Organic food sales have become increasingly popular with the growing public awareness of the environment, nutrition, animal welfare, pesticides, antibiotics, and other issues like BSE and GM. People care more about what they eat and want to know where their food comes from and how it is produced.

Gentle Farming

At Meynell Langley, we believe in gentle farming and that food production and management for wildlife go hand in hand. Organic farming is ecological agriculture, relying on ecosystem management rather than the application of chemicals and synthetic fertilizer. Farming organically means maximizing the fertility of the soil and the inherent life of surrounding habitats without the use of harmful chemicals. Everything is connected. The term 'organic' is best thought of as a concept of the farm as a living system, in which all the component parts - minerals, organic matter, micro-organisms, insects, plants, animals and humans - interact to create a coherent and sustainable whole.

Since 1991, when we joined the Soil Association, Meynell Langley has been producing delicious, healthy food without putting birds and other wildlife at risk from pesticides and herbicides. The Soil Association's Organic Symbol is a guarantee to you the consumer that our food is produced to the highest animal welfare and environmental protection standards, backed by law. Many animal welfare and wildlife organisations, such as Compassion In World Farming and the RSPB, support organic methods of production, based on their own and independent research.

Our Environment

Climate change maybe the single greatest threat to the world's environment. Many aspects of industrial food production have a direct link to greenhouse gas emissions, primarily the overuse of fertilisers and high calorie grain for animal feed. According to Greenpeace, the use of feed crops has recently encouraged the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, which is now a major producer of Soya used in animal feed.

We maintain the traditional practice of grazing our animals on pasture land allowing them to range freely. They are mainly grass fed, their diet only occasionally being topped up with natural organic rations. The Soil Association do not permit genetically modified ingredients in the animal feed and restrict the routine use of veterinary medicines. We use no pesticides or artificial fertilisers, and don't overload the land with high stocking rates. We believe that this makes for healthier soil and consequently healthier plants and animals. Numerous plant species now thrive in the old grass meadows that make up nearly two-thirds of our farm near Ashbourne.

Soil

Soil is a major store of carbon, containing about twice as much carbon as the atmosphere. However, soil is losing its carbon content on a large scale. It is estimated that 13 million tonnes of carbon is being lost from the UK's soils each year. Industrial agriculture through the use of inorganic nitrogen fertiliser and intensive grazing are likely to account for much of these losses. Farming without artificial fertilisers means you have to really look after the soil. Organic farming actually increases the carbon content of agricultural soils as it's based on the use of organic matter.

Social Enterprise

Meynell Langley is host to regular farm and estate walks for customers and local groups, and we are beginning work on educational links and access projects to promote environmental education and models for sustainable food production. Meynell Langley operates in conjunction with a social enterprise scheme that offers supported housing, mentoring, and development training to disadvantaged people.