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NEWS  Stop killing our rivers Rivers in at least seven counties across Britain are at risk of becoming dead zones, depleted of wildlife, if UK governments don’t ban new factory chicken farms, according to a new Soil Association report An idyllic scene, but the water of the River Wye near Monmouth is polluted Our River New analysis f rom the Soil Association has revealed that the Brit ish public is blind to the scale and grow th of the industrial chicken meat sector, which has been expanding at a rate of one million birds per month since 2014. Today, it has reached more than a billion birds per year. The industr y is a leading cause of 'dead zones' in the River Wye, where the muck f rom 20 million chickens has contributed to phosphate pollution that causes algal blooms, suffocating plants and st ar v ing wildlife that depend on it . The new report Stop Killing Lincolnshire, Herefordshire and Powys. This comes alongside a new opinion poll that showed 80% of people in the UK underestimate the scale of industrial chicken farming. Just one in f ive realise that more than 90% of chickens reared for meat are factor y farmed, and only 15% of people are aware that farming is the biggest polluter of UK rivers. Despite this lack of awareness, 75% would be willing to eat less chicken if it meant cleaner UK rivers and less environmental destruction overseas, showing that a “ less but bet ter ” f uture for chicken is possible. Soil Association Head of Food Polic y, Rob Percival, said: “Few people realise that industrial chicken production might be the most ethically bankrupt and environmentally destructive business in the UK. It ’s the scale and intensit y of production It ’s the scale and intensity of production that’s the issue – most people would be shocked to learn that poultry populations have been growing at a rate of one million birds every month for the past ten years s looked at the escalating number of permits for factor y chicken farms in England and Wales. It found unit s are concentrated in 10 other river catchments in Norfolk, Shropshire, Gloucestershire, Yorkshire, that ’s the issue – most people would be shocked to learn that poultr y populations have been growing at a rate of one million birds ever y month for the past ten years. It ’s gobsmacking, a horror stor y that is impossible to sustain. The system needs to be completely reformed. Farmers operating these unit s are of ten doing so out of f inancial necessit y and need a v iable alternative. Urgent government act ion is needed. The poultr y industr y is like a runaway t rain – if we don’t act now to put the brakes on industrial production, we’ll see more of our rivers becoming dead zones and facing the same desperate fate as the River Wye. If it can happen in such a protected area, it can happen anywhere. Enough is enough. We need to stop building intensive poultr y unit s and help farmers to exit this damaging industry.” 6 Organic Farming Spring 2024 The scale of the problem Millions of fast-growing birds are now held on UK farms. They live for lit t le over a month, suf fering leg and heart conditions, and the muck they produce is only cleaned out when they are sent for slaughter. This means that each unit deals with thousands of tonnes of waste f rom tens of thousands of birds around ever y six to eight weeks. Across England and Wales, the majorit y has been spread on land near the units, and Lancaster Universit y research suggests that excess phosphorus in agricultural soils in the Wye catchment could provide 20 years of fer t iliser without f ur ther input . Avara, one of the few processors that dominate the sector, has announced plans to mitigate damage to the Wye by t ransporting waste out of the catchment. But Soil Association Campaign Advisor, Cathy Clif f, author of the report, said it is “simply impossible” to sustainably manage the sheer number of chickens and the muck they are producing.
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Eat more real food Children should be eating more “real food” and less ultra-processed foods, a House of Lords inquiry was told by the Soil Association and Professor Tim Spector urges government to roll this out alongside a “whole school approach” that reconnects children with real food with cooking , growing, farm v isit s, and sensor y food education. Growing up on UPFs Speaking at the Lords Select Committee Inquir y into Diet, Health and Obesit y, Professor Tim Spector recommended that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) should make up no more than 10 per cent of the food ser ved in government funded inst it ut ions. This would be a dramatic shif t as UPFs make up 61% of energ y int ake f rom school meals for primary school children, due to a range of fac tors, including t ighter budgets and a lack of facilit ies. Af ter being asked which st rategies he would propose to t ack le obesit y, Spector said government should “make sure that all government, t axpayer f unded inst it ut ions, like schools, hospitals and other inst it ut ions, have a polic y of having less than 10 per cent ult ra-processed food in their diet s”. He added: “I think it ’s particularly important for our school children that they actually do get some real food.” Reconnect children with food The Soil Association supports a bold UPF reduction t arget for public inst it ut ions and Our children are growing up from a very young age on an ultra-processed diet. They are growing up on a diet that’s universally soft and sweet... and certain behaviour patterns are entrenched, like snacking The Soil Association’s Head of Food Polic y, Rob Percival, told the inquir y that these foods were disrupting children’s relationship with food. Percival warned that the debate on healthy diet s had become reductive to t alk about nutrients instead of food, and that this had been “spun” by the food industr y to support a “ harmful polic y paradigm” that leads to an industrialised food supply which is not beneficial to our health. He said: “The good work of nutrit ion scient ist s, who have revealed the complexit y of food and the necessit y of a healthy diet ar y pat tern, is being twisted into a polic y paradigm where if we just think that if we throw in some f ibre over there and squeeze out a few calories over here we might be healthy. And it ’s not working.” He added: “Our children are growing up f rom a ver y young age on an ult ra-processed diet . They are growing up on a diet that ’s universally sof t and sweet, in which cer t ain physiological responses are encouraged and cer t ain behaviour pat terns are entrenched, like snacking. Their whole relat ionship with food is being disrupted and this is all by factors that lie beyond the nutrient composition of these foods. We need to look beyond the nutrients if we’re to understand what’s going on.” Whole school approach Speaking af ter the inquir y, Percival added: “We’ve been waiting two years for the government to f ulf il their promise. All schools should be required to adopt a whole school approach, alongside Spector’s recommendation for a reduction t arget for ult ra-processed foods. This could really help children to appreciate real food, set t ing long-term habits that could shif t diet s onto a less ult ra- processed footing.” Children need to connect with real food IN BRIEF Making bird boxes at the Black Barn project COMMUNITY HUB A multi-million-pound community education hub, the Black Barn Project, was launched back in February at Woodoaks Farm, Hertfordshire, the naturefriendly farm managed by the Soil Association Land Trust. The previously intensively managed farm was gif ted to the Soil Association Land Trust in 2020 and has undergone a dramatic transformation with support from the community as it converts to organic. Although work is yet to start on building the hub, locals can get involved with new learning events. The programme kicked off with a bird box building workshop, aimed at children but suitable for anyone who's interested in how to create a habitat for birds. AGROFORESTRY AMBASSADOR Are you a farmer or advisor passionate about agroforestry and keen to have an impact? At the Soil Association we are committed to supporting more trees in farming and know that hearing first hand from those directly involved is a powerful tool for change. Our ambassador program showcases the knowledge and skill of agroforestry innovators. It is flexible and responsive; we work with farmers in whichever way suits your skills and preferences.  Please contact us if you would like to find out more or meet any of our expert team. Ben Raskin braskin@soilassociation. org or Jon Haines jhaines@ soilassociation.org Spring 2024 Organic Farming 7

