Like
most people, my relationship with food was formed in my childhood but
unlike a lot people, I grew up on a farm so my connection to
food runs particularly deep. We drank raw milk, ate eggs from our
own hens and beef from our own cows and, much to the horror of most
people I relate my stories to, I had no qualms about eating my
closest childhood friends. What is more, food never went in the bin.
Ever. When I left home, putting peeling or scraps into the bin was
something I could never get used to (thank goodness for composting!).
Having always had a special place in my heart for the chickens and
ducks on the farm, I could never bring myself to buy eggs from caged
hens. The taste and even the colour of eggs from home is simply
incomparable to anything you get from the supermarket.
So
it might surprise you to hear that, even though my parents are
organic dairy farmers, I had always been somewhat less picky about
the milk I bought. It was only this summer after working with OMSCo promoting the conservation benefits of organic dairy farming that I
actually thought about the bigger picture of what difference that
seemingly insignificant supermarket choice can make. For a price
difference of a few pence, I like to know that I'm supporting an
industry that has a less negative environmental impact than
conventional farming and has increased welfare benefits for the cows
too. It's also the industry my parents are involved in so it is quite
shameful how late in the day this realisation has come! So you see,
it's even possible for someone with a strong link to the land
to become disconnected from it...
So
that's my food story. What's yours? Please comment, I'd love to know.
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