The Soil Association has announced the appointment of Rob Haward, operations director at Riverford Organic Vegetables, as grower representative on its standards board, following an open recruitment process.
Haward’s appointment completes the Soil Association’s new, independent standards board.
He said: “I am delighted to have been appointed. I hope my input will be of value to the Soil Association in enabling them to continue to lead the way on standards development. This process is essential in order to protect consumers, while balancing the technical constraints of growers.”
Anna Bradley, chair of the Soil Association Standards Board, said: “I welcome Rob to the standards board. With the new standards board complete, I hope all our stakeholders will be confident that their interests will be understood at the standards board table. We can now develop the Soil Association standards with the vigour, transparency and accountability expected of such an organisation and its public interest responsibilities.”
The Soil Association Standards Board is responsible for maintaining and developing all of the association’s organic standards. Current issues under consideration include: airfreight and the possibility of linking this with ethical trade; the Soil Association’s response to the confusion likely to be caused by the new mandatory EU logo; and the development of specific standards for glasshouse production.
