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I left my job in London to grow food. This deep connection with nature gives my life meaning | Claire Ratinon

By Claire Ratinon

20 Oct 2022 · 3 min read

Editor's Note

In this article, we hear about how one woman exchanged her city life for one on the farm, describing it as "the most important thing" she has ever done. Could we all benefit from more time in nature?

In July 2016, I was sitting on the rooftop of a building in central London, listening to the gentle rumble of a nearby beehive, when I realised that my life had changed entirely. I didn’t intend to quit – quitting crept up on me. After eight years of working in the media, I was on a path to becoming an organic food grower, with a temporary side hustle of city beekeeping.

Not long before that point, I was just like the people in the office building below me. My work days were spent behind a desk or lugging around camera equipment, but now I am devoted to a life of nurturing the soil and growing the plants that end up on our plates.

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