Peter Melchett has been Policy Director at the Soil Association since 2002. A former member of the Labour Party's government, he was appointed Under-secretary for the Environment and later minister of state for Northern Ireland. He subsequently worked for the Ramblers' Association and later became Executive Director of Greenpeace UK in 1989. The owner of an 890 acre farm, Melchett was arrested in 1999 when he was present at an environmental protest against a genetically modified crop trial.