There have been stories in both The Sunday Times and The Telegraph recently, about the anticipated exodus of up to 2,000 farmers from the UK dairy industry in the coming year, as the milk crisis continues unabated. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a crisis as “a decisive moment” or “a time of danger or great…
I went to a really interesting seminar this week organised by Food Thinkers Collaboration about Ecofeminism with Professor Mary Mellor of Northumbria University and renowned food investigative journalist Shelia Dillon. Ecofeminism is a word if I’m honest I’ve never come across before but I found a lot of what was discussed made sense in relation…
I have just returned from a conference organised by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), at which I was asked to present my ideas for driving change towards more sustainable livestock farming. The EEB is the environmental voice of European citizens and Europe’s largest federation of green NGO’s. Its recent conference was all about the European…
A new report released by ‘The Food Foundation’ this month called ‘FORCE-FED: Does the food system constrict healthy choices for typical British families?’ takes a closer look at what a typical British family eats and what influences their food choices. The report looked at national data sets, primary data collection, secondary sources alongside interviews to…
Last week I attended the first Global Farm Platform Conference ‘Steps to Sustainable Livestock’, held in Bristol. The event was promoted as a ‘go to’ event for academics, researchers, NGO’s, policymakers and livestock producers working toward sustainability of ruminant systems. Presentations by researchers from all over the world covered themes including Consumption of Human Food…
Most people understand that it is the process of giving birth that stimulates milk production, or lactation, in mammals. In dairy farming the regular birth of calves is essential for keeping cows in a productive state, since the milk naturally begins to dry up around 10 to 12 months after giving birth. This is…
“We need to update our worldview: we are no longer a small world on a big planet. We are now a big world on a small planet.” I thought that sentence by Johan Rockström a professor in environmental science at Stockholm University and executive director of Stockholm Resilience Centre really captures the problems we are…
I was so pleased to read about Deputy NFU President, Minette Batters, promoting beef from suckler herds at the South West Beef event this week. It is music to my ears to hear someone else talking about defining the value in a traditional British farming system. Especially when that someone is a representative of…
The clocks went back last weekend and British summertime has officially come to an end. The arrival of autumn in all of its resplendent colours marks another change in the seasons and nowhere is this more evident than on our farms and in our countryside. Yet industrial food and farming increasingly finds new ways to…
I was very grateful to be given the opportunity recently to give a presentation about intensive farming and Free Range Dairy in Pembrokeshire, a very beautiful part of Wales. On their doorstep is the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, the only coastal national park of its kind in the United Kingdom and one of three national…
I have talked to so many people about the concept of Free Range Milk over the years and those conversations began with the farmers that produce the milk. But, explaining that not all milk is the same and what free range means for cows has required much wider engagement. So, today, our work is largely…
Free Range Dairy already has members who represent a diverse range of milk producers of different size and scale. Some are on enviable contracts with major retailers, some are co-op members and some really don’t know where their milk ends up. But, they all have one thing in common – they all want consumers to…
The dairy crisis is still very much in the news. However, I can’t help but feel that the British public are likely to soon turn their attention to more pressing matters than the price of milk, as even those involved in the industry struggle to understand what’s really going on. Last week we suddenly saw…
Disruptive protests by French farmers, who have blocked roads, dumped manure in front of public buildings and let pigs loose in supermarkets in response to low prices for milk and meat, have been well documented in the British press. Whilst, perhaps due to a lack of disruption on the highways and not a whiff of…
Free Range Dairy has three core principles A fair price for farmers Freedom for cows to graze for six months Affordable, healthy milk for consumers What is also important for Free Range Dairy Network is to match local farmers to local markets and their communities. People have said they want to pay more for their…
With the average farm gate price for milk in the UK at 24.96 pence per litre in March (source: DairyCo), some 25% lower than March 2014, it’s easy to see why there is so much pain and suffering in the dairy industry right now. But, as producers desperately seek some sort of foothold for the…
As we look forward to another hopefully sunny Bank Holiday weekend it reminds me of the last one I spent visiting Margam Country Park in Wales. I was pleasantly surprised to see a formerly considered extinct breed called Glamorgan Cattle with two new calves. It was thought that the Glamorgan breed had died out in Britain…
Free Range Dairy seeks to secure a fair reward for milk producers who commit to grazing their cows for at least half of the year. People tell us they think farmers deserve more and that they want a clear assurance that cows are given the freedom to graze. So, when you choose free range milk…
I’ve been to a couple of interesting talks on food recently. Food Talks at Impact Hub Kings Cross and the Future of our Food at City University. Both talked about sustainable food systems and whether our current business model and food production systems are fit for the future. The answer from leading academics and thinkers on…
A few weeks ago there was some talk about Fairtrade milk as a way to help farmers in the current dairy crisis. This would be great news for the general public who want to be given the chance to make more ethical food choices including supporting dairy farmers in the UK. This is the…