in our institutions, culture, and governance.

That model is arguably what got us into this mess. It can get us out of it, too – but only if we are unflinchingly honest. Here is the fundamental, worldshaping truth: businesses exist to extract profits for their shareholders. That is more or less enshrined in law, and no amount of Corporate Social Responsibility window-dressing is going to change it.

Despite spending my life railing against unregulated neo-liberal capitalism, I cannot dispute its extraordinary power to drive innovation and funnel resources towards solutions, as long as those solutions are profitable. It offers us the only realistic hope of addressing climate change in the time available.

Fossil fuels currently cause 89 per cent of global warming.

Reducing their use as quickly

and effectively as possible is all that matters in the urgent fight to prevent climate catastrophe.

Only one thing will mobilise the action needed to achieve that: making fossil fuels much more expensive. That can be done either simply and directly, through taxation on their sale – or, with much more complexity, through a carbon tax.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimate that the appropriate taxation of fossil fuels, at rates rising to the equivalent of $75 per tCO2e (tonnes of CO2 equivalent), would reduce global emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2030.

This is probably not enough to

It offers us the only realistic hope in the time available.

stay within 1.5 degrees of global warming, but it is better than any other proposal.

Given that this is the view of the IMF and the OECD, and given that virtually all leading economists have called for fast and substantial taxing of fossil fuels or carbon, it is very hard to understand why the world is moving so painfully slowly from subsidising fossil fuels to taxing them.

Where fossil fuels are currently taxed, the global average stands at under £2 per tCO2e – at a time when carbon

is trading at over £30 per tCO2e, and rising rapidly. I would argue for even higher rates of taxation than the IMF and OECD suggest.

My personal experience at Riverford (when deciding

OPINION

Credit Tom Jay

MY ARGUMENT AND PLEA IS THAT ALL CAMPAIGNING FORCES UNITE BEHIND THIS ONE URGENT CALL.

whether to plant trees, electrify vehicles, compost flammable waste, and so on) has been that around £50 to £100 per tCO2e is the level at which many green investments, previously justified by ethics or marketing, suddenly become driven by hard-nosed economics, and likely to be adopted at scale.

My argument and plea is that all campaigning forces should unite behind this one urgent call to tax fossil fuels. Although campaigns around plastic, food waste, methane emissions from livestock, food miles, and so on are all very important, I am concerned that they are diverting attention from the one action that may yet avert disaster.

Campaigns that focus on individual people’s behaviours

also risk encouraging the disturbingly prevalent myth that informed citizens making good buying choices can drive businesses to find solutions.

Nothing other than governmentimposed taxation will bring about the necessary scale and speed of change. I am staggered that any thinking person could suggest that the purchasing choices of conscientious individuals will be anything more than peripheral in solving our environmental problems; we are surrounded by the evidence of this. I have an uncomfortable feeling that an excessive belief in the power of consumers to drive change is being used as an excuse for systemic inaction.

Don’t let the noble actions of a committed minority of

individuals and businesses be a fig leaf to cover our government’s inadequacy.

We desperately need them to provide a framework that financially incentivises a drastic reduction in the burning of fossil fuels by the less committed.

Of course, fossil fuel interests will lobby furiously against this – and history tells us that our governments are pathetically susceptible to their influence.

There will be cries that taxing fossil fuels is regressive, that it will impact the poor unfairly, that energy-intensive industries will be driven to less regulated countries. So we must be prepared to respond, with plans to use the funds raised by the tax to support emerging green technology,

and critically, to support those worst affected by the transition.

This is thoughtfully addressed in the IMF report; read it online at bit.ly/2YLl7y3. A large body of leading (mostly US-based) economists argue for a ‘fee and dividend’ policy, under which the entirety of the funds raised by a carbon tax would be distributed in a universal payment to ensure that the least wealthy 70 per cent of people are actually better off.

Business can be part of the solution to the climate crisis; indeed, it can be the biggest part. But only if we are honest about its purpose, and provide a clear, firm, and ethically justified taxation framework whereby the polluter pays. However obvious and well supported by mainstream economists this conclusion is, our governments will only resist the interests of the fossil fuel industry under unified, focused, and relentless pressure from the electorate for one single goal: make fossil fuels expensive.

Read the full article at wickedleeks.com/opinion/ climate-change-politics-ethicalbusiness/letter-planet-earth.

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OPINION

Why we need to eat and W farm for insects

VICKI HIRD Head of sustainable farming at Sustain, and award-winning environmental campaigner and strategist.

e are going nuts for almonds these days. But the dark reality is huge, thirsty, nature-free almond tree plantations, needing millions of bees brought in to pollinate the crops.

Around 80 per cent of the world’s almonds are sourced in California’s Central Valley, where bee farmers truck thousands of colonies of European honeybees, categorised as ‘livestock’, to huge plantations.

They routinely lose 30 per cent of their ‘livestock’ as the bees won’t survive

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in such a hostile, sterile place. Wild pollinators like native bees and hoverflies also cannot survive in those uniform rows of trees with no other habitat around. This is proving catastrophic to local wildlife.

We know farming can crash invertebrate numbers by harming habitats, but one study on Canadian farmland looking at the number of butterflies, hoverflies, bees, and ground beetle species found one of the biggest factors for their presence and abundance was field size.

Cultivation, pesticides, and crop diversity were important, too, but the field size impact shows how important ‘green corridors’ are for invertebrates to travel through. The edges of the field boundaries, with messy bits, trees, hedges, and so on, provided a vital ‘motorway’ as well as being habitats for invertebrates.

Credit Stuart Everitt

OPINION

If we take away the green ‘corridor’, such as a wood, roadside verge or hedge, their offspring will be stuck and will not thrive.

Above: Monocultures do not support diverse insect habitats.

As with any animal, when we remove or change the homes where bugs live, feed or breed, they will not thrive. If we take away the green ‘corridor’, such as a wood, roadside verge or hedge, that they use to colonise new areas, their offspring will be stuck and will not thrive. Sadly, bug homes are being lost at a rapid rate globally. Land conversions to monocultures of crops and trees have replaced rich grasslands, forests, and wetlands, alongside huge urban sprawl in many parts of the world.

You will not find a great variety of invertebrates in monocultures – these fields are intensively managed to remove both plants that are not crops, and unwanted bugs, to reduce disease and pests. One recent study looking at wild pollinators in Britain found evidence of declines across a large proportion of pollinator species between 1980 and 2013.

This coincides with a huge change in farming, as complex landscapes were made uniform and specialised. Fields were merged, so field edges, trees and hedgerows were lost; more chemicals were used; pasture meadows were replaced by fertilised grassland; and mixed farming became less profitable. All these created less favourable conditions for most bugs and especially pollinators.

All this uniformity is desired and dictated by the modern food industry. To rebug through better habitat care, we will need to increase the knowledge and capacity of those managing the land, as well as

ensuring food markets support them, through a shift to more invertebratefriendly farming methods.

The idea that we should encourage farmers to shrink the size of fields they have spent many decades increasing – to cope with larger, more efficient machinery, and to produce more food – is quite a hard one to contemplate. But it could have a huge impact.

At the very least we should be protecting the smaller fields and boundaries like hedges that do still exist, and rewarding farmers for nature-friendly farming, such as those who apply organic approaches.

Where land is in use, we need to creatively support farmers in the naturesharing approach, because one thing is clear: without public intervention, farmers will have an almost impossible task balancing the demands of wildlife and the need to produce food crops and livestock at ever lower cost, as well as more rapidly and more uniformly.

We need to change food consumption patterns, prices, and cosmetic expectations to tackle this huge issue.

Rebugging the Planet: The Remarkable Things that Insects (and Other Invertebrates) Do – And Why We Need to Love Them More by Vicki Hird is out now (Chelsea Green Publishing, £12.99).

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OPINION

Less really

can be SAMANTHA COOPER Co-director at Business Declares

I

n various areas of our lives, the idea of reduction can be fulfilling and inspiring, as well as environmentally beneficial.

Having had a hectic, quick-fix life in the city, I have found the alternatives to mainstream consumption have been genuinely life enhancing (and money saving). The swell of interest in bread baking, wild swimming, and growing our own fruit and veg shows there is a broader shift in how we are finding fulfilment.

This isn’t just for the mid-lifers either; it’s great to see teenagers using their dads’ old shirts to make the latest fashions rather than heading to the high street.

