WILLOWBROOK FARM Oxfordshire

CHILDREN OF

Farmers of Asian and

African heritage are few and far between in Britain. Ruby and Lutfi Radwan bought Willowbrook Farm, a 43-acre site just north of Oxford, 17 years ago, leaving teaching jobs to embark on a life of farming, adhering to permaculture principles. Ruby’s background is Indian and Pakistani, while Lutfi has Turkish and African heritage as well as Scandinavian and Irish.

Free-range, high-welfare eggs and chicken are the farm’s primary output, and are sent across the country, alongside a farm shop selling their own lamb and vegetables, a small café, and a campsite.

The Radwans focus on what Lutfi calls “real farming”. He explains: “Farming has become an industrial process. We’re trying to go back to the village communities we would’ve had only 150 years ago, when people were connected to a place, knew their local farmers and butchers.”

Willowbrook is a family affair, with the couple’s five children involved to varying degrees, as well as partners. The two eldest sons, for example, are employed on the farm. Lutfi believes that several barriers prevent people of colour from gaining access to land, particularly inheritance, education and wealth.

“It’s a closed community that ethnic minorities haven’t broken into. Someone from Brixton, it’s not within their orbit to be a farmer.”

Regular open days help the Radwans reach groups that might not usually frequent farms. Across a weekend, up to 80 people from all ethnic backgrounds visit, often from cities. They learn about farming processes, mix with locals, and eat the produce. “It’s a nice little melting pot,” says Lutfi.

There aren’t many Muslim farmers in Britain, and Lutfi admits there has been the odd racist incident. Still, he thinks that representation in farming is “absolutely going to grow. It’s taken a long time, but it’s taking off among the Muslim community.

The younger generation are a lot more politically aware and engaged with environmental issues.”

ALL AGES

Resist the urge to correct a child, especially when they’re pitching in or helping the family. Step back and let a child perform a task without interfering, even if the child isn’t executing the task as you wish or taking the optimal approach. If a child is resisting a request (e.g. to help with the dishes), you’re likely forcing the issue too hard. The child knows what you want. Stop asking. Wait and let the child take the lead.

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Pay close attention to how a child is trying to contribute and then build off their ideas instead of resisting them.

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Help a child learn a task by letting them practise that task instead of lecturing or explaining the task to them. Offer simple course corrections, sparingly, while the child takes action.

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Accept a child’s contribution to an activity even if it isn’t what you expect or want.

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Use praise very sparingly. When you do praise, attach it to learning an overall value (e.g. “You are starting to learn to be helpful”) or to maturity (e.g. “You are really becoming a big girl”).

The Radwans host regular open days at their farm in Oxfordshire