It has been announced that His Majesty King Charles is retaining his patronage of the Soil Association as part of his long-standing support for organic and nature-friendly farming.
King Charles has supported the charity since first becoming patron as Prince of Wales in 1999 and he has also supported hundreds of farmer-led research trials with the charity’s Innovative Farmers network, which helps farmers to test sustainable solutions on real farms and has been funded by King Charles III Charitable Fund (formerly known as The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund) since it was launched 12 years ago.
Soil Association Chief Executive, Helen Browning, commented: “We are delighted that His Majesty King Charles will remain our patron. At the Soil Association, we have been very fortunate to have worked closely with King Charles during his many years of extraordinary charitable work as the Prince of Wales. I feel privileged to know him as a fellow organic farmer with a lifelong dedication to healthy, sustainable food, and as a champion for nature, the countryside and its people.
“King Charles III Charitable Fund has supported more than 120 farmer-led research trials with our Innovative Farmers network – but his support goes far beyond financial generosity. He follows the work of pioneering farmers with avid fascination and takes inspiration from them. We look forward to sharing more with the King as the Soil Association pursues a nature-friendly future with his support.”
Speaking at a 10-year anniversary event for Innovative Farmers held in 2022, the former Prince of Wales said he was “very proud” to have been able to support Innovative Farmers.
The results of the Veganuary campaign have revealed 82 per cent of people who took part in 2024 plan to make significant diet changes after participating.
The results from the participant survey found that the 82 per cent plan to either stay fully vegan or reduce animal products by at least 50 per cent.
The number one reason people decided to stay vegan is that they learned more about veganism (24 per cent), followed by improved health (20 per cent) and finding it easier than expected (17 per cent).
In terms of their experience during the challenge, around half saw some improvement to their overall health (48 per cent), with increased energy (47 per cent), improved mood (48 per cent), better skin (38 per cent) and desired change in body weight (35 per cent) being the most common benefits.
It was also found that 69 per cent ate more fruit and veg during their Veganuary pledge than before, and 14 per cent tried a new fruit or veg for the first time during the campaign period.
Veganuary’s International Head of Communications, Toni Vernelli, commented: “These incredible results show that Veganuary is so much more than a one-month pledge as taking part leads to lasting diet change for most participants. With 82 per cent of our 2024 participants planning to at least halve their intake of animal products permanently – including nearly one-third who plan to stay fully vegan, Veganuary really is driving positive change for animals, people and the planet.”
Ethical Consumer has announced that they are expanding their Best Buy Label scheme due to the continued growth of the UK ethical market. The company has launched the expansion with fellow co-operative Suma Wholefood’s new range of Italian organic pasta.
Suma’s new pasta range is the first product to be awarded Ethical Consumer’s prestigious Best Buy Label under the organisation’s newly expanded certification scheme – which will now include products which were previously not covered in their regular product guides.
Products will still be rated according to Ethical Consumer’s unique scoring system, which specifically looks at a company and its product’s environmental and ethical credentials. The certification of Suma’s organic pasta marks a unique triple for Europe’s co-operative movement as Ethical Consumer, Suma and the Italian manufacturer of the pasta are all worker-owned co-operatives.
Stephanie Motzek, Suma’s Commerce Compliance Coordinator, comments: “Here at Suma, we are individual members of our co-operative and also consumers. Working together with Ethical Consumer was insightful. We greatly respect the work they undertake as researchers, enabling the public to make better-informed buying decisions.
“Suma had the honour of contributing to this process review and development; it isn’t just about our products but about the ethical market as a whole and that’s something we’re very pleased to have been able to assist with.”
Nadine Oliver of Ethical Consumer adds: “It’s terrific that not only is Suma a workers’ co-op like ourselves but also that the company which makes the organic pasta is a co-op too. This shows that the co-op movement is right at the cutting edge of today’s ethical market.
“We’re increasingly being approached by companies to certify products and services in sectors that fall outside of our existing shopping guides. By expanding our Best Buy Label scheme we’re now opening up the possibility for us to award the Best Buy Label to a much wider range of products and services.”
Launched over 20 years ago, the Best Buy Label scheme has signed up almost 50 of the UK’s most ethical companies based on the results of Ethical Consumer’s product guides. The recognisable butterfly logo is only awarded to products with top scores; the Ethical Consumer scoring system rates products out of 100, starting with a company’s overall ethics and then takes into consideration a range of issues including supply chain management, animal rights policy, tax conduct and carbon reporting.
Suma currently has 20 Best Buy labels due to their outstanding ethics when it comes to supply chain management and their environmental reporting, scoring highly for all their products.
Organic & Natural Business magazine