Organic Research Centre Research and development Advice and education Policy and debates Information and publications Conference centre IOTA Farmers’ Organic Research Club Plant breeding Crop production Eco-agroforestry Biodiversity and agro-ecology Livestock Resource use and sustainability Socio-economics and policy Food quality and health Register for E-Bulletin Events 21 July 2014 Royal Welsh Show ORC will be in the organic food and farming marquee 16 September 2014 Fertility building leys field lab Field lab 3 at Abbey Home Farm, Cirencester News 18 July 2014 Prince of Wales visits Food & Farming Summer School As part of his annual Food and Farming Summer School, HRH The Prince of Wales met with students and farmers at Eastbrook Farm in Wiltshire. 11 July 2014 Smartphone use for agricultural research Have a smartphone? Take the survey Press releases 18 July 2014 Prince of Wales visits Food & Farming Summer School As part of his annual Food and Farming Summer School, HRH The Prince of Wales met with students and farmers at Eastbrook Farm in Wiltshire. Health Concepts Full project title: Reviewing and Developing Health Concepts for Ecological Agriculture Project code: HeCo-Eco Contract period: 1 March 2012 to 31 May 2013 Main funder: Ekhaga Foundation, Sweden Contact staff at ORC: Ms. Anja Vieweger Other staff involved: Prof Martin Wolfe, Lawrence Woodward Project aims Despite the tremendous importance and high profile of health for agriculture, particularly organic agriculture, the notion of health in agricultural contexts is currently either not well defined or subject to deep conceptual disagreements. This current lack of clarity creates a vacuum in which strong but potentially misleading claims about health benefits can be made, both by proponents and opponents of ecological agriculture. This project aims to clarify and critically assess health concepts in organic farming contexts in order to: contribute to a new enlightened vision of health in organic agriculture, identify gaps in the current knowledge about health issues in agriculture, provide a scientifically sound basis to test claims made by agricultural systems, particularly the claims about the contribution of (organic) farming practices and agricultural produce to human health, and identify new pathways for improving health in agricultural systems. To achieve these goals, the project will initiate an open and open-ended dialogue among various agricultural disciplines, such as soil science, plant pathology, veterinary medicine, and food quality science. Currently these disciplines are at very different stages in the development of health concepts. Therefore, an interdisciplinary debate on the notion(s) of health in agricultural contexts will help to uncover current inconsistencies and conceptual gaps, and to develop more mature health concepts that are both scientifically convincing and applicable in agricultural practice. Thus, in the search for commonalities and inherent differences among disciplines, this dialogue will deliver a novel, unified, and comprehensive idea of health in agriculture. ORC's role Project leader. Current progress highlights The organization for a first workshop has started. It will be an interdisciplinary meeting of invited experts, who will discuss ideas about criteria of health in agriculture from various perspectives (soil, plant, animal, and human). Project leader and partners Dr Thomas Döring, now at Humboldt University, Berlin Prof Maria Finkh, University of Kassel, Germany Dr Mette Vaarst, Aarhus University, Denmark Dr Marco Pautasso, Research center for Functional Ecology and Evolution (CEFE), France All sources of funding Ekhaga Foundation, Sweden The Organic Research Centre, Elm Farm, Hamstead Marshall, Newbury, Berkshire RG20 0HR; Registered in UK as Progressive Farming Trust Ltd; Company: 1513190; Charity: 281276; VAT: GB314 6681 59; Tel: +44 (0)1488 658298; Fax: +44 (0)1488 658503; Email: elmfarm@organicresearchcentre.com.