A groundbreaking arts initiative called "We Feed The UK" is highlighting the stories of regenerative farmers, fishers, and food growers across Britain who are working to transform the country's agricultural landscape. The project, spearheaded by The Gaia Foundation alongside more than 40 collaborators, pairs photographers and poets with sustainable food producers to document their efforts in creating a more environmentally conscious future.
The accompanying book profiles ten pioneering operations, ranging from Black-led growing projects in London to a majority-women workers cooperative in Edinburgh. Rowan Phillimore and Ally Nelson from The Gaia Foundation reference Nobel Prize-winning chemist Ilya Prigogine in their introduction, noting his observation that "when a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order." They describe the featured stories as exactly such islands of coherence.
In North London, two organizations are addressing systemic inequalities in food production. Sandra Salazar Deca founded Go Grow With Love in Tottenham and Enfield to support women of African and Caribbean heritage in developing sustainable relationships with local land. Meanwhile, in Haringey, Paulette Henry, Pamela Shor, and their team operate Black Rootz, the UK's first multigenerational, Black-led growing enterprise focused on reconnecting Londoners with seeds, ancestral knowledge, and earth.
"We call it agroecology. We call it permaculture. But these lessons have been passed down and we're just trying to keep them alive," explains Shor from Black Rootz. "Our ancestors taught us to protect the land, and we all have a duty to future generations to live in balance with nature. Being able to connect food with communities allows them to understand heritage, allows them to understand power; it allows us to share."
Off the coasts of Cornwall and the Scilly Isles, photographer Jon Tonks documented sustainable fishing practices in his series "A Fish Called Julie." His images capture fisherfolk like Jof and his son Inigo, who use handmade willow pots for their catch. "Being a small-scale fisher offers a few metaphors for life," Tonks observes. "When the weather tells you not to fish, listen. Allow the seas to replenish. Sustainable fishing means something different to everyone, but real sustainability teaches us not to be greedy, to give nature a chance, and leave enough for the next generation."
In Edinburgh, photographer Sophie Gerrard documented the "Cultivating Equality" series at Lauriston Farm, which challenges the traditional male dominance in Scottish agriculture. While sons inherit Scottish farms in 85% of cases despite women comprising over half of UK family farm workers, this 100-acre urban growing site operates as a majority-women workers cooperative. "There's a plot run by a group of over-50s who didn't know each other before, and one further up who are all from Kenya," explains Lisa Houston from the project. "We have a Ukrainian group, a Polish group, a group from Hong Kong, from South Africa. We only have communal sheds so that allotment holders can grow these diverse crops, cook together and eat together."
The Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) region houses the UK's largest intergenerational nature restoration project, captured by photographer Andy Pilsbury. The Penpont Project operates through a co-management council consisting of teenagers aged 13 to 18, tenant farmers, landowners, and representatives from Action for Conservation charity. All decisions are made by consensus, fostering connections between young people and older generations. "It is incredible to witness how much fresh energy young people bring to a sector that desperately needs creativity," says local farmer, ecologist, and educator Forrest Hogg.
In County Tyrone, Ireland, Helen Keys and Charlie Mallon are reviving a 2,000-year-old tradition of growing flax for linen production, documented in photographer Yvette Monahan's "The Clean Blue of Linen" series. After a 50-year hiatus caused by 20th-century disruptions including two world wars, they're cultivating chemical-free flax using traditional methods. "We've been so lucky that we've been able to speak to people who remember the industry and worked in it," Keys notes. "It's not just us. There have been little pockets of people that have kept bits of knowledge and kept things going."
These diverse projects represent what organizers describe as "worm charmers, carbon capturers, wildflower whisperers, and insect allies" – regenerative farmers and fishers working in harmony with nature across the UK. The initiative demonstrates how grassroots efforts can provide both hope and practical blueprints for sustainable food systems, showing that traditional knowledge combined with innovative approaches can address modern environmental and social challenges in agriculture and fishing industries.
