As our Natures Choice accreditation from Tesco recognises, Alan Bartlett and Sons operates in an environmentally sensitive and responsible way, meeting robust standards for recycling, re-use and energy conservation.
We have a responsible attitude to the land we farm – and to the wider landscape.
For example, we are currently trialing the use of GM free, starch based degradable polythene in early crop production and hope this will result in the significant reduction of polythene being sent to landfill.
Energy and recycling
At Alan Bartlett and Sons, we recycle all of the water we use at our factory.The fresh water used to cool today’s product and to give it its final rinse becomes tomorrow’s washer water. This is then discharged via a cleaning screen into a series of lagoons, where it is allowed to settle. The solid mud and weed is then removed before the water is re-oxygenated and used in our giant booms to push the root vegetables out of the trailers to start the process all over again.
Emissions reduction
By adopting a ‘less is more approach’ to harvesting, and leaving more waste on the field, we have improved our pack out per trailer by up to 50% and reduced our overall field to factory transport movements by 60%.We have also made some shrewd investments.
For example, new GPS guidance systems for our tractors have given us improved crop establishment and product uniformity, while also reducing our carbon emissions and fuel usage by as much as 15%.
In addition, by positively selecting parsnips in the field, we have decreased our parsnip acreage by over 30% - further reducing our carbon footprint.
Wildlife conservation
We were the first company to become a Platinum Corporate Member of our local Wildlife Trust.Since joining in 2006 we have established baseline data for wildlife and environmental issues on all of our host farms- an area covering some 6000 acres. Results showed our host farmers were improving the wildlife habitats on their farms but indentified that overall bat conservation did not feature in any farm conservation programs. This is something we are looking to address in the near future.
Bumble bee seed mixtures have been sown on our own farm and host farmers farms and we continue to plant native hedge rows, each season on our own farm.
