Living Earth Farm wins From the Earth trophy at 2025 Produce Awards - Produce Awards

Aug 29, 2025

This couple swapped chefs' whites and kitchens for fields and muddy boots.

Who knows excellent produce better than a chef? Two chefs. Falani Thomas- Clifford and Olivier Sofo both trained as chefs before being, in their own words, “lured out of the kitchen, into the fields”. They chose to start a new life as organic vegetable farmers, founding Living Earth Farm in Young, NSW.

The pair follow biological farming principles, which means that, much like regenerative farming, they work with nature – to build healthy soil, to respect the seasons and the importance of the farm’s ecosystem as a whole – encouraging cover crops, beneficial insects and wildlife and eschewing synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.

The results of the couple’s labour speak for themselves; you only have to taste their produce to understand what a difference such careful stewardship of the land can make to the quality of food. And can you taste it at some of Sydney’s top restaurants, which are among Living Earth Farm’s best customers.

It’s not just about the quality of the produce – variety is the true spice of life at this peaceful property on Wiradjuri land. Living Earth Farm produces a stunning range of vibrant and often unusual vegetables, including a rainbow of chicory varieties, whirling green romanesco and a remarkable radicchio known as tardivo.

Growing this striking vegetable, with its long red-and-white curling leaves, is quite labour-intensive. Once harvested, outer leaves are stripped and the veg is placed upright in a water tank. The water must be changed daily for about two weeks, by which time new, tender leaves will have grown, ready for a lucky diner’s table.

Living Earth Farm tardivo — Living Earth Farm’s tardivo.

This stunning piece of produce was just one of Thomas- Clifford and Sofo’s entries in this year’s delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards National Judging round. So impressed were our judges with what they saw and tasted, they named Living Earth Farm as the winner of the From the Earth category. Ahead of the awards, Produce Awards National Judge and chef Daniella Alvarez spoke of her admiration of the couple’s farm and produce, saying:

“The quality and variety here is just astounding. Falani and Olivier have taken their passion for excellent food and turned it into something truly magical.”
– Danielle Alvarez

Alvarez also presented the award to the young couple at the awards ceremony, saying, “This year’s From the Earth award goes to growers whose passion for flavour, beauty and diversity is every bit as vibrant as the produce we tasted on judging day. This pair work with the seasons, trial unique varieties and save their own seed so the flavours live on. This is farming that’s both craft and deep care for the land, and it shows in every bite.”

In accepting the award, Sofo said that he and Thomas- Clifford had spent the journey down to Sydney reflecting that it was the same journey that their own produce makes every week during the main growing season.

“We pick and pack our produce and we stick it on a refrigerated truck and it makes that journey and it arrives here in Sydney and all of the chefs who show their support and commitment to us week in, week out,” he said. “Without that support and that commitment from all of those chefs and restaurants, we wouldn’t be where we are, doing what we do.”

But as chef and National Judge Matt Moran pointed out during the ceremony, the best chefs and restaurateurs are nothing without great produce. So the next time you’re tempted to say, “Complements to the chef”, follow it up with, “Complements to the producer, too”.