On to Harper Adams
Harper Adams is one of the most esteemed and popular agricultural colleges in the UK. It’s an imposing building and being a traditional sort of place Ben Raskin (Soil Association Technical Manager) and I approached with some trepidation. Our talks contain a lot of issues outside mainstream and we were expecting some tough questioning.
The audience was quite small, but they listened carefully and we held some stimulating debate after the presentations. From what we perceived as a potentially reserved approach, came some vigorous debate abut organic farming, local food, peak oil, GM, food security and a number of other pertinent issues.
We were pleased that Dr John Reade was present, who has considerable knowledge on organic systems and teaches the organic MSc at Harper. It’s strange how people accept facts in a different light if one of their peers is “on board” and undoubtedly this helped move our talk on.
All in all it was a useful visit that made some useful contacts.
Then it was back down South for some meetings at the Soil Association in Bristol to discuss some details on the development of Organic Futures.