[D]avid and Helen Brass from The Lakes Free Range Egg Company (The Lakes) were unable to fly to Dubai for the final of the International Green World Awards. News came via email this week to confirm they won.
The awards are part of an international campaign to find the greenest companies, councils and communities. The Lakes won the UK Green Apple Award last year, after competing against 500 other nominations for the Environmental Best Practice Award. They went forward to represent the UK in Europe which they won in June, this qualified them for the International event.
The International Green World Awards have become one of the most prestigious recognition campaigns for environmental best practice. Representing the UK, The Lakes won gold in the agriculture category, with other global winners coming from as far as Turkey, South Korea and India.
David Brass, Chief Executive at The Lakes Free Range Egg Company said, “This award was presented in recognition of our work on tree planting, our carbon neutral operations, ammonia reduction and combining significant environmental best practice in our food supply operation.”
From the outset the judging panel was struck by the way The Lakes makes agriculture a sustainable business proposition for small family farms. Feedback from the award organisers said, “The judges were particularly impressed by The Lakes achieving a carbon neutral first in the industry, as a result of using renewable energy and planting 600 acres of trees and shrubs.”
The Lakes is now a case study in The Green Handbook – the leading international work of reference on environmental best practice. The case study demonstrates that ‘developing a business with sustainable animal welfare and environmentally friendly free-range egg production does support disadvantaged rural economies’. Others around the world can learn from The Lakes’ success and follow their example.
Reflecting on their achievement, David and Helen Brass said “It’s gratifying to hear that our focus on long term environmental sustainability encourages others. 2017 is our twentieth anniversary, so winning this award is a nice way to end the year.
“It celebrates our belief that excellence in animal welfare and strong environmental provenance go hand in hand. This ethos has benefitted our hens as well as our flora and fauna. Our producers adopt the same approach which is very much appreciated by our customers too. We’ve always felt our model is replicable across the globe and can make a difference. Through our business operations, we aim to leave the world a better place.”
The International Green World Awards began in 1994 and are organised by The Green Organisation, an international, independent, non-political, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental best practice around the world.
To learn more about The Lakes Free Range Egg Company, visit www.lakesfreerange.co.uk
