Soil to Soul: Reflections on Our Regenerative Food Journey in the UK

Over the past few weeks, we traveled from Kenya to the UK on a mission to deepen our understanding of regenerative food systems. We spent two whirlwind weeks meeting with millers, farmers, seed savers, soil scientists, bakers, and pioneers who are reimagining the future of food from the ground up. We chose the UK because it’s home to some exciting work around nutrient density, biodiversity, and what we like to call “living food”. And it did not disappoint. Everywhere we went, we listened, learned, and felt ever more inspired by those who are proving that real food is about more than calories – it’s about complexity, vitality, and meaning.

From Soil to Bread: Meeting the Grain Keepers

One of the highlights of our journey was visiting the people we’ve nicknamed the grain keepers – regenerative farmers, heritage grain breeders, and artisanal millers working to restore a rich diversity of grains. We met Andrew Forbes of Brockwell Bake, a humble legend in the UK’s local grain movement. Andrew has inspired countless others by reviving ancient wheat varieties on community plots and farms around London, proving that flour can be a cultural artifact, not just a commodity.

In Buckinghamshire, we walked through a field of waist-high, swaying heirloom wheat with Dr. John Letts, a farmer-archaeobotanist who grows dozens of heritage grain varieties together as a “population wheat” crop. John undersows his wheat with clover in a revolutionary no-input system that continually feeds the soil – a clover-based restorative cropping system he’s refined over 30 years. Seeing a carpet of clover beneath a polyculture of ancient wheats was like glimpsing a future of farming that honours the past.

Down in Somerset, we visited Fred Price at Gothelney Farm, who showed us what it looks like to convert a conventional family farm into an agroecological haven. Fred is growing population wheats as well – dynamic mixtures of genetically diverse grains that adapt to the land and rely on variation for resilience. He’s also integrating animals, pulses, and heritage breeds. Fred’s journey from chasing yield to nurturing diversity was encouraging to witness. 

It wasn’t just rural farms, either. In Nottingham, we popped into an urban milling cooperative that completely wowed us. The Nottingham Mill Co-op is a community-owned stone mill and bakery space that is flipping the script on who holds power in the food system. Their mission is to localise grain economies and “put food systems in the hands of citizens, not corporations”. We could feel the passion as Emma Shires, Kimberley Bell and Amy Warman described how volunteers, bakers, and brewers come together to share equipment, knowledge, and even locally grown grain. It’s not just about flour; it’s about empowerment. Seeing this co-op in action affirmed our belief that when people connect around food, they stop being “consumers” and start being citizens in the truest sense – active participants in their food culture.

Listening to the Land at Groundswell

Midway through our trip, we attended the annual Groundswell Regenerative Agriculture Festival – essentially Glastonbury for soil enthusiasts! Amid the demo plots of cover crops and no-till machinery, we found ourselves drawn into some deeply mind-opening conversations. One talk in particular has stayed with us: we heard Dr. Patrick MacManaway, affectionately known as “the land whisperer,” share insights on the subtle energies in farming. He even cited a fascinating study about water crystals and human intention. In a double-blind experiment, researchers found that water samples “treated” with positive, loving thoughts later formed more beautiful ice crystals than untreated water when frozen. It sounds a bit mystical, but the science was there, and the message was clear – our intentions and attitudes affect the world around us in ways we’re only beginning to understand.

Listening to Patrick, it struck us that regenerative agriculture isn’t just about techniques like cover cropping or grazing; it’s also about the energy and care we bring to our relationship with the land.

Seeds of Change at OmVed Gardens

In London, we had the honour of participating in a Chefs’ Manifesto gathering at OmVed Gardens, a verdant oasis tucked away in Highgate. OmVed is a special place – part garden, part kitchen, part community hub – and it was the perfect setting for conversations about food and change. Two of our Grove and Meadow team - Natasha and Delia - took the stage to share our vision for our Living Food Campus in Tigoni and the role of “third spaces” in food systems transformation. We talked about how spaces like the campus can help people sense into new ways of being in the world through food – whether it’s experiencing biodiversity on a plate or learning to ferment vegetables for the first time. 

