Farm Gate

This is the first in a series in which we talk to regenerative dairy producers from around the world - as part of the Regen Dairy project, set up by FAI Farms and Farmwel, in collaboration with Unilever, Barry Callebaut, Arla Foods, Woolworth South Africa and Ben & Jerry’s. In this programme, ffinlo Costain talks to Blake Alexandre, from Alexandre Family Farm, California, USA, and Bryce Cunningham, from Mossgiel Farm in Scotland, about the challenges of scaling regenerative dairy. Produced by Farmwel and FAI Farms.

Many governments see farm expansion as the future of agriculture, but there's a grave risk that this will simply embed the challenges inherent in today's food system.  Instead we need diversity - and small farms play a critical a role. ffinlo Costain talks to Chris Smaje, author of A Small Farm Future, published by Chelsea Green.   Produced by Farmwel.

What does war in Ukraine, and the global response to conflict, tell us about global food production and food systems more broadly? ffinlo Costain is joined by Chantal Wei-Ying Clément, deputy director of IPES Food, Joona Mikkola from Soil Watch and Sue Pritchard from the UK's Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. Produced by Farmwel, with support from FAI Farms.

Most people live in cities, urban conurbations and housing estates rather than in cottages next to farms. How can we shorten supply chains into cities, bring food production to urban areas, and support volunteers and micro business opportunities for citizens, farmers and growers? ffinlo Costain is joined by Jeremy Iles from the Urban Agriculture Consortium and Rachel Hammond from Edge. Produced by Farmwel.

The war in Ukraine has sparked a food price crisis with devastating impacts being felt around the world - but while Russia lit the touch paper, this crisis was predicted and could have been avoided. ffinlo Costain is joined by Professor Jennifer Clapp, Thin Lei Win and Margot Gibbs. Jennifer is an expert for Brussels-based IPES-Food and the Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo in Ontario - she's also Vice Chair of the High Level Panel of Experts on food security and nutrition of the UN Committee on World Food Security. Margot and Thin are food system reporters for Lighthouse Reports, a non-profit investigative journalism group, which is based in the Netherlands. Produced by Farmwel.

A regenerative agricultural and environmental transformation depends upon a resurgence of localism - but localism is also championed by far right politicians who pronounce their own vision centred on a tough approach to immigration.  How we can safeguard food systems in a more ecologically chaotic world with accelerating human migration?  Can we find a popular but inclusive vision of national localism? ffinlo Costain is joined by Natalie Bennett of the Green Party of England and Wales, and by Sue Pritchard, the chief Executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. Produced by Farmwel.

In this programme, we discuss a feature film, Six Inches of Soil, which is currently in production in the UK.  The film is being crowd-funded by organisations and individuals, and its producers want to ensure that - even as we are driven towards an ecological precipice fuelled in part by an industrialised food system - we recognise that the dirt beneath our feet is what feeds us and makes our societies strong. ffinlo Costain is joined by Colin Ramsay, the director of Six Inches of Soil, and by Claire Mackensie, the film's producer. Produced by Farmwel.

In this programme, we're talking about meat, fish and protein alternatives - and the competing claims about sustainability that are made by individuals and vested interests across the food sector and around the world.  IPES Food has released a new report, The Politics of Protein, and to discuss it, ffinlo Costain is joined from the USA by lead author, Phil Howard, and from Brussels by the director of IPES Food, Nick Jacobs. LINKS: https://twitter.com/IPESfood http://www.ipes-food.org/pages/politicsofprotein https://twitter.com/ffinlocostain https://twitter.com/NickJacobs11

Demand for new woodland is growing for everything from timber to carbon sequestration. But forests take up space - and competition for land is increasing. How do we balance the demands of food production, nature, housing and infrastructure, with the need for new woodland and forest products?   ffinlo Costain is joined by Andrew Heald, a consultant specialising in sustainable forests and plantations, and by Martin Lines, the chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network. Produced by Farmwel.

In this programme, ffinlo Costain talks to Rob Percival, author of The Meat Paradox.   We are not wild animals and yet we still kill other sentient creatures and eat them in their billions. Rob charts our relationship with meat, from the scavenging of carcasses on an ancient savannah to the industrialised systems that produce much of the meat we consume today. He finds that emotional conflict has challenged human consciousness for many thousands of years. Produced by Farmwel.