The Royal Countryside Fund attends the Waitrose farming festival

Alongside other charities and partners of Waitrose, it was inspiring to delve deeper into the realm of regenerative farming alongside industry leaders and passionate advocates for sustainable agriculture.

Highlights included getting a ‘sneak peak’ at Waitrose & Partners new ‘Farming for Nature’ initiative, a pivotal step that will support more than 2,000 British farmers to move to nature-friendly farming practices, helping to boost financial resilience of farms in the long-term and combat the effects of climate change. Charlotte Di Cello, Commercial Director at Waitrose summed up that “a successful Waitrose is built on a successful set of British farmers and growers.”

It was very inspiring to hear from the keynote speaker, Gabe Brown, a pioneer of the soil-health movement and regenerative farming. Gabe illustrated perfectly the importance of regenerative practices in enhancing farm resilience, increasing nutritional value and combatting climate change. He noted that regenerative agriculture is about making improvements, not just maintaining the status quo, asking “why would you want to sustain a degraded resource?” and highlighting the link between healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy animals, and healthy food. The Royal Countryside Fund’s farming programmes demonstrate practical ways that farm businesses can incorporate regenerative and other environmental practices into their farm management, to achieve a sustainable and profitable future.

We are so excited to be long-term partners with Waitrose & Partners & to be part of this journey towards a more sustainable future.