Six Inches of Soil Teaser Trailer Screening at Oxford Farming Conference

Whirlwind start to the year as our team headed to Oxford to attend two large farming conferences – OFC and ORFC. We were invited to show our teaser trailer at OFC, we’d like to say big thanks to Liz Bowles at Farm Carbon Toolkit. It was great to see the teaser on a huge screen with 500+ attendees watching. Myself (Claire Mackenzie) and Director Colin Ramsay were invited to meet Anne Princess Royal, who kindly spent a significant amount of time chatting to us.

Standout speakers were Jane Davidson author of #futuregen – Lessons from a Small Country - who was previously Minister for Environment Sustainability in Wales. England and other countries should be inspired by the work going on in Wales, which is the first country in the world to introduce legislation to protect future generations. Sally Anne Spence lit up the room as she shared the joys of Dung beetles and the extraordinary cosmic world of Professor Jacqueline McGlade at Strathmore University, her work is helping us down on the ground with satellite images and readings. Finally,  Sir Tim Smit, founder of The Eden Project in Cornwall, grabbed attention with a cathartic rant calling us to ‘rock the boat’, ‘grab the future that is still ours to have’ and telling us that in Holland farmers are revered and they sit on pedestals alongside doctors - why are we not doing this in England when good food is the best preventative medicine?...

As a team we regrouped at the Oxford Real Farming Conference, we stepped into a room full of those we have met on our journey - the energy in the St Aldates Tavern and St Aldates Oxford church was amazing.

Thoughts from the day:
The atmosphere and sponsors of the events are different - one more formal than the other, but they share the SAME central theme: climate emergency. The agroecologcial central theme of the ORFC has attracted more and more attendees - farmers and growers at ORFC are seeking ways to transform their farms, communities and the food system.

What a shame that we couldn’t attend both events together, or at least enjoy some joint sessions. The events are all about collaboration and knowledge-sharing - NOW is the time to work together…