Elsa Pearl @elsapearlphotos @chefsmanifesto @omvedgarden

OmVed’s work itself gave us so much hope. Through their Seed Saving Network, the team at OmVed distributes thousands of free open-pollinated seed packets to local growers each year  – literally sowing the seeds of a healthier, more biodiverse future. The event also brought together some heavy-hitters in the sustainable food scene. We found ourselves in conversation with folks like Chef Tom Hunt, who champions zero-waste cooking and whole foods, and Professor Tim Lang, a public health food policy expert. Hearing Professor Lang speak was galvanizing – he reminded us that if we don’t sort out our food system, we won’t sort out anything. He also pointed out that in times of crisis, it’s community and solidarity that pull us through, not individual stockpiles.

As he so rightly said, what’s good for the collective is good for each of us. Standing in that garden with chefs, farmers, and activists all around, we felt the truth of those words. Real change grows from the grassroots – quite literally from the soil and the seeds, but also from the coming together of people sharing food and ideas. Whole foods and whole communities go hand in hand. We left OmVed Gardens more convinced than ever that chefs can be incredible agents of change, and that every shared meal or seed swap is a step toward a better food system.

Ancient Wisdom at Kew Gardens

Our journey also took us back in time – or at least, it felt that way – with a visit to the Herbarium at Kew Gardens. If you’ve never been, try to imagine a library, but instead of books, the shelves hold plant specimens from every corner of the globe. Kew’s Herbarium houses roughly 7 million preserved plant specimens collected over the past 260 years. Seven million! We got a peek into the dry seed room, where seeds are stored at just the right humidity to last for decades, even centuries. Peering at seeds collected in the 1800s gave me goosebumps. It made us reflect on the generations of explorers, botanists, and traditional farmers whose wisdom is tucked away in those drawers. Each seed or dried leaf is a story, a piece of knowledge passed down. 

That visit filled us with awe and a sense of responsibility. The vast catalog of life at Kew is like a time capsule of biodiversity. It reminded us that innovation in food and farming isn’t always about new tech; sometimes it’s about looking back at what our ancestors knew. The herbarium visit reinforced our desire to tap into that ancient wisdom – to learn from landrace seeds and forgotten crop varieties, from old farming journals and the kind of observation-based knowledge that develops when humans really live in sync with the land. We came away determined to keep one foot in the past even as we step into the future, carrying forward the living library of seeds and stories.

Elsa Pearl @elsapearlphotos @chefsmanifesto @omvedgarden

Coming Home: Gratitude and Growing Hope

Now we’re back home in Kenya, and we’ve been digesting (figuratively and literally!) everything we experienced. One phrase keeps echoing in our minds: everything starts with soil. 

Healthy soil was the through-line everywhere we went – whether it was a no-till grain field in England or a seed-saving garden in the city, the vitality of the soil was the foundation for everything else. Nurturing that soil nurtures so much more: nutrient-dense crops, resilient communities, healthy bodies, and hope for the future. We also return home deeply moved by the generosity we encountered. So many people opened up their farms, their kitchens, and their hearts to us. We want to say a special thank you to Hai Lin of Lucky Yu Bakery and Katie Revell of the Farmerama podcast for connecting us with some of the most incredible minds on this trip. And thanks to every farmer, miller, baker, chef, and activist who spent time with us, shared a meal, handed us a bag of flour or a bundle of seeds, or just offered words of wisdom. The kindness we felt from both the land and its people was humbling. 

This journey affirmed something fundamental about our mission at Grove & Meadow: we’re not just here to sell food; we’re here to build a community. We’ve always seen the people who enjoy our foods not just as consumers, but as fellow citizens of a living food system. Now more than ever, we believe that each of us has the power to be an agent of change through the choices we make and the conversations we spark. Our role – whether as a brand, as chefs, or as growers – is to create invitations for everyone to participate, to reconnect with the soil and with each other. 

As we continue our work, you’ll see these UK lessons come to life in what we do. From exploring heritage grains in our recipes, to hosting community workshops at our Living Food Campus, to championing transparency and diversity in our supply chains – it’s all part of the tapestry. We’re excited to share more in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, we carry the spirit of this trip in our hearts: soil to soul, seed to plate, person to person. The future of food is regenerating all around us, if we only listen and engage. And we’re so grateful to be on this journey with you. 

Thank you for reading and for caring about where your food comes from. Here’s to growing something good, together; join our Food Beyond the Plate movement and help us co-design what that growth looks and feels like!