The idea of doing less, buying less, travelling less, reducing our actions, is becoming more and more resonant as one of the solutions to the climate crisis. This concept has a name, ‘degrowth’, and it calls for limiting activities that are harmful while expanding sectors and actions important and necessary in tackling the current climate, ecological, and social breakdown.

The good news is that this isn’t about austerity, unemployment, or recession.

Degrowth is concerned with shining a light on the consumerism trap and discovering a more positive approach.

It is a culture shift from the ingrained doctrine that we need more and more stuff to be happy. This manufactured feeling of scarcity, the marketing that pushes us into an unnecessary phone upgrade or trying to

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The idea of reduction can be fulfilling, and good for the planet. grab the latest limited edition trainers, can be replaced with a more lasting sense of our own resilience and self worth. This has, at least, been my experience over the last five years.

Growth is used politically as the overriding measure of the country’s success, through GDP (Gross Domestic Product) – with the premise that as the country grows, people get wealthier and therefore happier. The problem with this is that this measure of growth is indiscriminate; activities such as cutting down trees, or increasing the amount of private jet flights, have the same merit as building a hospital or nature reserve.

Also, the wealth created does not trickle down from the top earners, so an increase in GDP does not in fact reach those that need it the most. Perhaps most importantly, as we have seen especially in our response to Covid, activities such as caring for neighbours or relatives, or volunteering, are not counted in GDP, so there is no consideration of wellbeing or the vital role of community and our support networks.

The degrowth movement calls for a broad change to our current system – creating one which doesn’t only take into account monetary value, but balances the needs of people, planet, and profit. This is very much in

Credit Stuart Everitt

more Above: Studies show happiness is not linked to consumerism.

line with Kate Raworth’s concept of Doughnut Economics, where every person has the resources they need to meet their human rights, while collectively we live within the ecological means of this one planet.

Degrowth does not imply that growth is bad per se. The key is that growth at all costs, and as the primary objective of our political and economic system, is not good because it is inevitably linked to human exploitation and environmental destruction.

Rather than creating net unemployment, jobs could shift from industries that need to shrink into those that tackle the current crisis and inequality. Four-day weeks and Universal Basic Income could also be considered for better work-life balance.

A reduction in overall consumption really doesn’t have to result in us being worse off financially or emotionally – in fact, it’s quite the opposite. There are many studies which show that happiness, after a certain point, is not linked to economic growth or wealth.

At the heart of degrowth is the development of a wellbeing economy; an economy which is in service of improving the quality of our lives and the health of the planet.

Business Declares is a not-for-profit organisation formed by senior leaders who believe that business has a major part to play in tackling the climate, ecological, and social emergency.

Why community action matters STEVE PLATT Treasurer of Hope Valley Climate Action

OPINION

If hundreds of groups like us take action, our leaders will deliver the policies we need.

H

ope Valley comprises a string of villages along the River Derwent and the railway line between Sheffield and Manchester. It is home to 9,000 people and the Hope Cement Works, and receives millions of visitors each year. Although we are lucky to live in the beautiful Peak Park, we are not immune to the impacts of climate change.

Hope Valley Climate Action (HVCA) was founded in 2019 at a large public meeting in Hathersage. We have over 600 members and plan to recruit a lot more. We became a charity in 2020; our aim is to tackle the causes and consequences of climate change.

We have a vision of the Valley becoming more sustainable and more rich in wildlife.

We want to add to the wider debate about our response to the climate emergency, and to demonstrate that a step change to a lower-carbon future where nature is recovering is both possible and desirable.

To do this, we are raising local awareness, taking local action to reduce carbon emissions in ways that benefit nature, and advocating for policies at all levels that address the climate emergency.

Our Travelling Light project is a nationally significant pilot, exploring how integrated rural travel can transform the ways we travel. We are running roundtable workshops with travel planners, transport operators, academia, local residents, and the visitor economy, to explore ways to achieve this transformational change.

We are lobbying our local MPs to ensure the government introduces sensible funding, and are working with other groups to encourage our local councils to get serious about providing advice and managing grants. Our Open Eco Homes

Day in October showcased heat pumps, insulation, and other energy efficiency measures in 12 homes. The hosts will continue to offer advice and help. Our renewable energy study will estimate how much electricity we need and explore options of how we might generate it locally.

Most importantly, we are involving residents in the discussion and starting a conversation with the Peak Park.

We are also engaging with farmers and landowners to help them reduce their emissions, capture more carbon, and increase biodiversity. Our village rewilding groups are planting hundreds of trees, and working with local councils to change verge mowing regimes to allow wildflowers to seed and to create wildlife corridors.

Our School Climate Challenge with all 11 schools in the Hope Valley is proving to be popular with pupils and teachers. We play a card game to engage and empower them to take action against climate change. Every

Above: The Hope Valley in the Peak District has a vibrant climate action group of over 600 members. child who gets their family to make pledges online wins a prize of Greta Thunberg’s book, No One Is Too Small To Make a Difference, and the best school wins the School Climate Challenge certificate.

We also need systemic change to combat climate change. Global leaders at COP26 currently follow private interests and public opinion, so our local actions and demands matter. We are building relationships with our local MPs and councillors, and influencing their thinking.

If hundreds of groups like HVCA in Britain and worldwide take action and demand change, our governments will deliver the transformational policies we need.

Hope Valley Climate Action is on social media and at hopevalleyclimateaction.org.uk.

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FEATURES / THE BIG INTERVIEW

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THE BIG INTERVIEW / FEATURES

Ain’t no

MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH Patagonia’s director of environmental action, Beth Thoren, on people, climate and nature, and who really has the power to change the world.

Interview by Nina Pullman

ISSUE 8 | WICKED LEEKS 13

FEATURES / THE BIG INTERVIEW

hat I want to do is change the world, and this is probably the most influential position I can be in,” says Beth Thoren, director of environmental action at outdoor brand Patagonia. And she has a point.

The company topped an Axios Harris poll in the US this year for best reputation, a position it probably already held anecdotally in most people’s minds. Set up in 1973 by a bunch of “dirtbag climbers”, the company has stood fast by its heritage of protecting the natural world, developing into a force to be reckoned with on the campaigning world stage.

Its jaw-dropping footage of the natural world is now more often than not employed for the purpose of protecting that world, from raising funds and awareness to protect Europe’s last pristine river, the Vjosa, to spearheading a progressive movement for community energy as a way of fast-tracking renewables.

As Thoren, speaking from her home (and Patagonia’s Europe HQ in Amsterdam), puts it: “What we’re really good at is storytelling.

We’re a marketing company that tells environmental stories. And so if we can make something come alive, and really make a difference to that topic, that tends to be what we go for.

“Without a doubt, climate change is the biggest environmental issue. So that absolutely is the top priority. But it’s important to recognise that nature is the tsunami that’s right behind that. And if we don’t also work on protecting our biodiversity, then human health, food, and safety will be threatened.

So we see it as a twin problem.”

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She goes on: “We’re in business to save our home planet, that is our purpose. Part of that is being a responsible business and minimising our footprint. But the other side to it is using our voice. Whether that’s to lobby for good regulation to protect our natural world, or actually campaigning.”

This stated purpose might sound glib, but Thoren’s own role as director of environmental action backs it up – and she says that she finds the same absolute dedication to the planet throughout the business: “I don’t need to talk to our finance people about trying to get an ethical bank to work with. I don’t need to speak to our logistics team about our last mile of deliveries on products, because they’re already looking at how to minimise the footprint. It is super empowering.”

Amid worker shortages in the UK, and growing calls for climate justice and a fair green transition across the world, it’s noticeable that two of Patagonia’s current campaigns are centralising people – through community-owned power in the UK, and campaigning for the rights of local communities threatened by planned hydro dams in the Balkans.

Speaking about the energy campaign, Thoren says: “It came about because the big problem from a fossil fuel perspective is energy generation.

“And so the first thing that needs to be done is shifting to renewable sources of power, and the Grid needs to be updated.

One of things we noticed was some people are like ‘I don’t want a windfarm near me or solar panels’,

THE BIG INTERVIEW / FEATURES

Credit Andrew Burr

Left: Patagonia uses its voice to tell stories about environmental issues in the wider world.

Below: Thoren has worked in marketing, conservation and environmental law.

but actually if the community gets to benefit from that directly, then attitudes change. And what happens is neighbours get together, they invest in solar panels or a windfarm, and the profit from that goes into their community.”

While there is a strategic focus on issues that people see as closely connected to their own lives, Thoren points to a much bigger awakening to social justice generally in the last two years.