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NEWS 

Stop killing our rivers Rivers in at least seven counties across Britain are at risk of becoming dead zones, depleted of wildlife, if UK governments don’t ban new factory chicken farms, according to a new Soil Association report

An idyllic scene, but the water of the River Wye near

Monmouth is polluted

Our River

New analysis f rom the Soil Association has revealed that the Brit ish public is blind to the scale and grow th of the industrial chicken meat sector, which has been expanding at a rate of one million birds per month since 2014. Today, it has reached more than a billion birds per year. The industr y is a leading cause of 'dead zones' in the River Wye, where the muck f rom 20 million chickens has contributed to phosphate pollution that causes algal blooms, suffocating plants and st ar v ing wildlife that depend on it . The new report

Stop Killing

Lincolnshire, Herefordshire and Powys. This comes alongside a new opinion poll that showed 80% of people in the UK underestimate the scale of industrial chicken farming. Just one in f ive realise that more than 90% of chickens reared for meat are factor y farmed, and only 15% of people are aware that farming is the biggest polluter of UK rivers. Despite this lack of awareness, 75% would be willing to eat less chicken if it meant cleaner UK rivers and less environmental destruction overseas, showing that a “ less but bet ter ” f uture for chicken is possible. Soil Association Head of Food Polic y, Rob Percival, said: “Few people realise that industrial chicken production might be the most ethically bankrupt and environmentally destructive business in the UK. It ’s the scale and intensit y of production

It ’s the scale and intensity of production that’s the issue – most people would be shocked to learn that poultry populations have been growing at a rate of one million birds every month for the past ten years s looked at the escalating number of permits for factor y chicken farms in England and Wales. It found unit s are concentrated in 10 other river catchments in Norfolk, Shropshire, Gloucestershire, Yorkshire,

that ’s the issue – most people would be shocked to learn that poultr y populations have been growing at a rate of one million birds ever y month for the past ten years. It ’s gobsmacking, a horror stor y that is impossible to sustain. The system needs to be completely reformed. Farmers operating these unit s are of ten doing so out of f inancial necessit y and need a v iable alternative. Urgent government act ion is needed. The poultr y industr y is like a runaway t rain – if we don’t act now to put the brakes on industrial production, we’ll see more of our rivers becoming dead zones and facing the same desperate fate as the River Wye. If it can happen in such a protected area, it can happen anywhere. Enough is enough. We need to stop building intensive poultr y unit s and help farmers to exit this damaging industry.”

6 Organic Farming Spring 2024

The scale of the problem

Millions of fast-growing birds are now held on UK farms. They live for lit t le over a month, suf fering leg and heart conditions, and the muck they produce is only cleaned out when they are sent for slaughter. This means that each unit deals with thousands of tonnes of waste f rom tens of thousands of birds around ever y six to eight weeks. Across England and Wales, the majorit y has been spread on land near the units, and Lancaster Universit y research suggests that excess phosphorus in agricultural soils in the Wye catchment could provide 20 years of fer t iliser without f ur ther input . Avara, one of the few processors that dominate the sector, has announced plans to mitigate damage to the Wye by t ransporting waste out of the catchment. But Soil Association Campaign Advisor, Cathy Clif f, author of the report, said it is “simply impossible” to sustainably manage the sheer number of chickens and the muck they are producing.

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