Rising from the ashes

The food hall burned down causing some disruption, but this year a new barn has risen from the ashes and is once again selling the award-winning food that has become a byword for quality.

Speaking for myself, I have long been a fan of what is called in the USA the New Food Movement — away from mass produced food, sold in supermarkets miles away from the farms on which it was produced — towards farm shops selling food produced in such a way that the land is left by each successive farmer a little better than he or she found it.

But like many of us, I wonder whether I can afford such food. After all, since the 1950s we have been spending a smaller percentage of our incomes on food than ever before, thanks to industrial agricultural practices forcing prices down — and a smaller amount of our time preparing it.

A recent survey produced the statistic that if the price of a chicken — a luxury in the 1950s — had risen in line with house prices, it would now cost £47.

Daylesford Organic, to give the company its full title, produces a chicken costing £9.95 — not unreasonable for organic poultry and other organic produce, much of it produced right there on the farm.

Indeed, new chief executive Jamie Mitchell told me that prices for organic food at Daylesford are no higher than those charged at leading supermarkets — despite widespread perceptions to the contrary.

Perhaps the myth of sky-high prices stems from the general ambience of luxury which imbues the place, with expensive — but beautiful — clothes for sale, some bearing the Bamford label, and the existence of a converted barn where you can book a massage for £65.

Mr Mitchell, 38, accepted Daylesford did have a reputation for high prices, but added: “We may have shot ourselves in the foot there, by having the two businesses side by side.

“But to some extent we are a destination attraction. People come here for the day from all over the south-east and the Midlands.

“And, on top of that, a lot of people locally have discovered how good our food is, and now do their regular shopping here.”

I took a tour of the farm, a swathe of glorious Cotswold countryside, with manager Richard Smith, who formerly worked at Oxford University’s farm in Wytham, and is a passionate advocate of mixed organic farming and market gardening, eschewing artificial fertilisers.

He said: “Our aim is to achieve total self-sufficiency. We employ 13 people — five in the garden and eight on the farm, and the estate owns 1,650 acres and rents another 500.

“We grow crops in rotation: red clover for three years to fix nitrogen, then cereals, usually wheat, oats or rye for animal feed — which we, of course, feed to our own animals.”

A feeling of strong belief in a campaign to get consumers everywhere to care more about where their food comes from, and what its production is doing to the land, pervades Daylesford — whether it be in the pastures admiring the lambs and cattle, in the turkey shed where chicks, destined for the oven at Christmas, had just that morning emerged, or in the shop tasting the products.

Now plans are afoot to start walking farm tours as a service to introduce the public to organic food production methods. At a huge cow shed Mr Smith proudly introduced me to some of his prize Aberdeen Angus bulls, including one called Daylesford Black Emperor. He happily went right into the pen and the bull nuzzled up to him.

“Stockmanship is vital,” he said. By which he means, I took it, that kindness to animals is important — and, he said, sometimes sadly lacking in some other beef production units.

And in the parkland near the great house, originally built for Warren Hastings, the governor of India, in the 19th Century, the rare Old Gloucester cattle, producers of the single Gloucester cheese for sale in the farm shop, were equally friendly.

Mr Smith added: “I often take hardened farmers and managers, who use non-organic methods, and they are impressed by the condition of our livestock.”

Mr Smith has worked for five years at Daylesford, which the Bamfords bought in 1988 from newspaper tycoon Lord Rothermere. Farming organically is a long-term business, he explained — and here every initiative is overseen by Carole, Lady Bamford.

Back in the shop, where 40 staff work, I understood what he meant when Mr Mitchell, who joined Daylesford from Innocent Smoothies six months ago, said: “So far the enterprise has required continual investment. But we are hoping to break even next year.”

He added: “This particular site is profitable already. Now we also have shops in London and in Munich.”

In addition, the Bamfords have another farm in Staffordshire where organic red deer are bred: even their antlers are turned into tool handles and sold — as part of Lady Bamford’s campaign to keep alive artisan workmanship.

But what about that nagging question about the price of organic food?

Even in a year when general food prices are expected to rise, thanks to bad harvests —Russia has recently imposed a ban on wheat exports which is expected to force up bread prices — how many of us are willing to pay more for organic produce?

Mr Mitchell agreed with Mr Smith: “People should perhaps try our food before deciding. And with regard to meat, try eating less, but better.”