Six Inches of Soil

How to Heal Our Soils, Ourselves and Our Communities Through Regenerative Farming

Guild Of Food Writers Awards 2025 shortlisted

The inspiring story of British farmers standing up to the industrial food system and transforming the way they produce food – to heal the soil, benefit our health and provide for local communities.

Guild Of Food Writers Awards 2025 shortlisted

How has it come to this point in our history that we hardly value the food we eat and the soil that it’s grown in? How is it that we care so little how food production impacts animals and the environment?

Industrial farming has transformed Britain’s rural landscapes, increasing crop yields and reducing hunger. Yet this has all come at a terrible ecological cost. It is ‘both a miracle and a disaster’.

Six Inches of Soil, the film and this companion book, is the inspiring story of three British farmers standing up to the industrial food system and transforming the way they produce food – to heal the soil, benefit our health and provide for local communities. 

Six Inches of Soil is a story of courage, vision and hope. This book is not just for farmers. Reconnecting with our food, and regenerating our soils, ourselves and our communities benefits everyone and needs everyone to be involved. We want to inspire farmers with the confidence and practical know-how to adopt regenerative farming approaches. We want to give consumers the impetus and information to rethink their food choices.

This book and the film are closely related but stand on their own. In these pages you will find detailed chapters on each of the three farmers that provide replicable case studies and inspiration. Additionally, there are chapters examining the problems with the current agri-food system and proposing solutions and a vision for the future. Recognised experts: explain agroecological farming systems and soil science; consider the issues of land use, greenwashing, subsidies, food security; and provide examples of agroforestry applications, and farm enterprise stacking and diversification.

Their three stories are inspiring, guiding and frustrating. Allow yourself to be inspired, to be guided and to turn your frustration in to action.

 

Contributor: Sarah Langford (Foreword by), Molly Foster (Edited by), Priya Kalia (Edited by), Jeremy Toynbee (Edited by), Mike Berners-Lee (Contributions by), Matt Chatfield (Contributions by), Henry Dimbleby (Contributions by), Adrienne Gordon (Contributions by), Vicki Hird (Contributions by), Anna Jackson (Contributions by), Andrew Jackson (Contributions by), Hannah Jones (Contributions by), Satish Kumar (Contributions by), Tim Lang (Contributions by), Claire Mackenzie (Contributions by), Nicole Masters (Contributions by), Josiah Meldrum (Contributions by), Lucy Michaels (Contributions by), Emma Mills (Contributions by), James Murray-White (Contributions by), Marina O'Connell (Contributions by), John Pawsey (Contributions by), Tom Pearson (Contributions by), Colin Ramsay (Contributions by), Nic Renison (Contributions by), Lizzie Sagoo (Contributions by), Ben Thomas (Contributions by), Ian Wilkinson (Contributions by), Dee Woods (Contributions by)

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.