Two New Appointments at the Scottish Organic Producers Association (SOPA)

This month two new faces join the SOPA team based in Scotland. Jo Barron (Member Services Co-ordinator – Policy Lead) and Becky MacAngus (Member Services Co-ordinator- Comms Lead) have been appointed to boost the current team of Debs Roberts and Joanna Sinclair and work closely with the SOPA Membership.

Jo Barron joins SOPA at a crucial time for organic farmers, as the new Agricultural Bill is under consultation. Jo said:

“Organic farming holds a unique position for the future of agriculture in Scotland. The organic standards are the only legal framework that guarantees biodiversity protection, climate change mitigation and producing quality food closer to nature than any other food production method. Coming from a regenerative agriculture and animal welfare background, I see organic farming as the next step to fully holistic sustainable agriculture.

Organic farming is the target way to farm for all of us in order to preserve our soils, encourage biodiversity back onto our land and reduce input costs of rising fertilisers and fuel.”

Becky MacAngus joined SOPA as Member Service Co-ordinator – Comms Lead from the Net Zero Technology Centre.

With a background in marketing, funding analytics and event management, Becky’s role at SOPA will be to coordinate and drive the communications, PR and marketing activity for the organisation both to members and to wider audiences.

We asked Becky what she thought about the importance of Organic farming in the future of agriculture, and she said “Organic farming must be at the forefront of agricultural practices in the future. We are pushing towards a Net Zero future with big targets set by governments around the world for all industries. The only way in which we will be able to achieve this is to produce food and other consumables in a more sustainable and nature-friendly way, and organic farming meets that better than any other farming method”.

SOPA Manager Debs Roberts said “We are delighted to welcome Jo and Becky to our highly qualified and experienced team. They bring a wealth of skills to help our SOPA Members and ensure organic farming is attributed with the multiple benefits it brings to sustainable food production in Scotland”

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