Guy Singh-Watson has over the last 30 years taken Riverford from one man and a wheelbarrow delivering homegrown organic veg to friends, to a national veg box scheme delivering to around 80,000 customers a week.
Tired of meetings, brands and the assumption that greed is our predominant motivation, Guy converted the business to employee ownership in 2018, using the proceeds to buy a small farm and return to growing organic vegetables. In common with many of Riverford’s new co-owners, Guy is an advocate of using business to shape a part of the world, however small, to be kinder, more considerate and sustainable; more like the world most of us want to live in.
His weekly newsletters connect people to the farm with refreshingly honest accounts of the trials and tribulations of producing organic food, and the occasional rant about farming, ethical and business issues he feels strongly about.
When the first organic veg boxes were delivered by us freaks on the fringe 35 years ago, plant-based eating and climate change were the concerns of a tiny, far-sighted minority.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 24th June 2021
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Every year we worry that the annual samphire will be out-competed by salt-tolerant perennials like sea purslane, but there seems to be just enough movement of the mud to keep the habitat open.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 16th June 2021
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Each year, the harvester, trailers and rowing-up rake get larger, harvesting 100 acres of grass a day compared to the five acres of my youth.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 10th June 2021
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With ever less reliable weather at home, added to the growing appetite for local fruit and veg, it is time to consider more investment in polytunnels and long-term cold storage to bridge the Hungry…
By Guy Singh-Watson - 26th May 2021
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I suspect that in lowland Britain, and Devon in particular, there may be more to be regained from carefully tailored, site-specific rewilding, using a complex, interconnected network of smaller areas…
By Guy Singh-Watson - 19th May 2021
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The wild strawberries I find growing in margins around the farm withstand drought, rain and weeds and still produce Botrytis-free fruit; a far cry from the today’s mollycoddled commercial crops.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 12th May 2021
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When the first organic veg boxes were delivered by us freaks on the fringe 35 years ago, plant-based eating and climate change were the concerns of a tiny, far-sighted minority.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 24th June 2021
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Food in Community is pushing for a radical departure from the giving of food aid by joining the call for a cash-first system.
By David Markson - 23rd June 2021
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From fritters, to the perfect bruschetta, or warm summer salads with fresh herbs - read our top five recipes for broad beans.
By Kirsty Hale - 22nd June 2021
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By turns entertaining, silly and serious, Clarkson’s real achievements are bringing the low-earning reality of British farming to the mainstream and spotlighting the biodiversity crisis, finds Emily…
By Emily Muddeman - 22nd June 2021
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Honey & Co’s Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich are the ultimate foodie travellers, telling Nina Pullman about the joy of hyper seasonal eating and how to find where the locals eat.
By Nina Pullman - 17th June 2021
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After months of eating hardy winter veg propped up by colourful additions from the continent, it’s an absolute joy to be eating fresh and local again.
By James Evans - 17th June 2021
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