LIFESTYLE
increasingly passionate about producing the “best, healthiest food without compromise”. It’s a far cry from those days of risking life and limb on the
Grand Prix circuit. Indeed, diehard fans will never forget the infamous eight-car crash Jody caused back in 1973 after hitting the wall at Silverstone on his first lap. “I got out of my car without a scratch and someone told me to hide because I’d written off so many cars,” he chuckles. Confounding the critics, he went on to win the World Championship in 1979. Nowadays, a much-mellowed Jody has put life in the fast lane
behind him and is now the proud owner of large herds of livestock. He spends his days doing rounds of the farm, rather than the F1
track, striding around in wellies as he oversees lambing, calving, buffalo milking, compost tea spreading, soil cultivation and various other “green” operations. He and wife Clare live in the farm’s restored 18th-century manor house with their four children. (He also has two grown-up children from a previous marriage.) Daughter, Isla, 12, helps bottle-feed any orphan sheep rejected
by their mothers during lambing season, and insists they are not sent to slaughter once they reach maturity. “She gives them all names like Vanessa and Guinevere,” says
Jody, with an indulgent smile. “They are constantly hanging around the back door, we’ve given up trying to herd them out.” Jody explains that his family is responsible in no small part for his
interest in organic farming. “My wife got me interested in producing really healthy, natural food,” he reveals. “I wanted what was best for my family and then, as I learned more, I became quite obsessed.” Indeed, Jody has built a special laboratory designed to improve
soil quality and he hopes other farmers follow his example of avoiding pesticides and herbicides. “I call the laboratory my rehab centre,” says Jody. “The pesticides
and fertilisers that go in the ground are like mood-enhancing drugs. They make everything look really green and produce giant crops in large quantities. But the food lacks so many nutrients and vitamins, it’s tasteless and it contains poison.” The mission to improve British soil has become quite a crusade
for the former sporting icon, who says pesticides and chemicals have been linked to health risks including cancer and infertility. “In my view, 90 per cent of farming is knowing about soil,” he
“My wife got me interested in producing healthy, natural food,” says Jody, at home in the restored manor house he shares with Clare and their children. “I wanted what was best for my family”
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explains. “There are more living organisms in a handful of good soil than people on earth. By enhancing the healthy bacteria and funghi in our soils, plants can absorb the nutrients effectively so they grow in abundance, leading to healthier animals and healthier people.” Jody is happy to defend the fact that, while his beef, chicken and
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