The Sustainable Food Trust Podcast

How can we make the land we have in the UK work best for nature, for people and for producing food?
Our final episode recorded in our Podcast Tent at Groundswell this year, focused on a contentious yet hugely important topic: land use. Simply, do we have enough land in this country to do everything? To produce food, to support nature, to generate energy, to store carbon, to build housing, to maintain community spaces – the list goes on.
The SFT's Stuart Oates is joined by our CEO and organic dairy farmer, Patrick Holden, journalist and presenter of Countryfile and BBC Radio 4's Rare Earth, Tom Heap, and organic mixed farmer and Nuffield scholar, Dave Oates – they discuss whether or not crop rotations and rotational grazing offers the solution to doing it all, how 'agrihood' initiatives across the world are successfully integrating food growth and productive green spaces into residential areas, and ask how can regulation and government policies better support multifunctional land use?
Find more SFT podcasts, featuring some of the most exciting names in food and farming, at our main podcast page. Keep up to date with news, policy updates and more by subscribing to our monthly newsletter or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
This conversation was recorded in the SFT Podcast Tent at Groundswell in July 2026, sponsored by The Rothschild Foundation. To listen to more podcasts recorded live at this year's festival, click here.
 
Timestamps
0:00: Welcome + who's on the podcast + initial thoughts
02:26: The challenges of land use and food production
05:21: Balancing nature and demand for food
08:27: The role of diets and consumer behaviour
11:48: Is animal agriculture a good use of land?
14:39: Innovative approaches to land use
17:45: Integrating agriculture with community development
21:39: Organic vs regenerative
24:07: Balancing productivity and environmental targets
28:43: Regulation and measurement in agriculture
29:43: Integrating solar and agrivoltaics
32:03: Community ownership
36:05: The future of biofuels and land use policy
39:33: What's one change you'd make to land use in the UK?

What's it like to be young in an industry where the average age is nudging 60 (and climbing)? Why would you want to join it, and what happens if no-one does?
On this week's episode, Stuart Oates sits down with Summer Wyatt-Buchan, Craig Alexander Byrne and Jessica Walker – three members of Nuffield's Next-Gen class of 2026 to find out what really matters to the UK's next generation of farmers, what they think about the big regen debate and why they decided to visit no less than 45 farms around the UK  – plus what they discovered along the way.
Find more SFT podcasts, featuring some of the most exciting names in food and farming, at our main podcast page. Keep up to date with news, policy updates and more by subscribing to our monthly newsletter or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
This conversation was recorded in the SFT Podcast Tent at Groundswell in July 2026, sponsored by The Rothschild Foundation. To listen to more podcasts recorded live at this year's festival, read this month's newsletter or visit our podcasts page.
Learn more about the Nuffield Farming Next-Gen Scholarship and find out how to apply at https://www.nuffieldscholar.org/scholarships/nuffield-farming-next-gen-scholarships
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Timestamps
0:00: Introduction – what is the Nuffield Farming Next-Gen Scholarship?
01:50: Personal journeys into regenerative agriculture
04:45: Insights from farm visits
08:44: Reflections on the Nuffield Farming experience
12:27: Community engagement and social metrics in farming
15:34: The debate on regenerative certification
20:08: Bridging the gap between conventional and regenerative farming
25:04: Advice for future scholars

Could the rise of GLP1s such as Ozempic be a catalyst for more sustainable farming?
Sounds ridiculous right? But for anyone eating less, the calories you do consume need to really count. As more and more people use anti-obesity medications (the UK is already Europe's largest market for GLP1s and uptake is projected to increase dramatically), the focus on nutrient density is only going one way. The public is waking up to what nutrient density actually means, and crucially, what it means for their health.
If nutrient dense food depends upon nutrient dense soil – and the route to nutrient dense soil is agroecological farming – will this create greater demand for sustainable farming practices?
Join Stuart Oates and expert panellists Dan Kittredge (founder of the Bionutrient Food Association), Dr Lucy Williamson (author of Soil to Gut and award-winning registered nutritionist), and Tom Pearson (Nuffield farming scholar and medical doctor) to find out what might happen next. 
 
Find more SFT podcasts, featuring some of the biggest names in food and farming, at our main podcast page. Keep up to date with news, policy updates and more by subscribing to our monthly newsletter or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
This conversation was recorded in the SFT Podcast Tent at Groundswell in July 2026.

Missed the action at this year's Groundswell-SFT Podcast Tent? Don't worry – we've rounded up some of the highlights 💚
Key themes include the organic versus regenerative divide, nutrient density, and that all important soil to human health connection.
 
We'd like to thank all our incredible podcasters and guests for making  the inaugural Podcast Tent such a hotbed of debate, ideas and inspiration – and huge thanks to Groundswell and The Rothschild Foundation for their generous support.
 
 
We'll be sharing links to all of the podcasts recorded at this year's festival in our upcoming newsletter (out 5th August) – sign up via our website: https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/newsletters/
Find more SFT podcasts, featuring some of the biggest names in food and farming, at our main podcast page. Keep up to date with news, policy updates and more by subscribing to our monthly newsletter or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Bluesky.
These conversations were recorded in the SFT Podcast Tent at Groundswell in July 2026.

In this very special edition of the SFT Podcast, Patrick Holden sat down with John Cherry and Joanna Bowen, creators and co-founders of Groundswell.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Glastonbury of the Food and Farming world was even bigger and better this year - and for the first time, hosted its very own Podcast Tent (a collaboration between the Sustainable Food Trust and Groundswell, and generously supported by The Rothschild Foundation). Patrick was joined by Groundswell co-founders John and Joanna to talk through how what started as 400 people in a field in 2016, has today transformed into one of food and farming's most anticipated events with over 10,000 eager participants from farming, food and beyond. 
Find more SFT podcasts, featuring some of the biggest names in food and farming, at our main podcast page. Keep up to date with news, policy updates and more by subscribing to our monthly newsletter or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Bluesky.
This conversation was recorded in the SFT Podcast Tent at Groundswell in July 2026.
End track 'Assurance' courtesy of and licensed through Soundstripe.
 
Timestamps
0:00: Welcome to the SFT Podcast Tent!
00:43: The origins of Groundswell
2:56: Transitioning from conventional to no-till farming
5:55: Inspired by American farmers and the No-Till Alliance
8:56: The first Groundswell
14:45: The organic versus regenerative divide
19:45: The power of storytelling in agricilture
26:07: What does the future of Groundswell look like?
34:10: Making regenerative agriculture profitable
41:13 Goodbye!