Founder of Riverford Organic and veg box pioneer, Guy Singh-Watson, said, “Proper farm shops, ones that actually grow, rear, or make most of their own produce with love, attention to detail, and a genuine connection to the land are genuinely a beautiful thing. This book will help you find them.”
Promoting Britain's homegrown food networks, The Farm Shop Guide features 165 independent (and often smaller and family-run) farm shops across England, Scotland, and Wales, plus their highly rated cafés and restaurants.
The guide has everything from shops that are bedecked with multiple awards to muddier, down-to-earth places where the person at the till has just come in from the fields.
The guide also promotes 15 food and farming charities to raise awareness of their vital work, and 1% of its sales will go to the Sustainable Food Trust.
Book highlights
165 farm shops and their cafés and restaurants
Seasonal farm events including Easter, Halloween, and Christmas activities
Info on pick-your-own (PYO) crops, food festivals, and farmers' markets
Icons to help trip-planners, such as dog friendly, family friendly, EV charging, parking, etc.
Eight geographic sections, with separate chapters on Scotland and Wales
Nine striking full-colour maps
15 food-related charities are featured, including RSPB Fair to Nature, Nature Friendly Farming, Community Supported Agriculture, and Pasture for Life
264 full-colour pages with beautiful photography and maps throughout
As we previously mentioned a donation will be made to the Sustainable Food Trust for every book sold.
Learn about places with family-friendly farm activities.
Find out in advance which farm shops have EV charging for their customers
Halloween event round-ups and pick-your-own pumpkins (PYO)
A round up of places that offer PYO fruit, vegetables, Christmas trees, sunflowers, and more besides.
Farms with PYO flower fields. This would make a lovely Mother's Day activity
Award-winning farm shops (Farm Retail Awards winners and many more)
Farm shops near motorway junctions to break journeys in truly rural style
Farm shops by region: the book has chapters on Scotland; North; Midlands; Wales; East Anglia; South West (North); South West (South); South and South East
Praise for The Farm Shop Guide
The go-to guide for those seeking deliciously fresh local food when on their day trips, holidays and commutes, The Farm Shop Guide will also make everyday eating and food shopping more enjoyable and locally beneficial, too.
Helen Browning OBE is an organic farmer, farm shop owner, and CEO of the Soil Association. Helen said, “Nothing beats a good farm shop as a way of getting the freshest food possible, while directly supporting fantastic farmers.”
Jane Gray is Director of Broom House Farm, Durham, which features in the book. Jane said, “So many farm shops like ours are slightly off the beaten track, with holidaymakers stumbling across us just as they're going home. The Farm Shop Guide is going to be such a help.”
The Series is edited by Alastair Sawday.
Printslinger is an independent publishing company owned by travel publisher Alastair Sawday, an environmental activist and longstanding campaigner for local food, low food miles, and sustainable travel.
Alastair said, “The farm shops, cafés, and restaurants in this book deserve our support and this comprehensive guide will give them a genuine boost.
"Some of the places are rackety and delightfully chaotic; some are tiny places right on the farm; others have become quite huge.
"But the thing is, they are all fun to shop in, with real human beings on hand to help and provide an unusual connection with the local land (and my goodness, we need our farms and farmers). Buying and using this book is a great way to support them.”
How to buy The Farm Shop Guide
ISBN: 9781738481811
RRP £17.99
Pre-order on Amazon
Buy direct from Printslinger https://theextramile.guide/shop
We at That's Food and Drink believe this will make a superb stocking filler this Christmas for the dedicated foodies in your life.