Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution

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In Rooted, you highlight how regenerative farming can benefit the land and the output of a farm but balance it with the reality that there are a lot of farmers, who have been used to certain practices their whole farming life. What have you found to be the most effective way of starting those conversations and getting people to consider change? I think it’s for a lot of the reasons that you’ve just said, and it’s clear through the farmers’ stories you’ve told in the book, that agriculture is an aging industry. D o you think there’s a main cause for many young farmers not staying? Rooted is a brave thing: a book that prods into the ever-widening gulf between the binaries we increasingly use to examine the world. As conversations about what we eat and where it comes from reach fever-pitch, Sarah Langford's clear-eyed, inquisitive and passionate plea for farmers and farming offers a vital understanding when it has never been so needed. I hope everyone reads it. Alice Vincent, author of Rootbound But many farmers believe that they have been unfairly accused of ecological mismanagement, and that they are uniquely placed to restore the earth and provide a sustainable future. Sarah Langford has returned to her country roots after working for many years as a criminal barrister in the city. In her book, Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution she shows how a new generation of farmers are set on a path of regenerative change. More than a memoir; Langford manages to contain and convey the whole scale of the coming agricultural revolution. Daily Telegraph

Rooted by Sarah Langford; Regenesis by George Monbiot reviews Rooted by Sarah Langford; Regenesis by George Monbiot reviews

Rooted offers us an honest look at the farming life today. It is not an easy way to make a living, but through Langford's personal story – and those of who she meets – we appreciate how it offers a connection with the land, and a firmer sense of our place in the world. Raw, earthy and inspiring."

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Rooted is a brave thing: a book that prods into the ever-widening gulf between the binaries we increasingly use to examine the world. As conversations about what we eat and where it comes from reach fever-pitch, Sarah Langford's clear-eyed, inquisitive and passionate plea for farmers and farming offers a vital understanding when it has never been so needed. I hope everyone reads it." If you’re wondering about how to manage the community response to a rewilding project, then the discussion of Patagonia’s rewilding experiment in S America is very informative. There is also insightful guidance into how rewilders might navigate choppy political waters, and some predictions of future industry growth. 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. The way this book is structured is very helpful for rewilding novices, with confusing jargon demystified and competing theories explained. The authors also make sure to cover the most common case studies, so you’re not left feeling embarrassed when someone brings up the Oostvaardersplassen in casual conversation. 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.

Rooted - Penguin Books UK Rooted - Penguin Books UK

Moving, intimate, tender and searing, this is a gem of a book with deep roots and fresh green shoots." Moving, intimate, tender and searing, this is a gem of a book with deep roots and fresh green shoots. Tamsin Calidas, author of I Am An Island

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Heartbreaking and hopeful, this story of a farming revival has never been more important. It opened my eyes and touched my soul Esther Freud 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. We Are the Ark– Pioneer gardening rewilder, Mary Reynolds brings her warm and enigmatic style of rewilding to a wider audience in this captivating illustrated edition. Her thoughts align closely with my own on rewilding gardens, so I look forward to reading this one.

Rooted - Penguin Books UK

Those days come to mind reading two books that challenge us to think again about farming – what it has come to mean and how it could be transformed. Sarah Langford’s Rooted, with its case studies of agriculture over the last few decades, makes me thankful I grew up on the type of mixed family farm far less common than it once was. George Monbiot’s Regenesis takes as its subject no less than the entire world’s food production system and dares to imagine a world largely free of farming as we have known it. 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. The book is split between Sarah and Ben’s own experiences as they begin their farming career and chapters that shift the focus to other farmers up and down the country. The Langfords decide that the only way for them to farm their land is in sympathy with nature and decide to pursue what is called ‘regenerative farming’. The farmers featured in this book are doing something similar. Without giving too much time to the obvious topic of his family (brother of Joseph, relative of Ranulph Fiennes), Jake launches into a matter-of-fact tale that explains his slow evolution from gamekeeper to rewilder. Through this process, you’ll develop an appreciation for gamekeepers that you might not have expected.

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Evocative and resonant. These are stories that need to be told. Andy Cato, Groove Armada and Wildfarmed

BBC Radio 4 - Start the Week, A revolution in food and farming

The environmentalist George Monbiot argues that farming is the world’s greatest cause of environmental destruction, but few people want to talk about it. In Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet he presents a vision for the future of food production. He tells Tom Sutcliffe that new ideas and technologies from soil ecology to laboratory-grown food could change the way people eat while regenerating the landscape. Rooted offers us an honest look at the farming life today. It is not an easy way to make a living, but through Langford's personal story - and those of who she meets - we appreciate how it offers a connection with the land, and a firmer sense of our place in the world. Raw, earthy and inspiring. Cal Flyn, author of Islands of AbandonmentA beautifully written, incredibly timely book' - Clover Stroud, author of My Wild and Sleepless Nights A timely and optimistic book, ostensibly about why we need farming to produce food, but more deeply about how farming is done, or could be done. Refreshingly authentic, Rooted gives us a hopeful sense of a regenerative future Juliet Blaxland, author of The Easternmost House and The Easternmost Sky An eloquent and personal insight into the terrible human as well as environmental cost of cheap food and an inspiring account of the people working to heal our relationship with our habitat and ourselves. Urgent, necessary and moving."