Lady Eve Balfour

Great Lives

BBC

History, Documentary, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

An aristocrat in an eye patch, a jazz saxophonist, a crime novelist and a pioneering organic farmer. Lady Eve Balfour was born in 1898 into the political elite - her uncle was A J Balfour, who was Prime Minister from 1902-05. But from the age of 12 she wanted to be a farmer and, after studying at agricultural college, made her dream a reality. She started experimenting with organic farming, and eventually published a book called The Living Soil, which lead to her founding the organic farming body, the Soil Association. Seen as somewhat of a crank, she faced opposition from fellow farmers and politicians alike. Meanwhile, her personal life was as fascinating as her agricultural life. She lived in a run-down farmhouse with her female partner, played saxophone in a jazz band and co-authored a series of best-selling crime novels. Presenter, Matthew Parris, is joined by former Director of the Soil Association, Patrick Holden, and Sarah Langford, a farmer and author who claims a "borderline obsession" with Lady Eve. Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to tell you why I love podcasting.
0:04.5	I'm Sasha Johansson, I'm an Assistant Commissioner for the BBC and I work on making podcasts.
0:11.1	My real passion is discovering unbelievable on her stories and working with the biggest
0:16.9	stars who can really bring those stories to life.
0:20.1	I love the whole process of making podcasts from the spark of an idea to hearing the final
0:26.0	edit.
0:27.0	There's nothing like it.
0:28.0	What makes BBC podcast special is that we're working for you, so whatever we commission
0:32.6	has to reflect the things that you care about and love, wherever you are in the UK.
0:37.0	So if you like this BBC podcast, there's so much more to discover.
0:40.6	Have a listen on BBC Sounds.
0:42.6	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:47.8	My subject is food, which concerns everyone.
0:51.7	It is health, which concerns everyone.
0:54.1	It is soil, which concerns everyone, even if he does not realise it.
0:59.6	The words of today's great life, farmer and founder of the Soil Association, Lady Eve
1:06.2	Balfour.
1:07.2	Lady Eve was a working farmer in Suffolk.
1:10.8	She sought to investigate something that was simple but far-reaching, the existence
1:16.8	of a vital relationship between the condition of the soil and health of the crops which
1:23.1	are grown in it, the animals that are raised on it and of the people who eventually consume
1:29.0	them as food.
	...

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