HERE’S a link to my first proper published farming-related article.  I must say the amount of research I did for it was a bit obscene – I should really be writing a presentation on the environmental implications of fish-farming not my Journalism in Context scenario.  The story behind the article is as follows – my father who is an avid angler told me about the uproar amongst the wee fishermen in Stornoway over Lighthouse Caledonia’s plans for new fish-farm sites.  At first I thought, yeah what’s the big deal?  But now it makes sense that the intensive methods of fish-farming are damaging to the wild fish so here’s hoping the planning for the new sites doesn’t get granted. 

The Article.

“I think it is unacceptable that major retailers are placing foreign lamb on the shelves during the autumn months when domestic supply is plentiful. It is also disappointing to see the level of foreign beef stocked on the shelves of both Asda and Sainsbury’s.”

This definitely highlights why a supermarket ombudsman is needed in Britain; the farming industry will continue to be exploited and unsupported until action is taken to ensure a good working relationship between retailers and producers.

Farmers Guardian

Supermarket Ombudsman

“This should really be a message as much for consumers and policy makers as it is for farmers – how long can or should the production of food in the UK be expected to be undertaken at a loss?” HSBC head of agriculture, Pat Tomlinson

Perhaps now some action can be taken against corporate organisations and supermarket giants, driving the price of food down while making soaring profits for themselves. 

Farmer’s Guardian

Farmer’s Weekly

ITN.

AFTER watching an episode of my favourite Come Dine With Me, I started thinking about this ‘organic’ phenomenon and whether people really understand the concept or is it just a fleeting fancy.  My no-nonsense dairy farming Dad always says to my Mum not to ‘waste money on organic food because it’s a con’.  I’ve always thought he was just being a grump but now I realise he was probably highlighting the fact that people are now beginning to shun non-organic food when in reality there is nothing wrong with it. 

On this particular episode of Come Dine With Me, the cook in question kept wittering on about how his food was of the highest organic quality; I mean please, non-organic food can also be good quality.  From what I understand, organic food is just food produced in a certain way without using chemicals.  However, as I posted previously this week, chemicals are needed in the form of GM (Genetically Modified) farming in order to produce enough food to feed the planet. 

In an article in today’s Farmers Guardian, the public expectations of organic food was described as ‘too high’.  The article discusses a recent reported conducted by the University of Exeter which found that expectations of organic food exceeded their production values i.e. the public put organic food on a pedastol.  Dr Matt Lobley from the University of Exeter said:

“There may be a danger of an ‘expectations gap’ developing between what is legally required of farmers to receive organic certification for their produce and what consumers expect it could deliver.”

This perception of being superior because you buy something organic really gets on my nerves, I mean surely a food should be valued on it’s quality, locality and most importantly TASTE! It seems these days that those who can afford it will buy something upon seeing the word organic without knowing naf all else about the food. 

I have decided to do a little experiment about the true costs of ‘organic food’ by comparing organic food prices with their non-organic equivalents and figuring out how much extra the average shopper is spending on something they believe to be infinitely better.

Another interesting article.

There is much controversey surrounding the topic of GM farming.  In a recent interview with The Farmers Guardian, Peter Melchett, Soil Association policy director, said:  “Consumers in the UK, and in most countries throughout the world, want to be able to buy food that doesn’t contain GM ingredients.  They feel that GM is an inherently risky technology with unknown consequences, and science supports their views.” 

This opinion is contrary to that of Mr Beddington, who at a recent global food summit said:  “Ten years ago, when GM was first started, people were understandably worried about about health and environmental impacts. But I think current regulations mean those risks are now mitigated.”

The Telegraph

The Farmers Guardian

The Daily Mail

The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) highly criticised Dr Rowan’s comments.  They released a press release, saying that Dr Rowan is living in ‘cloud cuckoo land’ and that it is ridiculous to suggest that Britain stops importing fruit and vegetables from abroad. 

The Farmer’s Guardian Article

Here are some pics of dairy farmers protesting in Brussels.  It highlights the fact that dairy farmers Europe-wide are unhappy with the current industry problems.

Guardian Article

CCTV.COM Article

While reading The Scottish Farmer and thinking about milk I couldn’t help but notice two articles related to milk showing the two sides of the coin as it were:

It is clear that while small dairies will be forced to shut, those that seem to benefit are the large corporations.  This certainly raises ethical questions about how a large company is able to drive prices down so low that the original source of its product is driven into the ground.  Coming from a dairy farming family, this subject really touches home.  We are in a somewhat ‘unique’ position of producing, packaging and distributing the milk ourselves which I guess has the upside of not dealing with large companies such as Wisemans but the major downside of not being able to compete with their prices.  I will definitely savour the milk I bought today – the way things are going, it might be the last local pint I drink before I get home.