RADICAL FARMERS fighting climate change have held their tenth annual gathering in Oxford.

The Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) has become a landmark event on the environmental calendar and a key venue for exchanging ideas about how to grow food sustainably.

This year it saw a record of 1,000 people participate from a wide range of backgrounds, from small-scale farmers to political figures like the Green Party’s Natalie Bennett.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove MP has also become a regular speaker at the conference.

However event co-founder Colin Tudge noted Mr Gove “says all the right things” but “remains difficult to pin down on vital details.”

Mr Tudge was particularly concerned that organic farming continued to be omitted from the government’s new law on agriculture that promises to deliver a “green Brexit.”

The programme also included sessions on “drought resilience” after the scorching summer of 2018, veganism, tips for young farmers and how to save local abattoirs from closure.

A range of ecologically sustainable produce was also on sale, including organic olive oil, olives and almonds grown in Portugal and transported to England on a sailing ship.

The stall was run by the Sail Boat Project, a co-operative business that promotes the concept of “sail cargo” as a green alternative.

The shipping industry contributes over 2 per cent of global carbon emissions and this is forecast to increase rapidly. 

It was only last year that the UN agency responsible for shipping, the International Maritime Organisation based in London, agreed a plan to reduce the industry’s carbon emissions.