What does it mean to say ‘the family farm is a colonial concept’?

Landed is the new podcast series from Farmerama – the team behind the Guild of Food Writers Award-winning podcast, Cereal.

It’s a personal exploration of land ownership and colonial legacy, told by a farmer’s son as he returns home to his family farm in the Scottish Highlands.

In the series, co-produced by Katie Revell and Col Gordon, Col – a 34-year-old baker and seed researcher – starts to question long-held assumptions that challenge his idea of the small family farm and the viability of its future.

Over four episodes, he explores not only the current challenges of farm succession and access to land in the UK, but also of lost history, colonial legacy and traditional Gaelic relationships with the land, going as far back as the Highland Clearances and the slave trade.

Landed isn’t about dismissing the small family farm, but rather, bringing it to life within its full ecological, cultural and historical contexts. It challenges us to learn from these to make our landscapes more sustainable and accessible for all.

Landed is available at farmerama.co, on Soundcloud (soundcloud.com/farmerama-radio), and on all podcast platforms.