“I think George Floyd’s murder transformed western society,” she says.

“Particularly in the US and the UK, and to some extent in Europe. Because it was that real recognition that all of these issues are absolutely interconnected. I’m certainly seeing it in the environmental sector, that widespread recognition that it’s people and planet together.”

Thoren’s own trigger in awareness came during a trip to save whales in Antarctica,

after which she found herself unable to return to her marketing director role.

“Once you see what nature is supposed to look like, and then you see how badly degraded it is, then you realise the dramatic damage that we are doing and are blissfully unaware of. Because most people live in cities, so they have absolutely no idea. So that was my turning point,” she explains.

She spent time working in nature conservation, before moving to environmental law firm ClientEarth, and joining Patagonia just under a year ago, in a journey that has gradually scaled up how much impact she can have. But she’s also aware of a shift in power dynamics between business and politicians, and who really influences change.

“I think in the past governments used to lead,” says Thoren. “But I think over the past decades, increasingly governments

ONCE YOU SEE WHAT NATURE IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE, YOU REALISE THE DAMAGE THAT WE ARE DOING. ISSUE 8 | WICKED LEEKS 15

Credit Andrew Burr

FEATURES / THE BIG INTERVIEW

Above: The company has campaigned against hydro dams in the Balkans. have become beholden to business, and so tend to follow business or look to business for permission to act. I think that shift in power balance is really important to recognise.

“That being said, only governments can create legislation. And we are not going to save our planet unless there is proper government legislation that forces businesses to cut their carbon emissions, and legislation that protects natural spaces.”

To this end, Patagonia in the US, alongside 50 other large businesses, recently sent a letter to President Biden to state they will pay higher taxes to support a new climate infrastructure bill.

“I think the days for individual companies thinking their voice can be heard are long gone. I think it’s really important to speak in coalition,” says Thoren.

She lists a network of influences, including the NGOs with the experts and scientists “who know what needs to be done”, the youth

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activists and people raising their voices, the financial markets moving their investments, and businesses choosing to act. “It’s all of us putting our shoulders against the wheel,” she says. “And so I was really excited to come to Patagonia, because businesses are 75 per cent of global GDP. If business doesn’t change, then there’s no hope.”

While climate is the top priority, with nature the “tsunami” coming close behind, consumerism is arguably the fuel behind both fires. And that’s a tricky act to balance, as a retailer whose primary function is to sell stuff.

Patagonia has begun to face the problem head on, ramping up its ‘worn’ clothing arm, where customers can trade in used products for resale at certain stores, an initiative primarily available in the US. “We don’t want people to buy more than they need. We want to make really great, durable products that can be fixed, encourage people to only buy what they need, and if it gets broken to repair it,” explains Thoren, who says making money out of second-hand clothes is what she finds most impressive among Patagonia’s

Governments tend to follow business, or look to business for permission to act.

That shift in power is important to recognise. many sustainability initiatives.

It does make you wonder how far margins would be hit if second-hand was to take over from the undeniably premium prices of the main range, but Thoren is clear on its potential impact. “The ability to sell second-hand products I think is the kind of thing that will transform how people think about capitalism,” she says.

Researching microfibres, using recycled material in 70 per cent of its range, buying Fairtrade, and moving to source its materials from regenerative farming practices are

THE BIG INTERVIEW / FEATURES

because it brings together the urgency of climate with something Patagonia has a really authentic voice on: standing up for nature,” says Thoren, who says the campaign will make sure citizens understand how important nature is to solving the climate crisis, starting with protecting intact ecosystems like oldgrowth forests and peatlands.

Nature is also where Patagonia will eventually start looking for carbon offsets, but it will be driven by a need to protect and restore the natural world, rather than the other way round.

“Offsetting isn’t something you just do for Christmas. We need to be protecting nature alongside reducing emissions, long-term,” says Thoren.

There is often a false dichotomy set up leaving many to wonder: are individual actions even worth it, in light of the inertia of major corporations and countries?

“All businesses, all governments, all individuals need to act,” says Thoren.

“So it is not sufficient for people to say ‘I don’t need to change my life because a company’s impact is so much bigger than mine’. The thing that’s really powerful about individual action is that you change what’s normal.

Right now, nobody talks about climate change – start talking about it with your friends! Make it normal. Now is that sufficient? Absolutely not. We are going to crash and burn if we don’t get our governments and businesses to change.”

There is a clear sense of purpose at Patagonia that is found across a growing number of ethical businesses. But it’s the sense of itself as part of something bigger, perhaps a product of its heritage staring up at immense immoveable mountain ranges and wilderness areas, which sets it apart. When faced with the future, and a collective chance to make a positive impact, Thoren says simply: “We want people to care and we want them to act.”

Credit Andrew Burr

other areas of focus. As Thoren says: “We share all of our research with our competitors. Because it doesn’t matter if we stop using microfibres, it matters if everyone stops using them. So we do the research and then we share that with the rest of the industry.”

It’s certainly hard to pick holes in the integrity of a business that offers such transparency, and has determined to keep a deliberate distance from other highprofile campaigners like Greta Thunberg.

“We cheer them and back them, but we don’t want to take any brand credit or use her name,” says Thoren of the Fridays for Future youth climate movement Thunberg founded. “Her name should be used for the movement, not for Patagonia. So we keep a respectful distance and just amplify what she says in any way we can.”

One thing she will take from Thunberg, though, is recognition that friends are what give you strength to carry on – something that the young Swedish activist recently told the Guardian she relies on.

“My role is to figure out how we can maximise our positive impact for the environment. And when the world is burning, that feels like an enormous responsibility,” says Thoren. “I get strength from a number of different places, and one is from my fellow colleagues.

“It is enormously supportive to have other people who believe and who are fighting for the same cause you are.

Friends are what keep you going when there is so much against you.”

She also sees shoots of hope across the world, including the EU’s wideranging Green Deal, which outlines specific support for organic farming and land and marine protection, as well as examples of compassionate leadership from the likes of New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern.

Despite facing up to the crises in the natural world, Thoren seems in no way jaded by the task at hand, outlining next year’s to-do list – where she will ask the business for more aggressive reductions in emissions, and develop a new campaign that positions nature as a solution to the climate crisis.

“Nature-based solutions are something I’m very excited about

Above: Centralising the impact on people is key to a fair transition to a greener world.

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FEATURES / SHIFTING THE CLIMATE NARRATIVE

From why to who:

Shifting the climate narrative A ground-breaking library of climate change imagery that aims to shift the narrative towards justice and positive change has released a milestone collection of photos.

Above: Olive trees burn during a wildfire in Greece. Milos Bicanski, Greece. When trees die by fire, they release into the atmosphere the carbon stored within them.

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Right: A building in rural Bangladesh is covered in green plants as an attempt to link urbanisation with greenery. Abir Abdullah, Bangladesh.

Plants have been shown to absorb heat and cool down air in urban areas.

SHIFTING THE CLIMATE NARRATIVE / FEATURES Left: Surviving against climate tragedy, two children on a flooded riverbank.

Moniruzzaman Sazal, Bangladesh.

Below: A woman cleans a solar energy panel. Raphael Pouget, France. In southern Mauritania, a women’s cooperative uses solar energy to operate the borehole that supplies water to their market garden.

limate justice protests, renewable energy projects, and urban food growing feature in a milestone collection of 100 photos released by climate communication project Climate Visuals and TED Countdown, to coincide with the UN COP26 talks.

The project, which showcases climate solutions alongside the global impact of climate change, wants to shift the narrative away from causes and impacts, and towards visualising who is most affected, and stories of positive change.

The images were selected from more than 5,500 unique submissions from more than 150 countries.

“The images portray diverse climate solutions, new narratives and voices, and impactful photography – all direct from

communities around the world,” says Climate Visuals programme lead Toby Smith.

The aim was to document the reality of climate change around the world, and to communicate climate solutions in five key areas. Themes included: Energy: how rapidly can we switch to 100 per cent clean power?; Transport: how can we upgrade the way we move people and things?; Materials: how can we re-imagine and re-make the stuff around us?; Food: How can we spark a worldwide shift to healthier food systems?; Nature: How do we better protect and re-green the earth?.

“Communication is one of the key pillars in the fight against climate change,” says Logan McClure Davda, head of impact at TED. “How we articulate the impact of climate can make or break public opinion, and the ripple effect is seen throughout culture, business, education, media, and more.”

