Winding down poultry production as winter approaches

Winding down poultry production as winter approaches

Let’s face it, if you lived outside, you’d probably prefer it if the weather was mild. Extreme cold and wet weather is not too appealing when you’re standing out in a field. It’s for this reason that our poultry is only raised through the warmer months. The chickens...
Grazing for improved soil health

Grazing for improved soil health

We’ve seen the hottest June on record, and now the wettest July. This unpredictable, often unseasonable weather throws up challenges for farmers, and resilience is needed to survive these conditions. Extreme weather impacts UK soils, equating to swathes of the earth...
The dramas, escapes & challenges of moving our farm to East Devon

The dramas, escapes & challenges of moving our farm to East Devon

These past few months have been intense, to say the least. Moving home is no small feat, and when you have to move an entire farm, plus a meat business, animals and all, together with cumbersome heavy machinery it can be all-encompassing, overwhelming and pretty...
Pastures New

Pastures New

A new year has presented Farm2Fork with an extraordinary opportunity to grow both the business and our regenerative practices. We’re swapping the pastures of Greenway Farm, for an organic 237-acre farm, called Dalditch – part of the extensive Clinton Devon...
Keeping Ahead of Bird Flu 

Keeping Ahead of Bird Flu 

It’s a bad time for many farmers right now. The past year has been the worst year ever for cases of avian influenza, aka “bird flu” in the UK and abroad, and with the winter only beginning, the worst is yet to come. It’s been looming heavily over the heads of poultry...
Locked in freshness & flavour with our frozen Christmas goose

Locked in freshness & flavour with our frozen Christmas goose

Bringing our Farm2Fork business operations all into line, we’ve started selling our goose frozen, just as we do with all our other produce. This has prompted a number of enquiries about our decision from customers who for the past 12 years have bought their goose...
Organic: A price worth paying

Organic: A price worth paying

There’s a perception in society that organic food is more expensive than non-organic food. On the face of it, yes, organic generally has a higher price point. But there’s an extra cost for good reasons. There are many additional hoops that we as organic farmers have...
Sarah Langford’s new book explores Ollie’s roots in farming

Sarah Langford’s new book explores Ollie’s roots in farming

We’re excited to read about our very own Ollie featuring in a new book exploring the next wave of regenerative farmers. Sarah Langford’s “Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution”, follows his hard-fought personal journey starting out in farming, to...
How now, brown cow? Our curious gentle giants

How now, brown cow? Our curious gentle giants

The Farm2Fork cows are nosey characters, friendly and docile; they aren’t looking to make anyone nervous. Our herd is made up of Aberdeen Angus and Hereford, native breeds that are well suited to our temperate climate and green landscape. Cows on the whole are curious...
Securing the Future of Food

Securing the Future of Food

When we’re surrounded by news of increasing energy and food prices, difficulties getting certain commodities with the ease at which we’re used to, the threat of a war that’s not too far from home, and a hangover from Covid and Brexit, it’s easy to find ourselves...
Celebrating the Regeneration Generation

Celebrating the Regeneration Generation

COP26 and the promise of repairing the damage humans have wreaked on our planet seems a bit of a distant memory right now. So off the back of the January “Regenuary” initiative, and the fact that we want to keep the issue of climate change, sustainable living and...
Make a positive impact this Christmas with a Farm2Fork bird

Make a positive impact this Christmas with a Farm2Fork bird

With so much noise over COP26 and our environmental responsibilities, sometimes it’s hard to know what’s best to do for the planet – and it’s easy to think that an indulgence such as a meat-laden Christmas dinner must be a bad thing. An emphasis on eating less meat...
Small is beautiful – the resilience of independent producers

Small is beautiful – the resilience of independent producers

The fragility of the UK economy and the wider environment was thrust firmly in the spotlight recently with the “petrol crisis” and a shortage of HGV drivers. The impact of Brexit continues to send shockwaves throughout the country in all industries, and farmers aren’t...
Going Underground – What’s Happening In Our Soil

Going Underground – What’s Happening In Our Soil

You must know by now how much we love soil. We talk about it all the time, and we’re always shouting about how it enriches our meadows and encourages diversity and new species. Now we want to talk about what actually goes on in there, underneath the ground, and why we...
Buy direct and maintain the trust in your food producer

