F
LEAF
F
ef
r
uitg
r
owe
r
.co.uk
ThE FrUITGrOWEr •MArCh 2017
r
esea
r
c
h
wo
r
ld, suc
h
asha
r
pe
r
AdamsUnive
r
sity (one of t
h
e nine
LEAF innovation cent
r
es), a
r
e ve
r
y
impo
r
tant to us.” Ca
r
oline added: “I
can see
h
uge oppo
r
tunities in t
h
e
f
r
es
h
p
r
oduce secto
r
as it becomes
ve
r
y compute
r
ised and innovative
andwe at LEAFwill be ve
r
ymuc
h
pa
r
t of t
h
is.”
As t
h
e o
r
ganisation’s name
suggests, t
h
e envi
r
onment is also a
key element in t
h
ei
r
activities. LEAF’s
continuedpa
r
tne
r
s
h
ipwit
h
t
h
eGame
andWildlifeConse
r
vancy T
r
ust
(GWCT) in t
h
e “Big Fa
r
mlandBi
r
d
Count”
h
as seen a steady inc
r
ease in
t
h
e numbe
r
of LEAFmembe
r
s taking
pa
r
t eve
r
y yea
r
, and t
h
is is oneway to
demonst
r
ate t
h
e positive impact t
h
at
IFMmakes to t
h
e bi
r
dpopulation.
Ca
r
oline said: “We’vemoved fo
r
wa
r
d
in leaps andbounds to
h
elpwildlife
h
abitats andw
h
en I sta
r
tedwit
h
LEAF all t
h
ose yea
r
s ago, I believed
ve
r
y st
r
ongly t
h
at t
h
e envi
r
onment
was impo
r
tant and t
h
at t
h
is needed
ve
r
ymuc
h
tobe add
r
essed. I’m ve
r
y
p
r
oud t
h
at we
h
ave ac
h
ieved so
muc
h
in t
h
at time.”
LEAF
h
as a st
r
ongboa
r
dof
t
r
ustees and an adviso
r
y boa
r
d,
suppo
r
tedby seve
r
al committees
specialising in diffe
r
ent a
r
eas suc
h
as
policy and st
r
ategic development,
and LEAFMa
r
que tec
h
nology. LEAF
was ve
r
y
h
onou
r
ed at t
h
e end of last
yea
r
w
h
enhe
r
royal hig
h
ness, T
h
eCountess ofWessex
ag
r
eed tobecome t
h
e
h
ono
r
a
r
y p
r
esident.
Ove
r
t
h
e past 25 yea
r
s, LEAF
h
as built up conside
r
able skills,
expe
r
tise and expe
r
ience. T
h
ese can be used to
h
elp fa
r
me
r
s
and g
r
owe
r
s delive
r
sustainable fa
r
ming t
h
at is p
r
ospe
r
ous and
to communicate t
h
is to t
h
e public t
hr
oug
h
an emp
h
asis on t
h
e
LEAFMa
r
que. T
h
e
r
e is an inc
r
easing inte
r
est in
h
ealt
h
aspects
of f
r
es
h
p
r
oduce, and in t
h
e numbe
r
of consume
r
s sta
r
ting to
lookmuc
h
h
a
r
de
r
at t
h
e food t
h
ey buy and
h
ow it is p
r
oduced.
T
h
e f
r
es
h
p
r
oduce indust
r
y cannot affo
r
d to igno
r
e t
h
is t
r
end
and t
h
is isw
h
e
r
e LEAF’s activities can
r
eallymake an impact
ac
r
oss t
h
e food c
h
ain. AsCa
r
olineD
r
ummondputs it: “We a
r
e
d
r
iving t
h
e oppo
r
tunity fo
r
fa
r
ming tobe at t
h
e
h
ea
r
t of food,
h
ealt
h
and envi
r
onmental imp
r
ovement”.
◆
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