Climate Visuals is an evidencebased photo initiative run by Climate Outreach, a team of social scientists and communication specialists, who believe that visual narratives must move from climate causes and impacts, to justice, solutions, and positive change.

The curators looked for images that were global, accessible, fair, representative, illustrative and impactful, with the goal to give a voice to communities not yet represented in the mainstream climate narrative.

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FEATURES / SHIFTING THE CLIMATE NARRATIVE Right: A house almost submerged.

Moniruzzaman Sazal, Bangladesh.

An increased number of floods, due to higher rainfall and glaciers melting in the Himalayas, is considered the major reason for migration in the context of climate change in Bangladesh.

Below: Kelp forests store ‘blue carbon’ under water.

Nuno Vasco Rodrigues, Portugal. Kelp forests provide habitats, but also transfer their biomass into the deep sea, allowing them to permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

How we articulate the impact of climate can make or break public opinion.

Right: Amazonian women march for International Women’s Day, March 2020. Karen Toro, Ecuador. One of their demands is around the sovereignty of their ancestral lands, which are violated in favour of mining and oil companies.

Centre: Operations inspection on top of a wind turbine. Joan Sullivan, Canada.

A just transition creates jobs before, during and after new projects.

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SHIFTING SHIFTINGTHE THECLIMATE CLIMATENARRATIVE NARRATIVE / FEATURES

Left: Four veterans retrained in agriculture inspect their organic crops. Meg Haywood Sullivan, US. Below: Rooftop organic veg growing in Kolkata, India.

Sudipto Das, India.

Bottom: Aerial view of systematic deforestation in Bolivia’s newest National Park. Marcelo Perez del Carpio, Bolivia.

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FEATURES / PEOPLE

As the exodus of workers since Brexit takes hold, it brings a dawning realisation of just how much they are needed, and a chance to revalue our food system with people at the centre.

Nina Pullman reports 22 WICKED LEEKS | ISSUE 8

PEOPLE / FEATURES

M

Credit Stuart Everitt

id September. Reports of a fuel shortage start to circulate, spiralling on social and in the mainstream media as the hashtag #petrolpanic picks up.

What was noticeable about this particular crack in the supply chain was that reports soon started to focus on the real shortage at hand: not petrol, but people.

Fuelled by Brexit and complicated paperwork at borders, compared to the free movement available in the rest of Europe, lorry drivers are staying away – and without them, supply chains are hampered.

What’s happening with drivers is happening elsewhere. Hospitality, meat processing, fruit pickers, and packhouse workers; these jobs were traditionally held by European workers, who temporarily put up with long shifts and low pay. Brexit, compounded by Covid when workers left to be with their families, has led to a vacuum, and exposed the reality that there is no one left to fill these positions.

For the three months to the end of July 2021, the UK registered over a million job vacancies, with well over half of these unfilled posts in farming, food production, and distribution, as well as retail and hospitality, according to an August report commissioned by the NFU. BREXIT AND INVISIBLE WORKERS Wages have spiked in response to the shortages, but it’s not just about pay. According to a recent survey by driver recruitment agency, Pertemps Driving Division, nine out of 10 drivers feel undervalued and believe they do not get enough respect for the job they do.

As managing director at organic pork supplier Helen Browning’s Organics, Vicky McNicholas, told Wicked Leeks recently: ““For an awful lot of people, it’s not about the money they earn, it’s about the conditions and the values of the company they work in.”

Others point to a “cocktail” of effects behind shortages, with some specific to sectors. Butchery manager at organic veg box company Riverford, Matt Flynn, says: “The skilled butcher trade in the UK was struggling long before Covid and Brexit, due to an aging workforce and struggles to recruit younger people into the trade.”

But Flynn is also clear about the effect of the referendum. “In 2019, the nationwide average of EU

workers in meat processing companies was around 70 per cent, of which roughly 40 per cent were skilled butchers and slaughter line workers. With many EU workers returning home after Brexit, this has left a hole in the industry that is very hard to fill,” he says.

Why won’t Brits stand up and fill these critical jobs? That’s the inevitable question that has started to be asked, as companies have been forced to start a bidding war for those few who are left.

The issue is a culturally engrained perception of these jobs as low value, believes Natasha Soares, project lead at a network of ethical retailers, Better Food Traders. “All those who pick it, pack it into bags or boxes, break down orders, reform orders and then deliver it – they are invisible and ignored,” she says.

“Most are seen as not even necessary. Once you work inside, you know they’re crucial linchpins. The haulier crisis has exposed it for what it is.”

It’s a view echoed by director of the Food Ethics Council, Dan Crossley, who says it’s not just farmworkers but producers who are struggling under the current system of low prices to farmers, low wages, and low morale. “They have crazy lifestyles and hours, they can rarely take holiday,” he says.

“There is a broader point here, it’s not just farmers, it’s that people aren’t valued properly. You’d think we would learn from the pandemic.”

Above: Drivers and field workers are in short supply since Brexit.

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FEATURES / PEOPLE

We need to see that these people aren’t just links in the chain.

Supply chain jobs are vital but undervalued.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE? While short-term salary hikes are not the only answer, there’s no doubt that these are some of the lowest paid jobs in the food chain, in a country with a high cost of living.

“The price of food doesn’t cover the cost of producing it, if those jobs are fairly paid,” says Soares. “We outsourced to countries where the cost of living is way lower. The cost of living here is too high, not in food but in accommodation. A decrease in housing prices needs to go alongside a rise in food prices.

“Shelter has become a commodity because land and property is seen as an investment not a basic right,” she adds.

Simply paying more in wages also has a knock-on effect in higher food prices – more realistic, perhaps, but also more unaffordable to large parts of the population. As a result, some see bigger solutions in things like a Universal Basic Income (where the state pays a low basic income to all citizens to shore up equality and living standards). As Crossley puts it: “We either have a cheap food system where people and planet are exploited.

Or we pay the true cost of food and pay workers properly. The knock-on effect of that is some food prices are likely to go up.

“It’s not about keeping food process artificially low. We need a functioning safety net, a living wage and security of employment,” says Crossley, who says he’s a “fan” of the Basic Income concept.

“I think we need to give people a platform to participate,” he says. “Rather than the consumer mindset where you can’t take part in the food system unless you have a big wallet.”

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MACHINES VERSUS MAN There are other forces at play, such as the move towards mechanisation and robotics in supply chains and on farms. Presented as a solution to short-term shortages, in the long-term this reduces the number and value of human jobs even further.

“Dehumanising a commodity supply chain, and treating it like car parts, is the completely wrong way of looking at food,” says Peter Grieg, co-founder of the online meat retailer, Pipers Farm. “Food should be nourishing for us; food production should be nourishing for society, and it should be nourishing for rural communities.

“For too long now, we’ve been taking humans out of the food and farming system and replacing them with an industrialised, faceless supply chain that views food as a commodity.”

Both Grieg and Soares believe that fixing the current crisis simply by removing the need for workers is avoiding the problem at best, but at worst takes us further down a route of industrial farming. “The situation we find ourselves in only goes as far as highlighting how dysfunctional the industrialised food system has become,” says Grieg.

Braving the elements to harvest veg.

“A local (UK farmer-led) food chain has the potential to sustain entire rural communities. It not only contributes directly to local economies, but to the social fabric of our communities where families will be involved in local institutions and enterprises, schools, and more. It is a societal good and should be valued as such.”

It’s a holistic recognition of what food is, the lives and livelihoods it sustains, and the wildlife and nature it can co-exist alongside.

“The counter movement is what we’re doing, what the LWA [Landworkers’ Alliance] is doing, and the organic sector: trying to foreground people and relationships,” adds Soares. “It’s embracing limits and knowing progress doesn’t always mean growth.”

Is this alternative, people-first system seeing less of an issue than mainstream supply chains currently? Soares says her network has been protected, and where there have been delays it’s where national haulage networks are being used.

“I think the relationships are really key to the resilience of our networks. In our supply chains, farmers know they have a reliable market and work hard to reach it. It’s a different kind of relationship.”

TIME FOR AN OVERHAUL A positive that might come out of this whole shortage is that workers begin to realise their own worth and start to ask for better conditions and pay. But until the system changes around them, whether through how we value supply chain jobs, or social changes that allow food to be sold at its true cost, it seems they are most likely to prove their value by simply not being there.

“I would say we need more localised food systems,” says Crossley. “[By] sourcing closer to home it’s more likely you will develop connections with the people behind your food. Rather than at the moment where the people behind the food system are hidden and deliver food to us.