Buy direct and maintain the trust in your food producer

Not that long ago Tesco got slapped with a massive fine for selling out of date food to its customers at three stores. Each time we hear these stories (remember that horsemeat scandal?) we’re reminded that trust plays a big part in where people buy their food. Once...
Test Pilots for Regenerative Practices

Test Pilots for Regenerative Practices

As you know, regenerative farming is our thing. So we’re really happy to have been picked as test pilots for a new accreditation programme run by A Greener World (AGW), which will result in us being “Certified Regenerative”. We are all about looking after this...
#knowyourfarmer

#knowyourfarmer

Over the years we’ve been witnessing a shift in the way people choose their food, and we’re delighted to see that people are becoming more and more discerning about where their food comes from. That’s why Farm2Fork is asking people to make a pledge and really get to...
It’s official – organic farm status achieved!

It’s official – organic farm status achieved!

We’ve done it! We’ve been accredited as an organic farm! It’s been a two-year journey of “hoop-jumping” to get our farm certified, however, we’ve always followed organic principles, so for us, it was more straightforward than it could have been. We’ve always farmed...
It’s A Bird’s Life

It’s A Bird’s Life

As millions of turkeys, geese and chickens are fattened for Christmas tables across the UK, here’s some food for thought on why small-scale producers are changing the way we eat. It’s thought that somewhere in the region of 10 million turkeys are eaten in this country...
Pasture-raised turkey enterprise flying high!

Pasture-raised turkey enterprise flying high!

First came the chicken tractors. Now, we present the “Gobblygo”, the ultimate in turkey accommodation! It’s all part of our pasture-raised turkey enterprise, and this contraption gives the turkeys somewhere they can perch at night and feel safe, while enabling us to...
Two sides to every story: The Game Changers debate

Two sides to every story: The Game Changers debate

The beginning of the year typically starts with restraint. Quitting bad habits like smoking and swearing form some new year’s resolutions, Dry January is a popular choice, and now comes the newest on the list, Veganuary. By the time February arrives, lots have fallen...
It’s not the cow, it’s the how

It’s not the cow, it’s the how

As a farmer following organic processes, and running Farm2Fork in the most environmentally sound way we can, it probably won’t surprise you that we are in support of the recent Extinction Rebellion protests and what it stands for. But as the publicity drum for...
The Climate Change Challenge

The Climate Change Challenge

Unlike Donald Trump, we do believe climate change is a “thing”. On the farm, you really get to see how the weather makes a difference to nature, day in, day out. Over the past few years, we’ve seen more extreme weather patterns emerging. Last year in February and...
A guardian for the poultry – our new Maremma pups

A guardian for the poultry – our new Maremma pups

When something this cute comes home to Farm2Fork we just have to share it with you. Meet our new livestock guardian pups, named Nala and Lula! They’re Maremma Sheepdogs – a breed from the region of Tuscany and Lazio in Italy where they take their name from....
Ollie earns a place in the finals for ‘Best Farmer’ Award

Ollie earns a place in the finals for ‘Best Farmer’ Award

Oliver White’s determination to make a success of his county council tenancy has earned him a place in the finals of the best farmer category in the Western Daily Press Food & Farming Awards. Sue Bradley met him.   Every day counts on Oliver White’s small...
How many chickens? What happens when our customers want more

How many chickens? What happens when our customers want more

How many chickens does it take to make a pack of livers? No, this isn’t the beginning of a terrible joke. A huge demand on offal here at Greenway Farm, coming mostly from a spike in diets advocating its nutritional value, means our little enterprise Farm2Fork is...
Our Organic Journey Continues

Our Organic Journey Continues

Here at Farm2Fork we follow organic principles and strive to use natural methods at all times. This means avoiding pesticides, herbicides, not medicating our animals (unless absolutely necessary for their wellbeing), and allowing the animals free access to pasture,...
Christmas Goose is making a comeback

Christmas Goose is making a comeback

Several West farmers are rearing geese for Christmas. Sue Bradley discovers how they’re upholding a centuries old tradition.   Christmas is coming and increasing numbers of geese are getting fat on farms throughout the West. Once the festive season’s bird of...
Traditions of the Christmas Goose

Traditions of the Christmas Goose

For the Cratchit family, the goose was the centerpiece for their humble Christmas dinner in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Despite goose at that time being considered the cheaper of the birds when compared with turkey – the goose brings the family together around the...
Nisreen shares her day as a volunteer at Farm2Fork

