Self-confessed veg nerd, 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 55,000 customers a week.
Guy is an opinionated and admired figure in the world of organic farming, who still spends more time in the fields than in the boardroom. Twice awarded BBC Radio 4 Farmer of the Year, Guy is passionate about sharing with others the organic farming and business knowledge he has accumulated over the last three decades.
His weekly veg box newsletters connect customers 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.
In June 2018, Guy handed over the reins of Riverford to its staff, choosing employee ownership as the model that will protect Riverford's ethical values forever and ensure the security of its employees.
When I first asked our staff about employee ownership in 2003, with the suggestion that it could be financed by them forgoing their annual profit share for 20 years, they told me where I could stick…
By Guy Singh-Watson - 6th June 2019
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We should all reject the ‘consumer’ label, with its implications of being passive and manipulated, and rise up to become responsible citizens with the confidence to find meaning in our lives without…
By Guy Singh-Watson - 30th May 2019
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Having walked the fields and seen the best crops we have grown in our ten years here, my contentment almost matches the smug cacophony of croaking frogs lazing in the water.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 24th May 2019
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The management being discouraged with reduced payments is almost exactly what the Wildlife Trust wanted to see more of; your money is being used to encourage us to damage the environment.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 16th May 2019
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Last weekend we held our biannual suppliers conference; a gathering of the 60 farmers, from Devon to Yorkshire to Andalucía, who keep the Riverford boxes full and varied through the year.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 3rd May 2019
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We have been sending pallet loads of veg to feed the protestors and will continue to support them and the school strike for as long as it takes to see action and good governance.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 24th April 2019
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Learn how to pickle radishes in this week's Veg Hack with chef James Evans.
By James Evans - 3rd July 2020
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As previously, transport is our biggest sin, and the final delivery to the door is the most carbon costly – so we are converting over 70 per cent of our vans to electric by 2023.
By Guy Singh-Watson - 1st July 2020
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Singer Ellie Goulding has helped amplify people attempting to host 'virtual cuppas' with their MP to quiz them on support for green post-Covid plans as part of mass online lobby.
By Nina Pullman - 30th June 2020
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I found beauty in the soft leaves of the celery, intrigue in the antennae of the kohlrabi, pleasure in the veins of the Cavolo Nero, which mirrored maps of the courses of rivers, writes Lucy Jones.
By Lucy Jones - 29th June 2020
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Each season brings its excitement and pleasures in the kitchen; spring starts with scarcity, then follows with abundance and variety, and what we call the 'Veg New Year'.
By Kirsty Hale - 29th June 2020
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Covid-19 has sent wool prices plummeting and the sheep industry into crisis – but a fledgling movement that connects farmers with local weavers offers hope.
By Hugh Thomas - 29th June 2020
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