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.
The problem for farmers, like swallows, is not knowing what to expect in a changing world where routines, built on experience accumulated over generations, no longer line up with reality.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 26th November 2020
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I cannot promise when Riverford will be carbon neutral, but I do promise that those solutions will be transparent, well researched and only marginally influenced by the desire to be seen to be doing…
By Guy Singh-Watson - 18th November 2020
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Perhaps belatedly, we have completed an expansive update to our environmental assessment. This time, the mood among our co-owners is almost universally 'so, what are we going to do about it?'
By Guy Singh-Watson - 11th November 2020
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Devon farmers describe our mild, slow descent into winter as a 'long back end': the soil is still warm, wet and active, releasing nutrients, and there is just enough light for our crops to keep…
By Guy Singh-Watson - 4th November 2020
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Twenty years ago, frustrated by the assertion that 'organic is all very well for the rich, but it will never feed the world', I took a two-month sabbatical to Sub-Saharan Africa to see for myself.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 22nd October 2020
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My point is this: farm gate prices in the UK are so low already that reducing them further, such as through a raft of new trade deals, would give no significant benefit to society.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 15th October 2020
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The agri revolution led to a focus on crop yields above all else – but researchers are beginning to look again at nutrition in our food.
By Jack Thompson - 9th April 2021
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The Netflix documentary has been welcomed for spotlighting damage from large-scale fishing while its claim that no fish is sustainable is disputed.
By Nina Pullman - 8th April 2021
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More than just reefs and rainforests, habitat diversity also covers the heaths, woodlands, fens and bogs closer to home. Here's how you can help protect and visit some of the habitat restoration…
By Becky Blench - 8th April 2021
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Charity Surfers Against Sewage hopes to galvanise 100,000 Brits to clean a million miles of rivers, beaches and green spaces to counter the rise in single-use plastic since the pandemic.
By Nina Pullman - 8th April 2021
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I found it hard to disagree with the main conclusion of Seaspiracy: that there is almost no sustainable fishing, and the labels claiming sustainability fall a long way short of delivering it.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 8th April 2021
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The pandemic has brought a fresh perspective on the power of community and feelings of injustice: let’s channel this anger positively and build dignified food security for all, writes David Markson.
By David Markson - 6th April 2021
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