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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A survey in The Grocer last week asked a pertinent question, in light of the vegan campaign against dairy in the UK, ‘Do Brits think Dairy is Scary? ‘ The Dairymen 2017, published by The Grocer commissioned exclusive consumer research from Harris Interactive to find out the truth behind British attitudes to dairy and it…
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When I was in a local supermarket last week, I picked up a carton of Alpro Roasted Almond (unsweetened). I noticed, on the packaging, an image of a white liquid, very much like milk, gushing from a split almond and wondered, could it be milk? I looked carefully at the ingredients listed on the back…
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What a great time we had at Countryfile Live last weekend. It might have rained a bit and the high winds at one point sent the gazebo flying across the field but nothing could dampen our enthusiasm. We were just really excited to be there and have the chance to find out what people really…
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Recently, Compassion in World Farming released a map of the UK showing a proliferation of factory farms in the UK. From their research, they’ve found that ‘factory farming has taken over UK food production’ with around 70% of farm animals in the UK kept in factory farms, ‘where they spend their lives in overcrowded barns…
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By Philip Lymbery, Chief Executive Officer of Compassion in World Farming Philip Lymbery is chief executive of leading international farm animal welfare organisation, Compassion in World Farming, and Visiting Professor at the University of Winchester. He played leading roles in many major animal welfare reforms, including Europe-wide bans on veal crates for calves and barren…
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Just recently I came across a new milk label in a supermarket. Well, not a new label exactly, more like an existing label which had two words added to it – ‘free range’. I have since learned that this is the result of dairy giant Arla rebranding its organic milk offer, to help people fully…
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