Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution

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While it’s a great book, which stands on its own merits, it’s also ideal for getting skeptics interested in the concepts behind rewilding. Rooted shows how agriculture has swung from one idea to another and how farmers are often battered and caught in a terrible bind. Langford interviews a number of contemporary farmers and tells their stories. I cringe at thought 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. What is one thing that you’ve taken from your conversations with farmers that you think will stay with you as you continue experimenting on your farm? 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.

Rooted by Sarah Langford - Geographical Review: Rooted by Sarah Langford - Geographical

Despite it being hard to stomach for many of us from the countryside, Monbiot makes a convincing case. In desperate times, a shift to plant-based and even lab-grown food makes simple mathematical sense. Monbiot’s arguments take account of the needs of everyone in society, not just those who can afford premium meat, and not just those of us in the UK. Regenesis aims to be a gamechanger, and indeed it already makes ideas once thought radical seem tame.Evocative and resonant. These are stories that need to be told. Andy Cato, Groove Armada and Wildfarmed Enthralling ... An unignorable call to understand the challenges facing not only farming but the Earth itself. Spectator

Rooted by Sarah Langford - Penguin Books Australia Rooted by Sarah Langford - Penguin Books Australia

Moving, intimate, tender and searing, this is a gem of a book with deep roots and fresh green shoots." For anyone unfamiliar with rewilding science, Rebirding is a great place to start, as the author gives a great outline of the key literature. There’s obviously a focus on birds, given the title, but it’s tied in to the effects of wider restoration – there are almost no birds without insects, as he points out, and no insects without the plants and habitats they need to survive. Enthralling [...] An unignorable call to understand the challenges facing not only farming but the Earth itself."

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As I walk the lanes around my home in Devon, I look at hedgerows, fields and farms, and think about the political and economic forces affecting the British countryside. The challenges of climate change, Brexit, changing farm subsidies, biodiversity loss and falling incomes mean that change is coming. Rooted is Sarah Langford’s moving exploration of these changes, and of what the future holds. She tells the story of leaving her career as a barrister in London and moving, in 2017, with her young family to Suffolk (an unwanted and unplanned move), taking on the management of her husband’s family farm and reconnecting with her farming roots in the process. ‘In the city, we hold two contrasting pictures of a farmer: one from a children’s picture book and one from a poster of ecological destruction,’ she writes. ‘I wonder if anyone knows what being a farmer means anymore. I need to find out because now, unexpectedly, I have been given a chance to become one.’ 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 Abandonment

Rooted - Penguin Books UK Rooted - Penguin Books UK

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. This book broke my heart at times but also contained humour and such poignant insights into the criminal justice system.' An honest look at the farming life today. Raw, earthy and inspiring' - Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment

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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. 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 While Sarah Langford comes from a family of farmers, for many city dwellers it can be difficult to cultivate a connection with the earth. In her memoir, Unearthed: On Race and Roots and How the Soil Taught Me I Belong, Claire Ratinon, explores how she grew up feeling disconnected with the natural world and with family stories of slave ancestors forced to work the land. Through learning to grow her own vegetables and especially the food of Mauritius, she has finally felt able to put down roots.