In our attempts to win badly needed recognition and value for traditional, family dairy farms, it often feels like we are bound in chains. Changing attitudes to milk is not easy, in a modern day dairy supply chain comprised of so many links, each trying to extract profit along the route from farm to fridge.…
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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…
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I was very pleased to be quoted in an article by The Times Environment Editor, Ben Webster, on Saturday (10th March 2018), which revealed how meat and milk labels used by food producers and retailers, often hide the fact that food is produced from animals that never go outside. A key driver for me…
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Last week, as we kicked off our Coffee & Cows campaign, we met with representatives of Fairtrade UK, who brought Ketra Kyosiimire, from the Ankole Coffee Producers’ Cooperative Union (ACPCU) in Uganda, to a Free Range Dairy farm in Gloucestershire. The ACPCU now represents around 9,000 coffee growers, supplying 17 Fairtrade certified primary cooperatives across…
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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…
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PRESS RELEASE YouGov poll shows strong desire for Pasture Promise free range milk alongside sustainably sourced coffee beans Results from a recent YouGov poll, commissioned by Free Range Dairy Network CIC, indicates the importance of the provenance of milk in coffee, along with the coffee beans themselves. When questioned about the importance of knowing that…
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By Rob, Free Range Dairy Farmer. A couple of years ago, around the time we became Pasture Promise accredited, the farm became a host for 20 honey beehives in return for a free supply of honey. They are located in a south facing corner of the farm, which is sheltered and easily accessible for the local…
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Nothing average about Pasture Promise free range milk. Today, members of the Free Range Dairy Network are taking provenance and traceability in British milk to a new level, publishing for the first time, details of the number of days and nights that cows supplying free range milk under the Pasture Promise label TM, are grazed…
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How many cows do you see in fields these days? Well, right now probably none, as it’s winter time and most are indoors for food and shelter. But, even in the spring and summer months, the number of dairy cows going out to graze is declining. Less than half the number of dairy herds we…
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I was recently reading an article about an interesting initiative in France called “C’est qui le patron?” (Who’s the boss?). Founder of the scheme, Nicolas Cee, set up the label in the autumn of 2016, in an attempt to restore power to the consumer in deciding the value (price) of the food they buy.…
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By Jenni Hobbs, The Hobbs family at Barhouse Farm. Last year when I wrote my Christmas blog looking back over the year, it was at a turbulent time. Neighbours who had been dairy farmers for many years, just like us, left the industry and we feared with milk prices so low that we could be next.…
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The past year has seen much of the world in turmoil and here in the UK we still face great uncertainty about life in a post-Brexit era. We often feel helpless about things that go on in the world around us; powerless to do anything to put them right. So caught up have we become…
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I went to a Food Talk at Impact Hub Kings Cross recently, where they debated if too few businesses own our food production. Carina from Feed Back Global who launched their campaign against fake farms this autumn, was one of the speakers. She raised some interesting points about how treating food as a commodity shapes…
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Back in the news are the secret Brexit reports which have looked at the economic damage Brexit could cause the UK once we leave the EU. You would think that these reports would have been released before the vote on whether to Leave or Remain in the EU was made but they weren’t, and many…
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By Annie Bell, author of The Modern Dairy (Kyle Books). She also works with dairy producers helping them promote the quality of their products through Annie Bell Nutrition
These mini blini-style pancakes can take savoury toppings as well as sweet – notably smoked salmon and sour cream.
One for cheese bread addicts, without the hassle of yeast cookery. So good eaten warm when the little pockets of cheese are gooey, a mélange of Emmental and gruyère, but otherwise Comté or Abondance, and the pecorino could be Parmesan. They will be there on demand for several days thereafter stored in an airtight bag, and will come…
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Fondue is a dish that can sink the boat: it is almost impossible to stop dipping into that big pot of molten sin once you start. So coming up with a respectable alternative that didn’t eat up a month’s worth of saturated fat in one sitting has been simmering at the back of my mind throughout the writing…
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By Annie Bell, author of The Modern Dairy (Kyle Books). She also works with dairy producers helping them promote the quality of their products
A recent blog by fellow Free Range Dairy Network director, Carol Lever, cited consumer research by Harris Interactive, which provided a sharp insight into changing attitudes toward milk and dairy, particularly amongst 16 to 24 year olds. 39% of respondents in this age group said they were ditching dairy, due to increasing concerns about its…
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