The whole part of today was new to me as I had never previously heard of the charity or how they contribute to campaigning for healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use. In 1946, the UK-wide charity was formed by farmers, scientists and nutritionists and in 2002 the Soil Association was founded.

There are three main key elements that form Food for Life Scotland which are:

• Education Framework
• Sustainable Food Cities
• Catering Mark

The Catering Mark is is awarded to caterers and encourages provision of freshly-made, healthy meals using sustainable and ethical ingredients. Furthermore, the Education Framework uses a holistic, whole-school approach and uses food as a place-based context for;

• Learning for Sustainability
• Health and Well-being
• Interdisciplinary Learning
• Raising Attainment for All
• GIRFEC
• Better Eating, Better Learning

After exploring what the Food for Life entails, we soon started to understand how everything starts within the soil! Before today’s input, I did not know much about soil, its billions of living organisms or how important it is. After a short quiz on soil, I was intrigued by the new facts and knowledge I had gained about it as I had no idea how significant it really was. The facts that stood out to me the most and caught me by surprise were firstly that it takes a massive 1000 years just to form one small centimetre of top soil, and secondly that soil contains more carbon than the atmosphere and all the world’s forests combined and lastly, that 95% of our food sources come from the soil!

Sammi covered a lot of interesting facts about soil and how it impacts our daily lives. Soil is used as a filter to purify our water and air, as well as storing more carbon than all of the forest’s in the world which helps us to combat climate change. In general terms, soil is made up of: minerals, water, air and organic matter which is another new fact I have learned today as I was previously always unsure of what soil really consisted of.

For soil to properly form, this requires the function of time, climate, topography, parent material and living organisms. According to Soil for Association, good soil should contain;

• Good soil tilth
• Sufficient depth
• Sufficient, but not excessive, nutrient supply
• Small population of plant pathogens and insect pests
• Good soil drainage
• Large population of beneficial organisms
• Low weed pressure
• No chemicals or toxins that may harm the crop
• Resilience to degradation and unfavorable conditions

Below is a simple diagram that shows clearly and effectively the process of soil formation.

Soil Formation

Organic means working with nature, and not being against it. It means higher levels of animal welfare, lower levels of pesticides, no manufactured herbicides or artificial fertilisers and more environmentally sustainable management of the land and natural environment – this means more wildlife!

It is has been identified that whatever you’re buying – from cotton buds to carrots – when you choose organic, you choose products that promote a better world.

Going organic is easier than you’d think. Food, health, beauty and textile products that hold the Soil Association organic symbol have been produced to the highest possible animal welfare and environmental standards and this is an area I aim to continue to develop and focus on as it makes a huge difference.

References

https://www.soilassociation.org/organic-living/why-organic/

http://wwhtmlw.keepbanderabeautiful.org/soilconservation.