Rowan Dumper-Pollard

I grew up on a small goat farm in Mid-Devon, so farming has always been a part of my life. We have always farmed the land according to organic principles and we used to make goats cheese which was sold at local shops, markets and on our website. I was very fortunate after completing my Masters to get a position as a Business and Markets Researcher at the Organic Research Centre. In this role I am able to combine my love of agriculture with my academic training and interests. Having grown up in the countryside, working on farms and watching many small businesses disappear, I am well aware of the many issues facing our sector. For me, the transition towards a sustainable and localised agricultural system provides a solution to many of these challenges as well as ensuring agriculture does its bit to combat climate change. By providing skilled jobs, local infrastructure, high value and high-quality food and food security, alongside climate change mitigation, I find sustainable agriculture a very interesting and rewarding area to research.