“We need to see that these people aren’t just links in the chain.”

Farm of the future Combining trees with food production, and pioneering sustainable wheat, Wakelyns has become a hub for small businesses selling food direct from the farm. Olivia Oldham visits to find out more.

FARM OF THE FUTURE / FEATURES

Below: Wakelyns is famed for its ‘alleys’ of crops and pioneering agroforestry system.

I

t’s an overcast Saturday, the skies threatening showers.

Children are running about, faces painted with brightlycoloured butterflies as the latesummer Community Butterfly Day comes to an end. Out the back, in a bright room at one end of the black-painted barn, cook and baker Henrietta Inman and a troupe of helpers are making their final preparations for the longawaited, Covid-delayed launch of her new bakery.

The bakery is located at Wakelyns, a pioneering 56-acre farm in north Suffolk, famed among sustainable farming advocates for the way it combines long rows of trees with wide ‘alleys’ of crops—a form of agroforestry.

Agroforestry is an approach to farming that incorporates trees into systems of food production.

There are various configurations, including silvo-pasture (trees and livestock) and silvo-arable (trees and crops), each overlaying different levels of production to create a diverse, dynamic, and productive farm system.

“It’s all about the power of diversity,” says Ben Raskin, the Soil Association’s head of horticulture and agroforestry. “The more complexity you have in any system, the more resilient and productive it is.”

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FEATURES / FARM OF THE FUTURE Right: Produce is grown in the fields and on trees to maximise diversity.

Wakelyns was founded in the early 1990s by plant breeder and scientist Martin Wolfe and his wife, Anne, to experiment with this idea that resilience is a product of diversity, not of the hyper-simplification pursued by industrial agriculture. Wolfe planted a wide variety of fruit, nut, and timber trees, and developed a new, highly diverse variety of wheat to grow in the alleys, known simply as ‘YQ’.

“As cooks, bakers, and fruit pickers on the farm, agroforestry means diversity, beauty, abundance, joy, fulfilment, and connection,” explains Inman. “Working here every day, we witness just how productive this system is.

Not only that, when it comes to getting into the kitchen, it’s producing really flavourful and nourishing food.”

Farming is often cited as a major culprit of greenhouse gas emissions and ecosystem decline. With COP26 – the world’s preeminent annual conference on climate action – having taken place this November in Glasgow, agriculture’s impact on the environment is once again in the spotlight.

Yet agroforestry is increasingly being recognised as a ‘nature-based solution’ (NbS), a term describing solutions for problems like climate change that work with nature to benefit people and biodiversity.

Research, much of which was carried out by the Organic Research Centre at Wakelyns itself, has found that agroforestry can store up to 63 tonnes of carbon per hectare, reduce soil erosion, prevent flooding, and improve biodiversity by increasing farmland habitat. At the same time, a 2020 European study found that agroforestry systems are 36-100 per cent more productive than single-crop farming systems. And, according to a recent report from The Landworkers’ Alliance, agroforestry can also boost onfarm employment.

Thanks to the growing evidence of its benefits, agroforestry is increasingly popular with farmers, accompanied by a similar upswing in government support.

“I’ve been working on agroforestry for 12 years,” says Raskin, “and the last two years is

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Resilience is a product of diversity, not of the hypersimplification seen in industrial agriculture. the first time there’s been any positive policy support for it.”

After Martin Wolfe’s death in 2019, his children hosted a symposium in his honour – an opportunity for the Wakelyns community to propose ideas for what came next.

What emerged has been transformative, with the establishment of a number of different businesses and projects on the farm.

David Wolfe, one of Martin’s three

children, who has taken on responsibility for the farm along with his wife, Amanda, said the farm was set up as his parents’ “personal science project,” and so was ill-suited to full commercial operation. “It was a bit like inheriting a working steam museum,” he says.

But, by adding various new enterprises into the mix, the Wolfes and the rest of the community have been able to make things add up. Wolfe calls this approach “enterprise stacking,” which, he says, “is a way of bringing activity and people to the farm.”

One of the new businesses that has been established on the farm is Inman’s Wakelyns Bakery.

Inman, alongside fellow cook and baker Maisie Dyvig, bakes bread, makes pastries, and brews up jams and preserves for their north Suffolk community, using the grain, fruit, and vegetables grown on the farm.

“We stay flexible,” Inman explains, “like the farming system.”

Alongside the bakery is the RealVeg CSA - a community-supported market garden run by Chloe Tatum, Rachel Perry, and Holly Gregson in some of the alleys. Then there’s

FARM OF THE FUTURE / FEATURES

Agroforestry can store up to 63 tonnes of carbon per ha, and improve biodiversity. the Woodland Haberdasher, Fay Jones, who creates, and teaches others how to make crafts and objects from some of the materials grown at Wakelyns – from carved spoons to hedgerow dyes.

Just as agroforestry is increasingly being taken up by farmers across the country, there are also other farms beginning to experiment with the “enterprise stacking” approach taken at Wakelyns. For example, last

year in Somerset, baker Rosy Benson established Field Bakery on Fred Price’s Gothelney Farm. And, in Fife, The Bowhouse combines mixed farming on the Balcaskie Estate with small-scale milling, a market garden, a cut flower grower, a brewery, and a butchery.

This layered approach builds greater diversity and closer connections right along the food chain.

“Our customers see the benefits of what we do because they come to the farm and see where the food is coming from. They connect a bit more to the land, and the food, to us, and themselves,” says Inman. “All those relationships bring so much more kindness and love. Our culture is lacking in a lot of that, and I think we need to remember those things that do bring true meaning and happiness.”

Christmas gift inspiration at The Riverford Field Kitchen Our gardening and cookery workshops make great gifts for food lovers, budding gardeners, and aspiring cooks.

Events include how to grow your own kitchen garden, bread-making, seasonal cookery demos, and field-to-fork experiences. Gift vouchers are also available.

Bread-making Wreath-making

For a full list of events, and to book, visit

theriverfordfieldkitchen.co.uk 01803 227391 Buckfastleigh, Devon, TQ11 0JU

Field-to-fork experiences

Seasonal cookery demos

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FEATURES / PALM OIL

What next for

palm oil?

With a ban on new palm oil plantations in Indonesia about to expire, Anna Turns looks at certification and synthetic palm oil as sustainable solutions.

A

moratorium on new palm oil plantation permits that prevented further deforestation in Indonesia, the world’s biggest palm oil producer, recently expired. Environmentalist-s worry that, without robust laws in place, huge swathes of rainforest are now at greater risk of clearance for oil palm trees.

According to Reuters, the environment minister of Indonesia announced last year that the country reduced the rate of deforestation by 75 per cent by controlling forest fires and curbing land clearing, thanks to the moratorium. Since the law lapsed, one Indonesian government official has told media that no new palm oil permits will be granted. But will this legislative loophole allow progress to be undone?

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DEVASTATING DEFORESTATION Southeast Asia produces 90 per cent of the world’s palm oil. It’s versatile, high yielding, and relatively cheap to produce.

But when new palm oil plantations are created, rainforest habitats are burnt down and cleared, creating smog and releasing huge volumes of carbon dioxide, as well as endangering wildlife.

According to Kiki Taufik, global head of the Indonesia forest campaign at Greenpeace International, the moratorium had positively impacted biodiversity while limiting the expansion of plantations and forcing existing plantations to become more productive.

Now, he’s worried because the Indonesian government seem focused on accelerating investment and development.

“It’s all about short-term growth and profit.

They’re not thinking about the protection of forests. We have 16.4 million hectares of palm oil plantation, which is enough. We don’t need more,” insists Taufik, speaking from Jakarta, where he campaigns for plantations to increase productivity without the need to destroy more forest.

CERTIFIED AND SUSTAINABLE? Only 19 per cent of all palm oil is certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the largest independent third-party standard for more sustainable palm oil.

Membership and certification are voluntary,

Top: Deforestation destroys habitats.

Above: Turning waste coffee into oil.

Top right: Palm oil demand is rising,

not mandatory. So while RSPO is not the perfect solution – Greenpeace highlights that loopholes allow unlawful forest clearances and describes implementation as ‘weak’ in a recent report – Taufik says it is more rigorous than Indonesia’s own Sustainable Palm Oil standard.

