Soil Association appoints Helen Browning as Director

She takes over from Patrick Holden who stood down in September this year following 15 years in the role. Helen will take up the post in early spring. Helen Browning runs a tenanted 1,350 acre organic livestock and arable farm in Wiltshire, which supplies organic meat to multiple retailers. The business recently diversified to take on the running of the village pub, successfully adding a restaurant. She is currently Director of External Affairs at the National Trust and before taking up that role she was Food and Farming Director at the Soil Association for many years. She is also Chair of the Food Ethics Council and has been a member of several important commissions concerning British agriculture and food, including the Curry Commission on the Future of Farming and Food; the Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission; and the Meat and Livestock Commission. She was awarded an OBE in 1998 for services to organic farming. Announcing the appointment, Soil Association Chair, Orna Ni-Chionna said: "We are delighted that Helen is to rejoin us as Director. She is one of the true pioneers of the organic movement, and she has a unique breadth of practical experience as well as being an inspirational campaigner. It will be a privilege to have her back with us and to work with her closely in her new role." Helen Browning added: "Leading the Soil Association is a compelling, exciting and important challenge. No other role would have drawn me from the National Trust. But it is crucial to reconcile food production with care for the health and vitality of people, wildlife, farm animals and our countryside, and the Soil Association is the best placed organisation to provide much-needed practical solutions. "I look forward to continuing the momentum of the last 65 years, and with the support of our members, farmers and growers, Council and staff, to take the Association into a new era." National Trust Director-General, Fiona Reynolds, said: "Helen has contributed an enormous amount during her time with us at the National Trust, and we will miss her greatly. As owners of 600,000 acres of land, we are committed to conservation and to sustainable land use, and there are many areas in which we could work more closely with the Soil Association. We look forward to continuing to work with Helen in her new role on issues of mutual interest."