“We should not be out there thinking and talking of ourselves as organic farmers, because that separates us from the rest of the farming community.”
He rightly gauged there was an appetite among the nation’s farmers for a less draconian yet sustainable approach, and promptly set up the Sustainable Food Trust. Investigative journalist and best-selling author Eric Schlosser, along with Holden’s West Welsh organic neighbour Peter Segger, are on the board of directors. The Trust gives Holden the latitude to talk soil and ‘true cost’ economics – such as the real price of nitrogen fertilisers – with farmers and food producers, and to be less fixated on the marketing of organic labels. He would like to introduce a sustainable index for farms to work their way through and thinks even ideological chasms should be talked through. This is something Holden excels at.