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Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution

£10.98£21.96Clearance
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Moving, startling, uplifting, galvanising and unsettling, this plainly beautiful book is one of those rare few that changes how you see the world around you' - Ella Risbridger, author of The Year of Miracles

Sarah Langford used her education to leave the farm for work and life in London. The same went for her husband. 83% of The population in the UK are urbanites now. Because of job situations Langford and her husband and small children returned to a family farm in what was to be a temporary situation. It soon became a passion and we get to see her awakening. Sarah is understanding of why we are where we are, but also doesn't accept the status quo. Knowing Suffolk quite well, I felt a connection to the land she describes and loved her overriding optimism. I loved this, "...change is also infectious. It is catching. All it takes is someone brave enough to start and soon the ideas will roll out to their neighbours, and their neighbours, outwards in waves until there is nobody left to say 'that won't work here', because it already has." A beautifully written, incredibly timely book' - Clover Stroud, author of My Wild and Sleepless Nights The way forward can been found in the many places that these books agree. Both explore the wonder and complexity of soil. They strike on several of the same solutions, including the “no-till” method of growing crops without ploughing, or the use of perennial grains. Both see the benefits of organic methods such as planting wildflowers as a means of controlling pests. An honest look at the farming life today. Raw, earthy and inspiring' - Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment

Regenesis conveys a sense of urgency about these challenges, and has a huge scope. Monbiot thinks globally, looking beyond these shores to poorer nations that feel the impact of climate changes and the economic pressures most keenly. The farming stories told in this book are informative, illuminating and at times deeply moving. They deal with issues such as isolation, economic hardship, generational tensions and pride in a job well done. There are moments of profound insight of which the following is just one example: My grandfather Peter,” Langford writes, “was a hero who fed a starving nation. Now his son Charlie, my uncle, is considered a villain, blamed for ecological catastrophe and with a legacy no one wants.” From Langford’s immediate family we move around England, meeting dairy farmers crushed by the low price supermarkets pay for milk, disillusioned pig farmers turning to mixed agriculture and small scale organic farmers. The stories are often frustrating and heartbreaking: tales of falling incomes, BSE, foot and mouth, and Covid. Langford is brilliant at explaining how complex economic forces impact on individuals. The book is absorbing, compassionate and should have a galvanising effect. The relationship between town and country, between those who produce food and those who consume it (although, of course, farmers eat too, and city dwellers can grow food!) has not always been an easy one. However, with the added dimensions of global climate change and ever more mouths to feed that relationship is under more strain than it has ever been.

As I began reading, my feeling was that I needed to be convinced. Sarah and Ben relocate from London to Suffolk to take over Ben’s family’s small farm. This is privilege. So many other young families would love such an opportunity, but getting on that farming ladder is fiendishly problematic. My hope was that Sarah would handle this sensitively. She does. At first sight, Langford’s Rooted seems to be an unlikely candidate to help heal that relationship. Sarah and husband Ben are educated professionals living a good life in London. Intelligent, well connected and upwardly mobile, Sarah is content with being rooted in her city lifestyle. But, they both have strong rural connections in Suffolk including (in Sarah’s case) an Uncle who is an agricultural feature writing celebrity! And, boy, has she inherited that ability to write!

In Rooted, Sarah weaves her own story around those who taught her what it means to be a farmer. She shines a light on the human side of modern farming, and shows how land connects us all, not only in terms of global sustainability but in our relationships with our physical and mental health, our communities and our planet.

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