Nisreen shares her day as a volunteer at Farm2Fork

We were lucky enough to have a helping hand from our Wwoofer (volunteer) Nisreen this summer, who’d traveled all the way from Boston, Massachusetts to work at Farm2Fork for three weeks. She’s been chronicling her journey as a Watson Fellow in a blog, as she explores...
Alpacas take up their role as guardians on the farm

Alpacas take up their role as guardians on the farm

While things are generally peaceful in the pastures of Farm2Fork, we’ve been on our guard for a lot of the summer as the foxes have been circling. We can’t blame them, as the unusually dry weather has meant they are extremely hungry. It does, however, put everyone on...
Growing a generation of inspirational farmers

Growing a generation of inspirational farmers

A study carried out by Defra back in 2013 showed that in 2010 the average age of farmers in the UK was 59, unchanged from 2007. The industry faces many challenges and it’s struggling to recruit younger workers, but my personal journey shows that if you’re passionate...
Why do we traditionally eat lamb at Easter?

Why do we traditionally eat lamb at Easter?

You may think that we eat lamb at Easter because of its seasonality. But as our ewes still aren’t due to give birth for another two weeks, Farm2Fork can say with some certainty that Easter lamb isn’t likely to be seasonal, and it might not even be local if you’re...
Can eating meat be healthier than a plant-based diet?

Can eating meat be healthier than a plant-based diet?

It’s not that usual for meat producers to extol the virtues of eating less meat to its customers. But at Farm2Fork we do things a little differently. Of course we want you to buy our meat – after all we consider it the very best – but we still want people to eat less...
Why pasture-raised chickens need grain

Why pasture-raised chickens need grain

Chickens can’t live on grass alone. And there is good reason for this. If we fed our poultry 100% grass and didn’t incorporate the essential grain they need in their diet, then they wouldn’t survive. Many of our customers ask us whether our chickens are fed...
In Our Hands – a film about food sovereignty

In Our Hands – a film about food sovereignty

On Friday (November 17) the inspiring film In Our Hands premiered in Bristol. Farm2Fork is proud to have been included in this important story behind the blood, sweat and tears of the farmers who are outgrowing the industrial food system. Following a group of...
A mindful way to rear livestock

A mindful way to rear livestock

This blog post is designed to get you thinking. To show that there’s never just one way to do things. For many years the debate has been running around how best to rear livestock. Scientists have proved that ruminants produce a huge amount of methane which contributes...
Healthy soil for a healthy planet

Healthy soil for a healthy planet

According to the Soil Association less than one sixth of the land on Earth is suitable for growing crops. When we rely so heavily on soil to produce food it’s madness that we’ve taken our soil for granted for so long. The association says that a third of the world’s...
The ethics of grass-fed

The ethics of grass-fed

We could get into a debate on the ethics of eating meat full-stop. For vegans, eating any animal product, be that meat, or dairy, or honey, would be unethical entirely. For vegetarians often the reason behind the choice is animal welfare, but there are health reasons...
Farming in the digital age

Farming in the digital age

As a small-scale producer, getting the word out about my farm and ultimately my products is crucial to its success. When there are so many farmers and producers out there doing brilliant things with their marketing, I know how important it is to use the digital age to...
Why choose free range pasture-raised chicken?

Why choose free range pasture-raised chicken?

In March this year 76.3 million broilers were slaughtered in the UK, according to Government figures. Broilers are chickens reared for meat, and this eye-watering figure might make you wonder where all these chickens are kept, and how they raised. According to the...
Ditching the carbs – introducing the Ketogenic diet

Ditching the carbs – introducing the Ketogenic diet

No doubt you’ll be familiar with the Paleo diet, which in broad terms involves cutting out anything that couldn’t be hunted or gathered in the days of our cavemen ancestors – Paleo followers will often only eat 100% grass-fed meat products to ensure they are...
The problem with pesticides

The problem with pesticides

A damning report from the UN claims the use of pesticides goes against our human rights. Those who suggest pesticides are needed to “feed the world” have been called inaccurate and “dangerously misleading”. Here at Farm2Fork we steer clear of pesticides as we like to...
Welcome to the school of the slow-cooker!

Welcome to the school of the slow-cooker!

We’re all about the slow cooker right now. You’ve probably already heard about cooking “slow and low”, but did you know there are plenty of benefits from eating meat that’s been cooked for a long time (not cremated though). Slow cooked meat retains its scrummy flavour...