Soil Association
The Soil Association is a British registered charity. Its activities include campaigning – against intensive farming, for local purchasing and public education on nutrition – and certification of organic foods. It was established in 1946. History. Lady Eve Balfour, Friend Sykes and George Scott Williamson organized a founders' meeting for the Soil Association on 12 June 1945; about a hundred people attended. The association was formally registered on 3 May 1946, and in the next decade grew from a few hundred to over four thousand members. It was founded in part due to concerns over intensive agriculture and in particular  the use of herbicides. British Union of Fascists member Jorian Jenks, who was closely associated with Oswald Mosley, was one of the founders. He was for years the editorial secretary of "Mother Earth", the journal of the association. During the late 1940s, the association involved far-right and even anti-Semitic elements, remnants of the defunct BUF, and was driven by far-right political ideas as much as ecological concerns. Following Jenks' death in 1963, the association tilted towards the left of the political spectrum, especially under the new president, Barry Commoner. Campaigner Alastair Sawday was vice-chairman of the  association between 2005 and 2007. The association was one of the five bodies which in Versailles in 1972 formed the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements to act as the umbrella organisation to advocate for organic farming. Helen Browning is the chief executive; broadcaster Monty Don was president from 2008 to 2016. Honorary vice-presidents include Jonathan Dimbleby, George McRobie, and Charlotte Mitchell; and The Prince of Wales is a royal patron. Certification. The association certifies organic products in farming, food processing, restaurants and catering, fisheries, textiles and leather, and health and beauty products. Its subsidiary Soil Association Certification Ltd  is approved by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It sets standards for packaging, animal welfare, wildlife conservation, residues and additives. Since 2008 its standards have excluded nanomaterials.