Healthy Soil, Healthy People

Available for over a year

Dr Johnny Wake believes a healthy society, healthy food, and healthy soil are all connected. Eleven years ago, he took over the running of his family’s Courteenhall Estate in Northamptonshire, on top of working as a GP. Soon, he found himself so immersed in farming, and setting up new enterprises, he left medicine altogether. Sarah Swadling finds out how he’s started from the soil up in reshaping the way the estate’s farmed: adopting regenerative crop growing techniques, reintroducing native rare breed cattle, and restoring habitats. Human wellbeing is important, too. Dr Wake co-founded New Leaf Learning, a scheme bringing primary school children, struggling with mainstream education, into the outdoors. Sarah hears from special educational needs teacher Alex Preston, who explains how nature-based outdoor learning can transform children’s confidence and behaviour in the classroom. Presented and produced by Sarah Swadling