Bridie comes from a farming background – her parents were producers of the year in the Soil Association's 2002 Organic Food Awards – and her brother Adam now runs September Organic Dairy Ltd - the family's organic ice cream business. She went to agricultural college before joining the Soil Association, where she specialised in organic poultry certification. Her organic egg production company is based on her parent's farm, and supplies the farm's ice cream business, as well as the farm shop, two local box schemes and several wholefood shops.

• Organic principles – why do they matter?
  Fundamentally, organic agriculture ensures sensible use of agricultural resources and produces healthy food free from chemical residues. But I believe that organic principles, when employed fully, have many far-reaching ripples: the reconnection of consumers to the source of their food, sensible pricing structures that support the producer and not just the middle-man, reduction in food miles, etc. The core principles that lie at the heart of the organic movement encompass so much of what I believe to be important in the world.

• What does the Soil Association mean to you?
  It gives me courage knowing that I'm part of a movement. Whenever I attend any kind of Soil Association event, I am inspired and encouraged, and that is a good enough reason to be a part of it.

• How do you plan to progress in the future? What is your vision?
  At the moment I have 400 hens, and I'm aiming for a maximum of 1,000 birds in flocks of 200. I want to prove it can be profitable to produce organic eggs from small flocks of hens. I want to set up a system that can be managed alongside a part-time job, or with a small family in tow, and then I'd like to help other people do the same.

• If you were starting all over again, what would you do differently?
  Not try and establish a business and get married and move house all at the same time!

• What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
  It hasn't yet, but I'm hoping it will teach me to slow down and approach each hurdle one at a time. And stop trying to be a perfectionist.

• If I was Prime Minister I would...
  ...Not sleep at night.

• What is the key to your success?
  Not relying on the word 'organic' as a marketing tool, but just producing really tasty eggs. The market has been awash with insipid tasteless eggs for such a long time, customers are really excited when they discover the real deal and they always come back for more.

• What do you love most about what you do?
  To the surprise of many of my friends, I love my chickens. And I love working outside, even in the winter.

• Who or what's your biggest inspiration?
  My parents.

• What keeps you awake at night?
  Trying to remember whether I remembered to shut the pop-holes.

• What single thing would most improve your life?
  Electronic pop-hole openers/closers.

• How can the organic market be improved?
  By standing strong against the less scrupulous players in the market who are exerting downward pressure on the standards.

• What is your favourite word?
  Balderdash.

• How can we get more people to buy organic?
  I think that the organic standards should, as far as reasonable and practical incorporate packaging, food miles and social issues. The organic certification mark on a food packet should be a consumer's guarantee that they have made the most ethical consumer choice.

• What other organic ventures do you admire and why?
  There are so many. I have met many organic producers through my work with the Soil Association and have been inspired by most of them. Pammy and Ritchie Riggs, of Providence Farm in Devon, gave me plenty of advice and convinced me I could do it. They have been fighting the corner for small organic poultry producers for many years and have earned respect from all who encounter them.

• Supermarkets – good or bad?
  As far as I am concerned, they are an unnecessary evil. I could quite happily live without them. Having said that, its clear they're not about to go away so I do think that the organic movement should engage with them to try and encourage an improvement in their practices.

• What is your favourite meal?
  A really good chilli con carne.

• What's the best thing about organic food?
  The good feeling it gives knowing that you're not poisoning yourself with chemical/antibiotic residues and that you might actually be having a positive impact on the world.

• What is your greatest fear?
  Foxes.

• What would be your 'Desert Island' luxury?
  Can I take my dog with me?