Speciality Food Feb/March 2024

quality chicken. I couldn’t find any.” Not one to do anything by halves, she bought in 30 chicks and went about rearing them on pasture. “Then I thought, howmuch more work could it be to process the chickens and sell them to the public?” Radka and her partner worked with the EHO to come up with a plan, using a mobile slaughter unit, adding a flock of ducks to the mix. Her poultry problems were sorted. Finding excellent quality beef to deliver to customers, on the other hand, proved tricky. “Abattoirs were struggling to fulfil orders, but then I found the farmer John Tims at Old Farm Park.” The rest, as they say, is history. Enthused by the former dairy farmer’s commitment to managing his 300 acres in a more sustainable, and nature-friendly way, Radka formed a partnership with John, and around 80% of the meat in her monthly subscription boxes is now produced at Old Farm Park, where of cells to the study of soil. Radka’s lab coat has been replaced, as we chat, by a thick, insulating winter coat – essential for frosty mornings checking on livestock, or keeping track of produce in the farm shop chillers. Radka’s story, she says, probably began when she tried to be a vegetarian. It didn’t work for her. But, equally, the kind of meat available in supermarkets didn’t align with her values. “There’s a policy in farming of cheap food, low wages and overworking,” she says. “That doesn’t sit well with me. I’ve always thought we need to tackle that. People need to be prepared to pay more for food. Then, I believe, they will value it more, and less will be wasted.” At the same time Radka discovered regenerative farming. “It’s a way farmers and land managers can not only produce good quality meat that is nutrient dense, but using certain principles, can in fact help to restore the land Radka leads a dramatically different life today from the one she had six years ago, in the field of medical research, using gold nanoparticles to help treat brain disorders. Her journey has taken her from the lab to the land. From the study 52 @specialityfood “I was one of those consumers who became enlightened,” says Dr Radka Gromnicova from her farm shop, Nature Way Farm at Old Park Farm in Northamptonshire. “I wasn’t happy with how food was produced...how meat was produced.” and restore biodiversity. When I discovered all of this, I wanted to be a part of it!” There was a lot of discussion with her partner. Could they change their lives and become country folk? If they could source excellent quality meat, produced in a more sustainable way, would other people want to buy it? A radical change of pace For a couple of years Radka immersed herself in research, finding and visiting pockets of the farming community where regenerative methods had been adopted. She worked alongside them, buying their meat, and creating the Nature Way Farm meat box delivery scheme, which continues to this day. In many ways, the turning point for the business was Covid, which had a dramatic impact on supply chains. “There was no food on the shelves, and I wanted some chicken,” says Radka. “Really good ‘Managing the land and animals in harmony is an investment in our future’ As part of our series delving into some of the UK’s most fascinating diversification projects, Speciality Food speaks to a scientist who gave up her career to focus on farming