Eating Better will hold three events to facilitate the conversation on what a net zero world looks like for both farmers in the UK and the retail sector, whilst ensuring a just transition.

Farm Steps, a collaborative project providing education to agricultural workers, will deliver ‘The Sustainable Livestock Worker – Tools for Resilient Farming’ weekend course in Cumbria. The workshop will look at livestock behaviour, handling and nursing care; appropriate use of livestock medicines; utilising farm data to reach net zero and the carbon cycle, carbon footprints and farm emissions.

Russell Regen will conduct research with key stakeholders in North Lancashire to understand how the TYFA-Regio (Ten Years for Agroecology Regional)  model can be rolled out across the UK and result in meaningful improvements in local food systems.

Slade Farm Organics will conduct a field trial to survey hedgerows and assess the diversity of species, to provide valuable data on hedgerow contribution to carbon capture, biodiversity, and sustainable farming practices. A podcast will share the findings with a broader audience, highlighting the importance of hedgerow diversity, its implications for climate action, and practical insights from nature friendly farmers.

To develop sustainable practices, RegenFarmCo will implement a series of workshops at its demonstrator farm in North Yorkshire, targeting farmers and the local community in the Uplands region. These workshops will combine theoretical knowledge with hands-on experiences, enabling participants to learn innovative techniques that enhance soil health, biodiversity, and crop resilience.

This project will support the creation of an holistic whole-farm assessment, a development/business plan, and an education and outreach programme for Lochhill Farm.

This data project will gather evidence around the impacts of more localised, organic and circular routes to market, and will explore ways that agroecological traders could be seen as more resource-efficient than globalised supply chains.

Bristol Food Network will run an event for Bristol’s hospitality businesses to share knowledge and good practice on how to reduce food waste. This will provide up-to-date insight on the barriers that businesses face and what influences their behaviour on food waste, within the context of impending new national legislation.

Creation of a farm cluster group in SE Cornwall and the organisation of three meetings to share experiences, hopes, fears and education about mitigating and adapting to climate change and a better understanding of farms as emitters and sequesterers of carbon.

Farm Carbon Toolkit staff will travel to Orkney to meet with farmers and other relevant organisations and then workshop the shape of a new Farm Net Zero programme for the island. This will enable stakeholders on Orkney to benefit from the learnings from Farm Net Zero in Cornwall.

Twisted Orange will run visual focus groups (VFGs) with secondary school pupils to better understand how school meal choices can be promoted to encourage increased uptake of more sustainable food items. The project findings will inform menu development as well as the use of visual communications to ‘nudge’ consumer/pupil behavioural change.

Funding the The Winning the Narrative project, a series of workshops to deep dive into issues related to ‘less and better’ meat and dairy. Focusing on Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, participants will explore the tools needed for effecting policy change to enable such a reduction and how the eNGO (environmental non-governmental organization) community can better engage with, understand, and advocate for just transition pathways.

Funding for two workshops to support the setting up of a working group of local agri-food stakeholders to devise a roadmap for the future of food in the region. The workshops will see that plans for net zero are integrated into – and not at odds with – landscape-wide strategic plans, which will also include economic, social and environmental concerns, and long-term adaptation planning.

Funding to deliver three on-stand sessions at Groundswell 2024 on Farmers and Fashion, Delivering Farmer-led Research, and on How Chefs can lead the Farming Transition.

Funding an activity at the GO Falkland Regenerative Agriculture (RegenAg) Gathering to gauge awareness, attitudes and actions from stakeholders, with the aim of helping to grow the network of Scottish farmers, growers, retailers and consumers on the path to net zero, and particularly farmers who are turning depleted land back to productivity through soil restoration.

For the transformation of the food system to be just and sustainable for all, it needs to include the voices of those with living experience of food poverty and insecurity.  Funding was provided to create a good practice toolkit for research which will examine strategies for co-development and co-production that are inclusive of those communities that are often overlooked in net zero forums.

Funding to run an in-person event for small, local food businesses interested in exploring how sustainability and net-zero can fit within their activities, and how they could reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Inspirational businesses will present their work and case studies will be produced.

Funding to run a farmer-focused workshop exploring carbon mitigation strategies for ruminant farmers. Discussion will identify the main emission sources, pulling out key trends and present research solutions for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Funding two events to share good practice taking place on commercial farm businesses where the impact on GHG emissions, soil health, carbon sequestration and business performance have all been measured; this provides inspiration to other farmers that it can work and that there are things that can be done.

Funding for a workshop to explore pathways to reduce GHG emissions of food life cycles at hospitality SMEs. This activity focused on food loss and food waste of a specific produce category: fresh salad, herbs and leafy greens. Participants in the workshop experience widespread socio-economic challenges, including poverty, lack of dignified food access, homelessness and social isolation.

Funding for a workshop that explored the importance of the Fens for the food system of South Lincolnshire and the UK, the challenges, current and future, to continued food production, processing, transport, and distribution in the area. It also explored coastal environments and how to manage the risks of tidal flooding as sea levels rise, soil maintenance in the Fens and road maintenance in the Fens.