Support British Farmers - Please

At our supper party the other evening I found out that some people are under the impression that there are no or very little British milk or dairy products on the market. They were under the impression that the milk/dairy produce was brought into the country and then processed, labeled, and sold under the British flag. They weren't aware of how if you want to really support British farmers by buying British produced milk then you should be looking for the little diamond shaped logo on the label with UK mark inside it or the 'red tracor' logo. We also talked about Organic produce and how if it isn't British Organic then it may not be to the same standards which we think of as organic in the UK. So that is another reason to buy British.

About a quarter of British produced milk is made into cheese. This morning on BBC Radio 4 Farming Today I heard of yet another British farmer selling his dairy herd of 660 Holstein. One animal alone fetched 5000 guineas [i. £5000 and 5000 shillings- which I think converts to about £5,500]. I do love the fact that in this day and age when we are fighting to keep our £ sterling auctioneers still deal in a pre-decimal amount for livestock sales. If we want to protect our British countryside in all its beautiful diversity then we do need to support British farmers. The well maintained almost manicured fields with diverse hedgerows would soon turn to scrub land. And if we don't support British Farmers then it will be no use complaining when we have to import all our dairy and meat products from overseas.

Friesians

The Wife in the North had an entry about Friesian cattle. From some of the comments on her blog I realised how little I knew about where Friesianland is. I assumed Germany. I also had some vague memory of Anne of Cleeves. I'm sure there was an unkind bullying remark by Henry VIII - "the Mare of Cleeves" and wondered whether that was linked to Friesian horses. Well, I know now that Friesland was part of Holland/Germany/Denmark - that it can also be spelled as Frisian and that the cattle are actually Holstein Friesian. Isn't curiosity a wonderful thing. You never quite know where you'll end up when you go looking for information. At least I'll remember that the black and white cows I see are Holstein Friesians. It also set me awondering what were the cows i liked but just called Brown - such as in "How Now Brown Cow?" well my favourite ones are the Jersey. I just think they are the most beautiful. and from now on I'm going to try and source organic Jersey milk.





Now for anyone who is interested and not stopped reading thinking this is all very boring the Guernsey breed isn't quite as attractive in my eyes - so no picture.


We must all celebrate the fact that Tesco is to raise the price paid for milk to the British farmers. For too long they have struggled to keep their herds going for a pittance. Milk is good for you if you don't want to end up with osteoporosis. And if you want to enjoy the look of the British countryside then it wouldn't look like does for long without dairy herds grazing. There are parts of common land now where they have to torch the ground each spring to keep the undergrowth in check. I'd rather see cattle grazing than spring time bonfires. So buy milk/butter/cheese and buy British milk. It's the one with the little UK logo in an oval lozenge on the label. Look for it and check it is British - not foreign milk just bottled here.

I'm just going on to find out where Anne of Cleeves came from now.