The original Riverford box scheme began supplying 30 friends; now with its sister farms at Norton, River Nene and River Swale the Riverford alliance is delivering thousands of boxes a week to homes across the country - while maintaining the regional connection and keeping food miles down.

We do not want to grow any larger from the original Riverford site in Devon. Instead we are using our experience and systems to develop sister farms modelled on Riverford, where vegetables can be grown close to where they are consumed.

So far we have helped set up River Nene near Peterborough, River Swale in North Yorkshire and Riverford at Norton in Hampshire. Boxes are very similar, as are the culture and ethos. These farms are a way of furthering our commitment to low food miles, local employment, support of local farmers and a close link between grower and consumer.