When C-19 came to the UK and we were locked into our homes, we had to continue as normal here at the farm - at least in the working sense. The cows need to be milked twice a day, every day. The fields need to be maintained, cut, cropped, fenced. The animals need feeding, bedding twice a day. The hedgerows need to be maintained and continue to flourish to provide barriers for the animals, and a home for the wildlife. Crops need to be planted, winter fodder brought (harvested) in from the fields to provide for during the colder months when the cows can't graze. Updates, upgrades, repairs, ordering, office work does not stop - as anyone with their own business knows it doesn't do itself! We could fill every hour of every day working to keep the farm up together - the jobs are never ending. And we love that we were never going to be bored.
However, we had to shut the scoop shop, but we continued to provide fresh, healthy whole-milk from the vending machine. We then figured that to not provide the gelato was going to hugely affect the business. So we shut the yard and brought the gelato cart nearer the milk vending and provided takeaway tubs only.
We are so glad we did; our customers, old and new have been brilliant. They kept their distance, and adhered to the rules - we are truly grateful for their support and continuing support.
We very quickly noticed that local people wanted to support local businesses and buy locally produced food.
Now, 12 weeks later we have re-opened the scoop shop, but are only for now, scooping into cups with spoons and our lovely Wholly wafer is provided with every one. We continue to adhere to C.19 rules and ask our customers to not hang around in the yard - SORRY! This allows free-flow and space for everyone wanting to come.
So, to everyone who wants to continue to support local, fresh produce and to keep our smaller farms running, we ask you to do one thing today. Please sign the NFU petition - read the info at the bottom of the blog for more details. We know food and farming to be essential in the UK and everywhere around the globe. Milk itself is an essential food that helps us to grow, nourishes us, provides so many important trace elements, minerals and vitamins.
We spend hours and hours going through Farm Assurance, Red Tractor and Free Range standards. We have to keep records, update them regularly, and ensure that every aspect of the farm is regulated to a high standard. We are vehemently against trade deals that would bring fresh food in from other countries that do not adhere to the standards we have to. That is not fair! It is not good for the health of our population and will continue to decimate the farming here (we only have 8000 dairy farmers left). This is against a backdrop right now where our wholesale farm gate price we get for our milk is so incredibly low and continues to be so.
This is why we need to add-value to some of our milk in the form of gelato and through Ollie's milk vending machine.
We therefore want to tell you that we 1/ appreciate your support with what we are trying to achieve here 2/ keep essential, real, local food high on your agenda 3/ continue to stay in business to be able to do just that.
THANK YOU for blessing us, and we hope to continue to bless you with great food and a smile when you visit
Food standards petition (NFU text)
Do you want the food you eat to continue to be produced to the world leading standards you’ve come to expect, even in the toughest global circumstances?
The UK Government has the opportunity right now to put into law rules that prevent food being imported to the UK which is produced in ways that would be illegal here.