Friday, August 24, 2007

Organic Futures Apprenticeship

The autumn newsletter (currently at the printers so will be with you over the next 2 weeks or so!) we feature some issues facing young farmers trying to enter into the industry. However, due to limited space we could not feature the following information which we feel people should know about. Across the country, people are finding their own solutions to these problems:

The Soil Association Apprenticeship pilot scheme was officially launched on 18th July at Abbey Home Farm. The scheme will take 2 years to complete and it is hoped upon completion, the apprentice will have a valued qualification and more importantly, extensive experience in organic horticulture.

Also in the news, the Commission for Rural Communities have released the State of the Countryside 2007 report which highlights that due to the mass migration of young people (15-29) from rural areas to urban areas, the average age in the countryside was 6 years higher than the towns. This brings huge economical problems and threatens the sustainability of rural communities in general.

For more information on these issues, visit www.soilassociation.org/organicfutures.

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