Get to Know Our Team
The Kitchen Garden People
Dan Betterton
Dan is essentially a third generation grower, with the passion for propogating and growing running strong through his family, having learnt from his grandparents, his parents and now through his own career. He's worked with North Aston Organics, Sandy Lane Farm, and founded Cultivate with a focus on 'local, ethical and delicious food'. Having completed a Masters in Environment and Business he wanted to become part of the sustainable farming movement closer to home with a focus on Community Supported Agriculture and set up The Kitchen Garden People along with Emma and Christine back in 2016, he's never looked back...except to say "pass me the dibber".
Dan's favourite saying: "It's good enough"
Emma Mills
Emma grew up travelling the world with wildlife and conservation in her blood and homecooked food with fresh ingredients on her plate. She's got a Masters in Modern History incorporating Environmental History from St Andrews University, has worked as a partner on the family farm in Wales which harnesses the benefits conservation work can bring to a working farm.
This passion for conservation and education started early; her 20s saw her working on a carbon-sink project in Brazil, in Paris in Educational Tours and guide training and in London as an India and Bhutan travel expert sharing her passion for rural landscapes and wildlife with her clients. Locally she has worked as a Forest School Leader for Little Wild Things. Emma started The Kitchen Garden People with Dan and Christine in order to get nutritious locally grown food onto local plates whilst changing the landscape of farming and growing into one that works alongside nature and celebrates all the elements of life she holds dear: diversity, real taste and variety.
Emma's favourite saying: "with a little bit of chapati, and a little aubergine..." which translates to - with a few essentials, you can do anything you set your mind to.
Christine Elliott
Christine has come back to her roots in agriculture after a 30 year career enabling the effective use of desktop computers in large private and public sector organisations; though she has long been active in Charlbury involved with local environmental groups and nature reserves. Through her photographs, videos, articles, exhibitions and events she has helped people connect more with the natural world and hopefully inspired many to reduce their impact on the world's wildlife, habitats, resources, soil and climate change. Christine is passionate about eating real food and cooking from scratch - particularly sourdough and other ferments. Even before setting up the CSA with Emma and Dan, she enabled Charlbury people to have access to heritage grain flour and bread, and fresh produce from Cultivate. Christine hates waste and since 2008, when she created Charlbury Sharecroppers as part of Charlbury Green Hub, she has been picking apples, pears, and plums from in and around Charlbury and making them available free to everyone in Charlbury througout the autumn, also making cider from windfalls for local festivals - so she has become something of an apple expert.
Christine's favourite saying: "that's interesting" whilst mulling something over.