Cat Barton, field conservation manager at Chester Zoo, engages with stakeholders right along the supply chain to help promote deforestation-free products, rather than demonising palm oil. “We’re trying to increase that demand for RSPO-certified palm oil at both ends of the supply chain, but we are still seeing a lot of palm oil boycotts, which don’t help in terms of that need for sustainability,” says Barton, who works with partners in the field to reduce chemical inputs, create wildlife corridors including rope bridges for orangutans, and work towards a ‘landscape’ approach.

Palm is the cheapest and most productive land oil source.

Microbial fermentation offers the only scalable solution.

“The whole industry needs to move towards what’s known as identity-preserved and segregated palm oil which is 100 per cent sustainable.” This has been physically separated from ordinary palm oil throughout processing, and retains full traceability back to the source.

SYNTHETIC SOLUTIONS Aside from promoting deforestationfree palm oil, scientists are developing synthetic alternatives.

Revive Eco processes some of the 50,000 tonnes of waste coffee grounds that Scotland produces every year to extract oils with minimal environmental impact. Cofounder Scott Kennedy explains: “We’re not using land to grow a crop, we divert quite a large waste stream away from landfill, and when we supply UK-based companies, this

negates the emissions from shipping palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia.”

Samples of Revive Eco’s oil are currently being trialled by major cosmetics and food and drink companies. “They love what we’re doing, so now, for us to be able to compete on price, we need to replicate what we do in cities around the world so we don’t end up shipping oil around the world like the palm oil industry,” he says.

Professor Chris Chuck, a chemical engineer at the University of Bath, is producing a yeast oil that’s almost identical to palm oil, from a fermentation process that uses waste resources such as seaweed, straw, or food waste. “The reason that palm oil is so ubiquitous is not just the unique properties; it’s the cheapest and most productive land oil source, and you cannot compete with that. Microbial fermentation offers the only scalable solution,” says Chuck, who is developing this as a feasible, cost-effective substitute.

“There’s a good circularity to it, but there are a lot of challenges. The price will always be higher than palm, but modelling shows that we can scale this up really quite quickly.”

GROWING DEMANDS China and India’s demand for palm oil is only increasing, and synthetics don’t yet meet the scale of demand. Even when they do, they’ll require industrial-scale oil refineries

Credit Greenpeace Ulet Ifansasti

Credit Greenpeace Ulet Ifansasti

PALM OIL / FEATURES

which will produce emissions, and the yeast will need to be fed sugars, which in turn need to be farmed. By consuming less and checking sustainability credentials before we buy, our own influence can filter down the supply chain. But to feed a projected global population of 11 billion, perhaps scaling up synthetic solutions will help replace the need for any more ‘slash ‘n’ burn’.

Top tips for buying sustainable palm oil •

Look for ingredients that include prefixes like palm, star-, laur- or glyc- to see if palm oil is present.

•

Check out the Orangutan Alliance’s list for hundreds of alternative names for palm oil derivatives, from arachamide mea to vegetable oil.

•

Look for sustainable palm oil labels like MSPO, ISPO, ISCC or RSPO.

•

Use the WWF’s palm oil scorecard to check out a particular brand or retailer and how much palm oil they buy.

•

Labelling of palm oil is better in food than cosmetics – if in doubt, ask before you buy or use a sustainable shopping app.

ISSUE 7 | WICKED LEEKS 29

LIFESTYLE

p32 Autumn plenty HERE’S TO A...

p34 Mushroom magic p36

Hurrah for hedges 30 WICKED LEEKS | ISSUE 8

Climatefriendly Christmas Cut plastic, stress, and your carbon footprint this Christmas with these tips for climatefriendly festivities, writes Becky Blench.

Above top: Swap coated wrapping paper for sustainable materials.

Above right: Try new recipes to bring your festive veg to life.

CHRISTMAS / LIFESTYLE

Give green gifts Try out having a secondhand, homemade, or charity gifts only rule. Do ‘secret Santa’ with a price limit to help reduce spending; have a family chat to agree what will work best for all.

If people ask you what you want for Christmas, it’s a great opportunity to stock up on zero waste beauty, home or kitchen kit, or look out for the Wicked Leeks Ethical Christmas Gift Guide for low-impact gift ideas.

EDIBLE CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS Scan the QR codes with your smartphone for the full recipe.

Have a homemade Christmas Love a festive jumper? Try out the loveyourclothes.org.uk video tutorial for how to upcycle an old one instead of buying fast fashion. Make a simple DIY stocking (search ‘free Christmas stocking pattern’ online for ideas). Easily sewn by machine or hand, kids love decorating them with felt, pompoms or fabric crayons. Make a mini hamper of goodies to gift. Sloe gin, blackberry brandy or ‘parschnapps’ plus truffles are easy makes.

Get inventive with gift wrap; use upcycled washed fabric squares for a forest-friendly paper alternative.

DARK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES A great last-minute gift as they can be made in advance and will keep for three days in the fridge.

Enjoy an ethical feast

E

veryone is in love with the idea of a traditional Christmas. Cards show a vision of the season that is all holly berries, robins, snow, and a single Christmas stocking hung above a fireplace – but our modern holiday is often a long way away from this.

Tempers are frayed and families frazzled because there is just too much of everything: food shopping, gift shopping, presents, debt, and seemingly endless to-do lists. This year, we have more choice in what we can do than we did last year, but could simplicity be a good thing?

Try creating some new traditions that are climate-friendly instead with these top tips.

Go organic – guaranteed to be free from the harmful pesticides and artificial fertilisers that vastly increase the carbon footprint of food. Buy ‘less and better’ meat for your table, and make veg the star of the show. Use as much of your veg as possible, and get creative with leftovers – Riverford’s Veg Hacks and the Love Food Hate Waste website both have great ideas.

PEAR MOSTARDA A fiery, sweet traditional Italian preserve that can be made using lots of different fruit.

Take time to connect Ringfence time to switch off gadgets and do something together – play a board game, tell a Christmas story by candlelight, enjoy marshmallows and hot chocolate round a fire outdoors, or mince pies and a thermos of hot toddy on a walk with friends. Try volunteering – many get huge satisfaction from helping with community Christmas meals. Remember wildlife at midwinter; make a Christmas tree for the birds by decorating a tree or bush growing in your garden or closest outdoor space, with homemade bird cakes.

PARSCHNAPPS (PARSNIP VODKA) Parsnips work perfectly as a ‘schnapp’ because of their natural, earthy sweetness.

Delicious served on its own over ice, really easy to make, and a great festive tipple.

ISSUE 8 | WICKED LEEKS 31

LIFESTYLE / AUTUMN PLENTY

new world Living for a

Feeling somewhat scattered after the year so far? Time to gather in and reset our lives for a new season and a new way of living, writes Becky Blench.

I

n nature, autumn is the end of the year’s harvest – we collect, focus, take stock, and replenish our stores. As the nights draw in, the start of the academic year is also a time when we are naturally drawn to learn, cultivate new habits and ideas, or find new beginnings.

With COP26 taking place recently, the tension around whether world leaders will take the action needed to combat climate change, and the potential legacy we leave if not, weighs heavy indeed.

A report from 2019 called 1.5 Degree Lifestyles concluded that: "While generally overlooked in our pursuit of technological solutions to climate change, failing to shift the lifestyles of nearly eight billion human beings means we can never effectively

32 WICKED LEEKS | ISSUE 8

reduce GHG emissions or successfully address our global climate crisis.”

The good news is this is within our reach. We can reduce what we buy and use, adopt a more plant-based diet, or decrease carbon emissions, for example by switching to energy-efficient appliances, better home insulation, or public transport.

Debate often rages about whether personal or governmental actions will create the most change, but lifestyle shift means all of us – including our leaders, who need to step up and fulfil their duty of care to people and planet. Whether we write to our MP, protest, sign online petitions, or join an action group that focuses on something we care deeply about, it all adds up.

And while climate change isn’t something any of us can

Above: Eating well and connecting with nature are vital aspects of wellbeing.

solve singlehandedly, a shift to climate-friendly living is something we can all join in with.

Start from where you are.

Find hope and purpose in simple changes, and make it pleasurable. Connect with a community of like-minded folks online, try a new zero waste recipe, go along to a local environmental group, plant a tree, share your skills, learn to garden organically and watch wildlife thrive in your garden, find a low impact leisure activity and read or

walk rather than watch TV, or swap shopping with friends for a crafting afternoon together.

