The Importance of Organic Farming with Guy Singh-Watson of Riverford Farms

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 50,000 customers a week. He joins Philly this week on The Wellness Way to talk about how vital healthy, organic farming is to all of our wellbeings.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Guy’s parents were tenant farmers of the Church of England down in south Devon, and had been since 1951. He grew up on the farm, always wanting to be a farmer, padding around in his wellies from when he could walk.
It was somehow inevitable that Guy would come back to the farm, which he did having studied agriculture and then gone off and been a management consultant in London and New York and pretty much hated it.
Guy’s brother died from cancer and Guy remembers he used to watch him going up and down the farm spraying. He was wearing a mask because of the National Farmers Union, but no one told him to put a t-shirt on, and the skin's the largest organ of the body.
Guy believes that people, especially in the western world should look to cut down on their meat intake by quartering it. It will be a lot better for the environment and we eat more meat than we need to to be healthy.
Guy was really worried about the safety both to us human beings and to nature when it came to GM crops and even took the government to court challenging the legality of their trials in 1999/2000.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Any experiment to do with diet and the environment or the effect on us, it can take for that to play out’

‘The world would be a better place if we were all vegan, or at least at a lot less meat’

‘Organic food is more expensive. I can't deny it. Particularly organic meat. But the vegetables really aren't’

EPISODE RESOURCES

https://www.riverford.co.uk/

https://www.tiktok.com/@phillyjlay1

https://www.instagram.com/phillyjlay/

www.phillyjlay.com

ABOUT THE GUEST

Guy is an inspirational, passionate, 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 video rants have provided a powerful platform to do this, with a video on pesticides going viral on Facebook to reach 5.6 million views and 91,000 shares. 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.

Guy has always believed that organic food should not be elitist, but accessible for everyone. He has built Riverford to give a fair deal to all – growers, staff, customers and the planet. All of this was recognised in 2015 when Riverford veg boxes were awarded Ethical Product of the Decade at the Observer Ethical Awards.

ABOUT THE HOST

Philly J Lay is the author of The Natural Wellness Journal, EFT practitioner, and  is also a long-standing advocate for our health and that of our planet. After a near death experience and years of grief, resulting in a range of chronic illnesses, she discovered personalised natural medicine and the associated miracles of the body and power of the mind. Philly is passionate in her belief that everything is connected and that when we learn to heal ourselves, it will help to heal this beautiful world. Find all my socials and links here https://linktr.ee/PhillyjLay

ABOUT THE PODCAST

The Wellness Way with Philly J Lay is a layperson’s guide to your natural health systems. Your very own NHS. Join me as I chat through many of the astonishing natural ways I used to self heal from a near death medical procedure, PTSD, addiction to opioids and alcohol, and years of grief that lead to many chronic illnesses including a tumour in my throat.

I will be sharing clips from my new Fasterclass series, Your Natural Wellness Journey, and interviewing some of the remarkable guides that have transformed my life. We will discuss their stories, specialist fields, and what led them down the path of natural health.