My passion is food and farming, which is how a person who doesn’t come from a farming background ended up starting Free Range Dairy Network with fellow Director Neil Darwent. To me, food and farming touches on every part of life. How we survive, how the planet survives, animal welfare, our culture, social justice, access…
It was the opening day of the Oxford Farming Conference yesterday and I was there for one of the first sessions called ‘Diversity, inclusion and combating polarisation.’ It was talking about how sexism, racism and homophobia makes part of our communities feel they can’t be part of farming, and what new and innovative ways of…
Christmas time is always a great time to share a Christmas message from our farmers. As we go from 2019 into a new decade, Jenni Hobbs, looks back over the years Another year – and 2019 didn’t disappoint. Here in the Gloucestershire Severn vales the cows have continued to enjoy fresh, grazed grass but…
The Independent newspaper did a roundup of all the manifestos of political parties, rating them on their commitment to animal welfare. For the first time, climate and nature were also on the agenda as Party Leaders recognised these issues as vote winners. The general public in the UK are saying the environment is one of…
Free Range Dairy Network is looking for Tree Angels to help us count trees on farms, help with maintenance and we can provide space to plant trees and hedges.
Lunch is a 2 day trade show for café, coffee shop and the food to go sector. This year there was a common theme running it through it I’ve never seen before and that was sustainability. From how they source their ingredients, to food waste and energy usage, even to the packaging, everyone was talking…
490 million litres of milk is thrown away each year. What a waste! Not just in terms of the cost to shoppers, but also for the cows that spend their lives producing this great food, our natural resources and the environment. A UN Report in 2015 estimates the population will grow to just under 10…
This was a question someone posed in a recent article in Forbes magazine. The writer was fascinated by a video of a cow using a mechanic brush, grooming herself and having a good scratch at the same time. ‘Today’s consumers and especially many young consumers have a desire to know more about the products they…
It’s two years ago today Asda became the first major retailer to stock free range dairy milk under the Pasture Promise logo. Here’s Rob, one of the farmers you see on the label telling us how Asda is helping to make a difference for farmers and cows. It’s now been two years since Asda took…
Summary Last year we started a Coffee and Cows campaign off the back of a new YouGov Poll looking at Coffee Shop Milk to find out if customers care as much about where coffee shops source their milk as their beans? The poll found that 84% of people care as much about where they source…
From recent media stories you might think that dairy is to blame for all the bad things happening to our health and the planet. But milk and dairy products, especially from pasture based systems, have been part of our heritage for thousands of years and we’ve not only survived, but thrived on it. People have…
Forget dry January this year, it’s all about what we eat or shouldn’t be eating to save ourselves and the planet this month. We’ve been inundated with advice and research. We’ve had Veganuary, as well as a new report published by the Lancet under a coalition called EAT. Their advice is cut right back on…
One of the predicted megatrends for the future is the rise in Ethical Living. Passport market research, which is part of Euromonitor International, predicts that increasing attention will be paid to ethics and moral values by food citizens and businesses in the coming years. This means that purchasing decisions will be framed by concerns about…
We’ve seen how Fake News has undermined democracy across the world, because without truth how can we make important decisions based on fact rather than fiction. Fake news is the master of manipulation, and I believe that Fake Food and Fake Farms are just as bad. Every time you see a picture of cows grazing…
Listen to the Podcast here. The Passenger Shed at Bristol Temple Meads railway station was the venue for the first ever Bristol Coffee Festival, earlier this month and we were delighted to play a key part, as milk sponsors, along with Cotteswold Dairy. In its first year, the Bristol Coffee Festival created its own unique…
We have exciting news, Vacherin the leading sustainable London catering company, will convert all their conventional milk to Pasture Promise free range milk, from 1st August. This is a fantastic coup for us as it shows that more and more people want, not just great tasting milk but, also a clear assurance that it comes…
For the first time Neil and I ran a stall at the Great Yorkshire Show. It was great to be in Yorkshire as this is where we first started getting Pasture Promise assured free range milk to the market. Back in 2014, we sat around a table with farmers, Dales Dairies and Stephenson’s Dairy to…
It’s National Vegetarian Week and it’s something I like to celebrate by usually trying something new. The Vegetarian Society offer some great recipes to try if you’re looking for something new or for a bit of inspiration. I’ve been vegetarian for over 25 years now and although I like to try new things, I was reminded…
It’s a busy time in the coffee world right now. As London Coffee Festival closed on Sunday, so UK Coffee Week begins today. UK Coffee Week brings coffee lovers together to raise funds for the communities that grow the coffee they enjoy, whether that’s the coffee shops or their customers. 100% of money raised goes…
On my way to where I work I decided to count the number of coffee shops in one street. There was six, a couple of the usual coffee chains but predominately it was the independents coffee shops that had the most outlets, showing that customers are looking for something new and unique, great quality coffee…