Sir Julian Rose and his daughter, Miriam Rose, of the Hardwick Estate – England's first community-owned estate – joined our CEO, Patrick Holden, on the SFT Podcast.

Julian Rose was one of the pioneers of organic farming in the UK. In the late 1960s, Julian inherited ownership of the Hardwick Estate and by 1975 the 375-acre farmland had been converted to organic status. 40 years later, the Rose family have made the decision to transfer ownership of the Estate to the local community, seeking to move away from a history of private aristocratic ownership.

Following closely in her father's footsteps, Miriam says she identified as a 'natural environmentalist' from a very young age having grown up on the farm, and has been a fierce advocate ever since – including spending eight days incarcerated in Iceland after protesting the country's aluminium industry's impact on the rivers. Nowadays, Miriam sits on the board of Trustees of the Hardwick Estate, overseeing its direction, which is otherwise managed by the Hardwick community.

In this episode, Julian and Miriam go into more detail about how this community-owned model works, as well as the risks involved with this approach, and they discuss whether or not this model could be scaled. They also talk about the complex feelings they have towards land-ownership and the inheritance of wealth.

Find out more about the Hardwick Estate here.

This conversation was recorded in October 2025. Featured image courtesy of www.julianrose.info/.

Timestamps

0:00: Welcome Julian and Miriam!

01:04: The history of the Hardwick Estate and how the Julian came to inherit the Estate

9:05: Patrick and Julian's involvement in the early organic movement – including the beginnings of the UK's organic food standards

12:15: Miriam's early beginnings as an environmentalist and her role at Hardwick

15:12: Becoming England's first community-owned estate

22:35: How does the community ownership model work?

24:46: What are the risks involved with this approach?

30:02: 50 years of organic at the Hardwick Estate

32:58: Can this community-owned model be scaled?

33:59: The complexities of inheriting land and wealth

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What's really going on in food and farming? Two farmers – Patrick Holden, founder of the Sustainable Food Trust, and Stuart Oates, founder of the Fossil Free Farm project – get behind the headlines to unpack the biggest stories shaping what we eat, how we farm and the future of the planet. Expect lively debate, real-world experience, and unique insights from some of food and farming's top voices.

For our first episode of 2026, Patrick and Stuart talk about the extreme weather we've experienced, just days into the new year – reflecting on the disruption that Storm Goretti caused, particularly in Cornwall where Stuart farms, they discuss the incredible display of community resilience in response to shocks like this.

Elsewhere in the conversation, Patrick also talks about his time at the Oxford farming conferences – both Oxford Real Farming Conference and Oxford Farming Conference – where the environment secretary announced updates to the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) schemes; Stuart discusses Marks & Spencer's new range of nutrient dense food, and the two also debate the importance of measuring farming system outcomes and explore the challenges that come with this.

To join in the conversation, get in touch with us at info@sustainablefoodtrust.org – let us know what you'd like to hear Patrick and Stuart talk about next time.

Timestamps:

0:00: Welcome!

0:13: The overproduction of milk affecting price per litre

2:32: The aftermath of Storm Goretti and show of community spirit

6:48: Local procurement vs exports

8:31: ORFC and OFC

13:00: Are big food companies comitting greenwash or should we embrace their regen efforts?

20:38: Defra's recent announcement on SFI and FiPL

24:07: Should we and how can we measure farming system outcomes?

29:50: M&S's 'nutrient dense' food range

31:48: McDonald's efforts to champion higher quality food

35:06: What's Stuart up to in Brazil?

36:08: Patrick's message on health for 2026

37:17: Global dependence on roundup

41:03: Goodbye!

Follow Patrick and the Sustainable Food Trust:

https://www.instagram.com/susfoodtrust/ | https://www.instagram.com/hafodcheese/

https://bsky.app/profile/susfoodtrust.bsky.social

https://www.facebook.com/SusFoodTrust

https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-food-trust/

Find out more about Stuart and the Fossil Free Farm project:

https://fossilfreefarm.com/

https://www.instagram.com/camelstu/

https://www.youtube.com/@farmerstu