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.
Leeks due in January were pulled in November; January King cabbages were cut in October; Hungry Gap kale planned for April is being picked in February, and even the wild garlic is early.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 13th February 2020
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After sorting through decaying gourds in search of the one in four that survived the damp and cold of a Devon winter, I have decided to spend some money insulating and damp-proofing the barn.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 5th February 2020
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By training families to farm sustainably, the new Send a Cow and Tusk campaign hopes to alleviate hunting pressures on Uganda's Murchison Falls national park.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 23rd January 2020
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For now, I will continue to sit on the fence: advocating much less meat, rewilding the least productive 20-30 per cent of land, more perennial food crops, a lot more dahl, and as much lab-grown meat…
By Guy Singh-Watson - 16th January 2020
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With just a few light frosts, and the squirrels still active, it has been an absurdly mild winter so far in Devon – but a horribly wet one. Thankfully, a dry start at our farm in France allowed us to…
By Guy Singh-Watson - 8th January 2020
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We have just completed the second largest rooftop solar panel installation in the South West and we are investing heavily in electric vehicles.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 5th December 2019
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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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