It is also important to take care of our physical selves – eating nourishing food, getting enough sleep, water, movement, and time connecting with nature in any way you can. As the saying goes, ‘you cannot drink from an empty cup’; whatever environmental action we wish to take, feeling grounded and nurturing ourselves is a good place to begin.

AUTUMN PLENTY / LIFESTYLE

ways to reduce your impact Food

Around 10 per cent of emissions come from food waste, and a third of all food produced is wasted, decomposing in landfills to produce the greenhouse gas methane. Plan ahead, write a shopping list, plan in takeaways so they don’t replace food in the fridge, and try batch cooking.

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Fashion

Fashion accounts for up to eight per cent of global emissions, often relying on fibres of plastic origin, made from the fossil fuel industry. You can buy secondhand clothes, consider renting for a special occasion, repair what you can, avoid textiles made of plastic (nylon or polyester), and look out for organic and Fairtrade clothing.

3

Top 3 recipes for ultimate comfort Shift your eating patterns to align with the seasons, and combine warming meals with flashes of healthy greens.

Macaroni cauliflower cheese with mustard and braised chard

Flying

Credit Rebel Recipes

1

Find hope and purpose in making simple changes, and make it pleasurable.

Aim for one flight a year max, or cut it out altogether and explore alternatives closer to home. Ask your employer to support incentives for low carbon travel such as an extra day’s holiday.

4

Fuel

The only way to buy 100 per cent green energy is if your supplier buys or generates renewable energy to match what you use. Energy efficiency measures like double glazing and wall insulation in your home reduce your fuel use while saving money.

5

Have the best of both worlds with this mac’n’cauli cheese. It is an unabashedly comforting dish for a winter’s night, redeemed by some dark wilted chard.

Finance

Moving your money has 25 times more impact than giving up flying or becoming a vegetarian, according to campaign group Make My Money Matter. Ask where your pension money goes and lobby your workplace or private pension provider to find one that better aligns with your values.

Apple, pear, and peanut butter crumble Featuring seasonal UK fruit, this vegan recipe by Rebel Recipes is an extra special crumble with sticky dates, spices, and a nutty peanut butter topping. Cosy and delicious – serve it warm with coconut yogurt or cardamom custard.

Sweet potato and lentil bake

For the full recipes, go to riverford.co.uk/recipes

Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins A and C, magnesium, and potassium.

Paired with a harissa and cumin lentil filling, this is a warming, hearty bake packed with plant-based goodness.

ISSUE ISSUE88 | WICKED LEEKS 33

LIFESTYLE / MUSHROOMS

MUSHROOM

magic Autumn is the ideal time to be feasting on glorious mushrooms, and a delicious way to make a few plant-based swaps in your weekly meals, writes chef James Evans.

M

ushrooms conjure up tastes of earthy, savoury meatiness – it’s no wonder they’ve become a staple meat alternative for veggies and vegans.

Not everyone is a mushroom lover, as some people associate them with being slimy, brown, and unappetising (usually as a result of being cooked badly). However, it’s easy to find exciting varieties, with numerous different ways to prep and cook them, making them enjoyable for almost anyone.

Wild mushrooms are an absolute autumnal treat. If you have the confidence to pick them, then there is nothing better than scurrying around in the woods looking for these edible treasures. If it’s been mild, you may be able to continue foraging through November and even early December – and there are lots of great resources online to help guide and protect you.

Wild mushrooms should be approached with caution, as they can be poisonous.

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Mushrooms are a healthy addition to diets, but most production still relies on peat while other producers are experimenting by growing outdoors on logs. Hear from two farms at either end of spectrum by scanning the code to read:

The Woodland Trust has a good piece on their blog with a list of helpful tips and a guide for which to look for.

Woodland varieties include Beefsteak fungus (which are a magnificent red colour), Charcoal Burner, field mushrooms, and more.

All over Europe, mushrooms are a staple and iconic ingredient. One of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten is a pizza in the mountain town of

Courmayeur, in the Italian alps, covered in Porcini mushrooms. In Catalonia in Spain, mushroom picking is such a popular activity that there are shops that welcome people to bring their mushrooms in to be officially identified by experts, just to be extra safe.

Luckily for those of us who don’t have the opportunity to pick our own, organic mushrooms are quickly becoming widely available throughout the year.

It’s fairly easy to find an exciting array in shops; sometimes even in supermarkets, which often sell King Oyster, Shiitake and others. Forest Funghi, a smaller producer based in South Devon, sell an assortment of gourmet mushrooms, both fresh and dried, via their website for home delivery, as well as through organic veg box company Riverford.

For me there is nothing more delicious than fresh mushrooms cooked in butter with eggs on toast, but for those who are up for something more adventurous, or need a little extra convincing, here are a few other suggestions.

MUSHROOMS / LIFESTYLE

RECIPE

Method

Mushroom risotto Serves 4 | 1 hour (prep time 30 mins, cooking time 30 mins)

It’s hard to beat a mushroom risotto.

This recipe is an absolute classic, with the addition of dried Porcini mushrooms adding hugely to the depth of flavour. To be extra fancy, try serving it with a warm egg yolk or stuffing into a squash.

Ingredients

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and thyme for a few mins to soften. Pour in the rice and stir continuously for 2 mins. Add the Madeira or masala if using, and stir for a minute. Add all the mushrooms and the Porcini liquid. Cook for 1 min.

Add hot stock a ladle at a time, stirring occasionally, letting the rice absorb it before adding more. It will take about 20 mins before the rice is tender but still has a little bite – taste a grain or two.

Season, then stir in the butter and Parmesan, until it goes creamy. Top with some Parmesan shavings if you like.

30g dried Porcini mushrooms, soaked in 300ml boiling water for 30 mins

2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped leaves from 2 sprigs fresh thyme 400g risotto rice 100ml Madeira or masala (optional) 200g mushrooms, sliced 1.2 litres hot veg stock 25g butter 2 tbsp Parmesan, grated salt and pepper

Mushroom stroganoff (veggie or vegan)

Crispy maple, tahini and soy mushrooms on toast These really are a taste and texture sensation, and don’t have a hint of ‘sliminess’.

Cooking thin strips of mushrooms in a sugary, salty marinade makes them wonderfully crispy, rivalling crispy bacon any day.

To make for two people, thinly slice 400g of mushrooms.

A mixture is nice, e.g. King Oyster, Chestnut and Shimeji.

Make a marinade by mixing 1 tablespoon each of soy

sauce, dark tahini, and maple syrup. Mix the mushrooms with the marinade and leave to sit for 15 mins. Spread out across baking parchment on a roasting tin, and cook for 15 mins at 180°C/Gas 4 (turning half way). I love them served on toasted sourdough with creamy labneh.

Finish with some toasted flaked almonds, if you fancy, for a glorious brunch dish.

Finally, consider a vegetarian or vegan mushroom stroganoff. The combination of earthy mushrooms with smoky paprika, herbs and cream is so good; it’s a dish that has a depth of umami (savoury taste) that’s harder to achieve in vegetarian dishes.

To make for two, start by frying a diced onion. After 10 mins, add 400g of sliced mushrooms – a

mix works well. Fry for a few mins, then add 1 teaspoon of paprika and ½ a teaspoon of smoked paprika, and season. Add a dash of white wine and a dash of water.

Let it bubble for a minute, then add a teaspoon of mustard, and 3 tablespoons of soured cream or plantbased alternative. Finish with a squeeze of lemon, and stir in some chopped parsley and dill. Serve with rice for a comforting autumn and winter meal.

ISSUE 8 | WICKED LEEKS 35

LIFESTYLE / GROWN YOUR OWN

Hurrah for hedges

SARAH BROWN

For those who have a town garden - a hedge has been shown to soak up air pollution.

Above: Hedges offer biodiversity and bird feed.

Opposite: Partition your plot to add interest to the eye.

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I

Gardening columnist

f there is one thing you plant this winter, let it be a hedge.

Hedges are full of benefits to your organic growing space. They support wildlife by providing shelter and food. They can act as natural windbreaks, and as green backdrops setting off your chosen plants. They also soften hard boundaries such as ugly new fences, and they give privacy as well as hiding unsightliness.

Hedges needn’t be big. I have a small one, clipped to kneehigh formality, leading to my

seating area. And another around where my hens run, although this one generously sprawls, full of blackberries, hips and haws, and chattering sparrows. This is my exciting hedge. It marks the seasons by being deciduous, so blossom and berries change with the months. Hedges don’t have to be tall either. In my tiny herb plot I have a row of eight lavender plants in pots (call it a hedge!) where it’s one of summer’s delights to watch bees buzz.

