Where does your deep interest in organic food comes from?
Jenny Hall: In the 1970s my gran had a small holding. All my earliest happy memories are of visiting her; playing with daisies in the meadow and feeding the bantams. From that point on I have always envisaged having my own farm although that has never happened. Myself, Keith (partner) and Alice (daughter) tenant land but live in a regular house.

My degree was in law but a year working for victim support and with the Crown Prosecution Service put pay to a career in that field. I joined the Newbury bypass anti-road campaign in 1996 and later Fairmile. Meeting with passionate environmental activists was the first time I really felt kindred spirit. Something I had not really felt with my fellow law students. I decided to back my new found passion with knowledge and went back to do a Masters degree in Environmental Policy in 1997. My funding was cut and I needed a job to finish the course.

Just by chance a local organic farm needed vegetable packers. That farm was run by Alan and Debra Schofield UK pioneers of organic vegetable box schemes. At the time the Schofield’s were building their own eco-house. They also introduced me to Lady Eve Balfour’s seminal work "The Living Soil". She wrote this at the end of the Second World War. Her premise is that if you have healthy soil and eat healthy food from that soil you will have healthy people. Hence why Eve Balfour chose the name "Soil Association".

I loved everything the Schofield’s stood for and wanted to emulate them. I did my Msc. dissertation about sustainability and organic farming. I was also introduced to Iain Tolhurst - Britain’s leading organic vegetable grower and spent time researching his growing system. He has been the biggest influence on me. After several years of persuasion he agreed to co-write "Growing Green: Organic Techniques for a Sustainable Future" which is a technical manual about the growing, conservation and marketing techniques you need to run a successful organic vegetable box scheme. With that book I aimed to write everything for someone starting at zero (like myself in 1998). Within the organic movement the book is highly regarded and is sold through Eco-logic Books.

In 2000 I helped set up Woodlands Farm box scheme and there met my partner Keith who was a farmworker and tractor driver. We started to plan to make our dream of a local organic box scheme a reality. After several years we gave up on our ambition to own land as we just did not earn enough, myself working for a charity and Keith as an agricultural worker. In 2004 we started to tenant land and put it through its organic conversion. We also had Alice our first child in February 2005. From the point of meeting Keith it was six years before the Sow & Grow box scheme would start selling vegetables and at times it felt that it may never happen. I came up with the idea for Organic Alice whilst weeding in our polytunnel. Unfortunately, we had to close the box scheme when we lost 80% of our crops in the floods of July 2007. The land is still flooded today so we know we made the right decision to abandon it. We are getting a new tenancy on land that is not prone to flooding but it means the organic conversion has to start afresh. From a timing point of view this will work out since we are due to have another baby in early 2009.

Organic food production seems to have an important role in the market as well today. Do you think it has a real power to affect the economic system? And how?
Jenny Hall: There are many types of organic farming some that are not ideal because they are very close to industrial farming. The type of organic farming I support is closed biological farming (i.e. creating your own fertility), selling locally and minimising reliance on fossil fuels. Our box scheme only sold within a two mile radius. This type of farming is connected within the local community and very resilient to the pressures of globalisation. It aims to stand outside the model of globalisation and does not rely on bought inputs but instead relies on the cycles of nature.

Several people including Simon Fairlie (the Land) and myself have done the maths and it is possible to feed everyone in the UK an organic diet without resorting to imports and the plundering of the resources of the developing world. Five-a-day fruit and vegetable policy needs to be fully integrated into British agricultural policy. Britain grows the weirdest mix of cereals and animal products which we know is the diet of cardiovascular disease. Dieticians tell us that we cannot get enough of fruit and vegetables so why are we not growing them in Britain? These changes cannot happen through the market which is distorted through indirect subsidies of the foods that make us unhealthy. These changes can only happen through policy interventions like the Second World War Dig for Victory campaign where people had access to fresh food and also were most connected to one another. I subscribe to a vision where everyone is able to grow at least some of their own fruit and vegetables.

What would you suggest to people who want to become more aware about organic food?
Jenny Hall: Organic food suffers from the stigma of being expensive and only for well-meaning middle class people. However, I couldn’t disagree more. Organic food should be accessible to everyone. I do not consider organic fruit and veg to be particularly expensive when you compare it to the cost of takeaway food or processed food. It is just a matter of priorities. If food is cheap there is always a consequence elsewhere e.g. the agricultural workers are not paid properly or there is a indirect subsidy. Organic food should reflect the true cost of production.

Before we set up our box scheme in 2006 my career was as a community food development worker for Lancashire Wildlife Trust working with deprived communities throughout Northwest England. After the floods and having to finish Sow & Grow Organic’s box scheme I returned to work for the Trust who have always been extremely supportive of the work I do.

For people who want to become aware of organic food and have a go at growing there are community allotment projects all over Britain and in return for volunteering your time you can have access to free, fresh organic fruit and veg. The freshness of food is the key to its nutritional quality. Alice, my daughter, would agree there is nothing betting than eating peas as you pick them from the vine. Education is also important. In the past three months, as part of my role with the Wildlife Trust, I have trained over ninety people so they can keep an allotment or vegetable patch. For something to be sustainable it has to be self-replicating and accessible to everyone. I see the Organic Alice series as also having a part to play in that role.

Organic food is just one of the steps towards a healthy, sustainable living. What do you think are the other ones?
Jenny Hall: Healthy eating is half of the equation and the other is avoiding a sedentary lifestyle. In 2006 I helped set up seven health walking groups in Preston, Lancashire. To be honest it couldn’t have come at a better time for me as I had really struggled to loose the baby weight with Alice and I did this in winter when the market garden was quiet. I have done a lot of community development work with mums and toddler groups and Muslim women. It was a joy to see some of the older asian women (who were really struggling even walking to the end of the road) within weeks walking a mile. I like walking because it is sociable and inclusive. To me the most important aspect of sustainable living is about community spirit and people enjoying each others company. I suppose I have always been blessed by meeting really diverse and interesting people. Even our box scheme customers came from all different walks of life and they have inspired the fourth book of the Organic Alice series.

The idea of a preschool children book is important, because it is based on the assumption that many aims can be reached through a good education. Have you ever thought about writing something for a widest audience?
Jenny Hall: Having a three year old child means I have read a lot of children’s books. Farming is a reoccurring theme in the literature of children up to the age of seven. However, not one farming book I have read bears resemblance to what really happens on farms or is truly educational about food production. I perceived that there was a real gap in the market. Also since I have been involved in community education I wanted something that gave technical handy hints on how to "grow your own". The Channel 4 Landshare initiative with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has really captured the public’s imagination. Hugh wants to get everyone to have a go at growing vegetables. It seems a good time to get this information out into the public domain. Whilst the Organic Alice series is primarily for young children the "notes for adult readers" support a family-centred learning approach. When I have the time I would also like to write a book for families who want a veggie plot.