A FORWARD-thinking farmer's son from Towthorpe, York, is in the forefront of a food retailing revolution.

Edward Sykes, 27, is managing director of The Farmer's Cart, the family business whose farm, plus shop and café have strived to prove that produce fresh from earth to plate is tastier than anything which might arrive via supermarkets and plastic wrappings.

Just lately, about 2,000 customers have been visiting the café each week, as Edward's dad, Geoffrey, looks after the farm, the merchandising is taken care of by his mum, Margaret and he runs the farm shop and restaurant.

Now the family and their 40 staff are hoping Edward will be recognised as the Young Entrepreneur Of The Year in The Press Business Of The Year Awards 2007. They are also pitching to become the Retailer Of The Year.

The venture began in 2002 when the Sykes family were hit by low pig prices and needed to diversify to stay in farming. The enterprise surfed the wave of new interest in eating local, fresh produce and boomed.

This year alone turnover soared by 25 per cent, as Edward introduced a "Zero Food Miles" butchery, selling meat reared only a few hundred yards away on the same farm - an initiative which clinched the Deliciouslyorkshire Farmshop Of The Year title.

Edward has ensured there are community activities on the premises, from antiques roadshow-style valuation days, to birthday parties, where visiting children get to feed the animals, plant and pick vegetables and get a ride on a tractor.

Edward says: "I'm a farmer at heart, but to ensure that you can make a living out of the land, you need to be a marketer and a retailer.

"Buying local, with clear provenance, can make our agriculture industry more sustainable, increase our food security and continue high standards of animal welfare."