When I first started working at FoodLoose, I vaguely understood the term ‘organic’ and what it meant for our eco-systems. But as time went on and I researched our suppliers, the idea of working with nature, not against it, fascinated me more and more. How could I equally take and give within the food system?

Working with the landscape’s natural rhythms

Working within Gloucestershire’s archives helped deepen that question. Our food system didn’t change by accident. I came to realise that across our county’s history, growing food was once much more of a two-way relationship between people and land. From Roman times through the Middle Ages, farmers understood the natural fertility of flood plains, practised fallow periods, and rotated crops like clover to nourish the soil. Early farming worked with the landscape’s natural rhythms.

‘Progress’ has meant we have drifted from our roots

But history also shows how, in the name of ‘progress’, we drifted further from those roots. The Agricultural Revolution enclosed once-shared fields, replacing them with large blocks of private land. Mechanisation brought heavy machines that compacted the soil.

The Green Revolution of the twentieth century intensified chemical use, prioritising yield over biodiversity, resilience, and health. Woodland was cleared, hedgerows ripped up, and the soil – once teeming with life – was increasingly treated as a lifeless medium for production.

Yet hope threads through the past. We are relearning old wisdom. Today’s regenerative farmers look back to methods like four-course rotation and planting cover crops to rebuild soil health. They are choosing to farm in partnership with nature, not in dominance over it.

Each act is a step back into connection with our food

Getting closer to the land is a beautiful way to change the food system. Whether that means growing a few herbs on a windowsill, visiting your local butcher, shopping at a refill store, or supporting a local veg box scheme. Each act is a step back into connection with our food and with those who steward the land.

It is not about doing everything perfectly. It is about creating a relationship again, about falling in love with where our food comes from, and realising we are part of the soil’s story, too.