And for those who have a town garden – a hedge has been shown to soak up air pollution. Bamboos and other tall hedging plants will sigh gently in the wind, or whisper with the patter of rain. Plants add a gentler dimension to those hard neighbour boundaries, and they can partition your plot – teasing

GROW YOUR OWN / LIFESTYLE

the eye to travel to unknown areas beyond. You might also consider it as an intruder deterrent: plant a hedge of blackthorn, and the thorns will stop anyone getting through.

But it is for the wildlife in my garden that I plant hedges. Birds build nests and feed on the fruits. Insects will love the blossom and use the twiggy growths for shelter in winter months. Small mammals love the leaf litter below, as will the soil life such as earthworms and earwigs.

So, what can you plant? My advice is to buy bare root whips. You can get them from specialist nurseries or online. They are not only cheaper, but they will establish themselves quickly this time of year, when the plant’s energies can go into root development, and not get diverted into photosynthesising leaves. And I would choose native varieties. There are a number of bundles available, most of which include hawthorn, guelder rose, dog rose, hazel or even the crazy 70s psychedelic-berried spindle bush. It’s that variety of leaf shape and colours that will give you most hedge-shaped pleasure.

Help with hedge planting 1

To get a thick hedge, mark out two parallel rows approx. 30cms apart. Then stagger the plants approx.

40cms apart along each line so they are in a zig zag.

2

After a year, pinch out the leading bud top. This encourages lateral growth to thicken up your hedge.

3

Don’t forget to water well.

Especially in the first year of growth.

The Grow Your Own Wicked Leeks series is by Garden Organic, the national charity for organic growing. Each month we bring you timely advice on what to do in your organic patch, whether you’re an experienced grower or just starting out. Go to: wickedleeks. com/topic/grow-your-own.

Organic recipe boxes Veg-packed seasonal recipes, and all the organic ingredients you need - dinner sorted.

riverford.co.uk/ organic-recipe-boxes ISSUE 8 | WICKED LEEKS 37

LIFESTYLE / RECIPE

Sauerkraut chocolate cake Fermentation legend Sandor Katz takes a sweet turn with a recipe from his latest book.

RECIPE

2 HOURS (including cooling time)

M

any people seem shocked at the idea of a chocolate cake made with sauerkraut. But it is quite delicious and moist, and the sauerkraut blends into the sweet cake just like the shredded carrot in a carrot cake or the courgette in a courgette bread. The sourness of the kraut is mostly neutralised as it reacts with the alkaline baking soda, and the reaction between them is part of what rises the cake.

As for the sauerkraut, I recommend a very simple and plain kraut without a lot of additional ingredients beyond finely shredded cabbage and salt.

Ingredients

Method

170g butter, room temperature 300g sugar 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 380g white flour 75g cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 160g sauerkraut, drained and squeezed of excess juice, and very finely shredded 65g cacao nibs (optional) 120ml jam of your choice to spread between the layers

For the chocolate balsamic glaze 160ml balsamic vinegar 3 tablespoons sugar 45g bittersweet baking chocolate, grated or cut into small pieces

1. Preheat oven to 175°C/ Gas 3.

8. Pour the batter into the two prepared pans.

2. Prepare two 8-inch/20-centimetre round cake pans: Rub butter on interior surfaces, dust with flour, and line bottoms with parchment paper.

9. Bake for 30 mins, then stick a toothpick or fork into the centre of one of the cakes to see if it comes out clean. If so, remove the cakes from the oven; if not, bake for another 5 mins.

3. Cream the butter and sugar together, using a whisk or electric mixer, until smooth.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each one in until smooth.

5. Add the vanilla and mix until smooth.

6. In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then sift them slowly into the butter-sugar-egg mixture, mixing well with a spoon or spatula. Add 250ml of water, a little a time, as you stir it into a smooth batter.

7. Add the sauerkraut and cacao nibs (if using), and stir to mix them in thoroughly.

10. Allow the cakes to cool on a rack until they are cool enough to handle.

Then remove from the baking pans and peel the parchment paper from the bottoms of the cakes.

11. For the glaze, combine the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a saucepan, whisking them together and heating until it is hot but not boiling. When the sugar is fully dissolved, remove from heat and whisk in the chocolate until it is melted.

12. Place one layer of the cake on a serving plate or cake stand, spread jam on top of it, then place the second layer on the jam.

Pour the glaze over the top and sides of the cake.

Fermentation Journeys by Sandor Ellix Katz (Chelsea Green, £20) is out now.

38 WICKED LEEKS | ISSUE 8

LIFESTYLE

with Ravinder Bhogal

@cookinboots

Born in Kenya, to Indian parents, Ravinder Bhogal is a journalist, chef and restaurateur. Her debut restaurant is Jikoni, and she has a monthly food column for FT Weekend and Guardian Feast.

Where are you happiest? On Kenyan soil – I am deeply and emotionally connected to it and it’s what my grandfather fell in love with when he arrived from India to Kenya in the 1940s. The red soil is so alluvial and benevolent. Everything that comes out of it tastes delicious, and the smell of it when it rains is magical and nostalgic.

What’s your first food memory? Sitting on a little stool in the courtyard of my house in Kenya podding endless sacks of sweet green peas that looked like malachite marbles. I squealed occasionally at the sight of the odd caterpillar!

What’s your most prized possession?

The original ring my husband used to propose to me. It belonged to his great uncle who had bought it to propose to his love but tragically died before he could. It was worn by all the wonderful women in his family and when he used it to propose to me, it felt that the legacy of what the ring was originally bought for had been fulfilled.

1

Favourite late night snack? Cheese and Peters Yard Charcoal crackers. I can never resist the truffle brie from my neighbour La Fromagerie.

Who would be your dream dinner party guests and what would you eat? The greats: Claudia Roden and Madhur Jaffrey – such

Worst ever job? Switchboard receptionist for one of the largest accountancy firms in the world.

3

5

4

CROSSWORD Answers on pages 3-39...

6

ACROSS

7

1. Community in the Peak District working to tackle climate change (4, 6)

8

7. The overwhelming cause of climate change (6, 5)

9

8. The colour of the Beefsteak fungus woodland variety of mushroom (3)

10 11

16

One single thing you could change about the world? Wealth inequality and equal educational opportunities for everyone.

What food ingredient could you not live without? Fresh curry leaves. There is nothing that can substitute their fragrance and citrus flavour.

2

12

iconic women in our industry. Diana Henry and Nigella Lawson who have both inspired my work. The author Jean Rhys whose books I absolutely adore and who had such an interesting life. The artist Amrita Sher-Gil whose painting Three Girls I wish I owned. All strong, talented women – all ahead of their time. We’d eat Italian food. Quivering balls of the best burrata with exceptional olive oil, tomatoes and basil; focaccia that’s dense with olive oil; crystal lemon cucumbers with sea salt grown at Waltham Place, the biodynamic farm we work with; linguine with an ocean of clams; and tiramisu from Trattoria Dardano in Cortona – I have never eaten a better one.

13

14

17

15

9. What we need to do to emissions before offsetting (6) 10. Often grown in monocultures to fulfil plant-based diets (7) 11. Falls as litter below a hedge and loved by small

mammals and insect life (4)

footprint (3)

13. Commodity causing deforestation (4, 3)

6. International group of economists who believe in a carbon tax (4)

16. What should be at the heart of food systems (6)

7. Decomposes in landfills to produce methane (4, 5)

17. Guy SinghWatson believes this is needed to make fossil fuels more expensive. (5)

10. Mix with pears and peanut butter in warming crumble (6)

DOWN 1. Woody shrub found in hedges (5)

14. Produces methane, eat less but better (4)

2. Europe’s last pristine river (5)

15. Degrowth, sels (anag) (4)

3. A type of sustainable wheat (2) 4. Winter root veg used in vodka (8) 5. Cut out or reduce to once a year to lower your carbon

12. Climate talks held in Glasgow this year (3)

Sign up to the Wicked Leeks email for solutions. wickedleeks. com/#join.

ISSUE 8 | WICKED LEEKS 39

The more people join our community, the more of a positive difference we can make together.

If you refer a friend to Riverford, and they become a customer, we’ll give you each £15 to say thank you – and plant a native tree on organic farmland.

Find your unique referral code at riverford.co.uk/refer

Over their lifetimes, each tree will sequester up to a tonne of carbon!