David's Digest

The Dann family of North Tuddenham in central Norfolk, Geoffrey senior, his son Simon and his wife and family of three, weren't desperate (get it?). But they did realise they must either expand their acreage or generate more income if they were to keep all the elements of their family farm together.

Lack of availability and rising values made the land option pretty unlikely. So they looked around for retail opportunities. A few years ago they heard of a Dutch franchise company that was wanting to extend its activities into Britain. They went to Holland, liked what they saw, did a deal, and the rest is history.

Three years later, last Thursday to be precise, after jumping through seemingly endless planning hoops and eventually building an icecream manufacturing plant along side the milking parlour and inside a traditional Norfolk barn, they were ready for the official launch of their new business. NFU President, Peter Kendall, did the honours and about a hundred friends, neighbours (including me) and potential customers gathered in the barn for the occasion.

It was a great evening in front of a big crowd. There had been just enough rain to stop combines working and virtually everyone invited turned up. We all tasted the many flavours, mostly derived from Norfolk produce, and pronounced them very good. Fourteen farm shops in the area beat us to it and are already featuring Pound Farm icecream in their offer.

I cannot reveal my source but an allegedly true story has reached me that I feel I must share.

It concerns one of Tesco's top chicken meat buyers who recently pulled rank on her junior staff when the opportunity arose to visit Thailand. The main purpose was to inspect poultry farms from which the supermarket was importing chicken meat. The possibility of some off-duty hours among the shops and flesh-pots of Bankok may have been an added attraction.

However, the lady had failed to appreciate intense bio-security measures designed to stop the spread of avian flu.

At each poultry farm visited she was made to strip off all her clothes and walk through what can only be described as a sheep dip full of disinfectant. The liquid was shoulder deep and to ensure total and thorough immersion three bars had been placed at surface level under which she was forced to pass.

Even more unpleasant, as she went through the dip, was the knowledge that many others, including male and female workers, had been through the same liquid during previous hours and days.

Will this experience limit the importation of possibly flu infected Thai chicken? Will it mean fewer Tesco inspections? Should we offer our sympathy to the lady for having to endure such indignity? Or should we, on the other hand, let rip a guffaw and say it serves you right for relying on so many imports?

You may think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

There are few things I enjoy more than my early morning cuppa. The alarm goes at 5.45am. I roll over and switch on Farming Today, by which time my wife will have handed me a cup of delicious steaming tea, made with real fresh cows milk. A little later, in the kitchen, I have a bowl of cornflakes, also with real milk. Its what gets me going in the mornings.

When I stay in a hotel and the only milk available for making tea is UHT in a little pot that may have been there for weeks, I usually don't even bother. And the idea of eating cornflakes with UHT fills me with horror. No thankyou. Its not what I want to put in my mouth. And I suspect the majority of British people that still have taste buds feel the same way.

But DEFRA, in its wisdom (or otherwise) has issued a discussion document advocating we change our habit of using fresh or pasteurised milk to one of drinking UHT. It is in the interests of climate change, apparently, and in theory should cut emissions of greenhouse gases. How that can be I do not understand given that UHT has to be heated, cooled and packed in plastic.

Whether or not the calculation on greenhouse gases is true I will fight hard for the continuation of fresh milk. And if the future of the world depends on using UHT instead my only retort, and I do not mean it in a blasphemous way, is God help us.

It wasn't quite in tune with Farmhouse Breakfast Week (Jan 20-26) but it reached more people than the average farmhouse and communicated with them very well. It was arranged by the Norfolk Branch of the Womens Food and Farming Union (WFU) and took place at last Saturday's Farmer's Market at Ellough, near Beccles.

As the husband of one of the WFU members I was asked along to provide moral support. But as we approached the venue, through miles of open country, I asked my wife "Where on earth are you taking me?" It seemed a most unlikely place to hold a market. But as we drew closer the number of cars made it clear that here was a hive of activity.

The market is held in an old helecopter hanger, built when there was much more aerial activity on North Sea oil rigs. The business closed down several years ago and was taken over by a local farmer who lets it and generous parking space to the Farmer's Market for its twice monthly events. It is organised by local WFU member, Margaret Hall, who started it from scratch eight years ago. It normally attracts between 30 and 40 stalls, the majority of which sell a wide variety of locally produced food together with a handful of craft stalls.

The place was buzzing with activity. Local people, anxious to obtain supplies before the stalls emptied, were feverishly selecting the fruit and veg and meat and whatever they wanted. Stall holders were continuously busy. "How many customers do you normally get" I asked Margaret who was busy selling beef from the Sotterly Hall Estate where her husband is a tenant. "It varies, obviously", she said, "and we don't count them regularly. But a few weeks ago on a typical Saturday we counted 750 cars and with an average of two per car that makes 1,500."

My old friend Delia Smith (I used to do TV programmes with her yonks ago) has seen off her upstart rivals in the world of chefs and sold millions of copies of her new book "How to cheat at cooking" before it arrived on the bookshop shelves. Not only that but she has debunked organic as being too expensive for most and by saying "she doesn't do politics". She even concedes that intensively reared chickens have their place on the tables of working class people.

Good on yer Delia. Its the kind of common sense we have come to expect from you.

And isn't it gratifying that this down to earth woman of mature years will be gracing our TV screens with sensible ideas for family meals without flashing her eyes or her boobs, like NIgella Lawson; speaking in the Queens English, unlike Gordon Ramsey; and without trying to change the world like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver. And she'll be more popular than all of them, you see if she isn't.

And then she'll be able to afford to buy another striker or too for Norwich City.

Last weekend wasn't up to much farming wise. The snow stopped us finishing drilling the last of our sugar beet and it was too cold for the seeds to germinate in any case. But to be honest I didn't spend too much time worrying about it.

My wife, Lorna, and I went to Gloucestershire for the weekend. The main reason was to attend the golden wedding anniversary of some old friends and that turned out to be an excellent party with great speeches and delicious food. Indeed the whole weekend was a gourmet's delight.

At the wedding anniversary we ate roast beef finished on the familys' own farm followed by, among other things, a wonderful selection of English cheeses. And I'll let you into a secret - it all took place at the home of Suzie Paton, FW Farmlife columnist, the daughter-in- law of the couple whose wedding we were celebrating.

On the way there we called in at the Elvedon Estate near Thetford, owned by Lord Iveagh, for a snack lunch in the restaurant he's set up there as part of a rural shopping complex in some old farm buildings. The food isn't cheap but boy is it good quality, like the rest of the development. Lorna says it reminds her of the Chatsworth House shopping and eating experience and its virtually all home produced. In any event I had one of the best bowls of soup and crusty bread I had ever tasted. And that was lunch.

If ever there was a time for all who claim to care about the welfare of poor people to unite around a policy to provide them with enough to eat it is surely now. According to the World Bank 33 countries around the world face unrest because of reductions in the availability and sharp increases in the cost of food.

But the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development report, five years in the making and out today, appears to have split the world scientific community down the middle. On the one hand is the official report that bends over backwards to accommodate the bright green, pro organic and politically correct views of some of those who contributed to it. On the other is the minority version written by those representing agri-business which states categorically that GM should have been included as the greatest hope for mankind.

So, we have a classical division between politics, science and commerce. Actually it may not be quite as extreme in reality as some sectors of the media have portrayed it. I heard Prof Bob Watson, Defra's Chief Scientist, who chaired the group, say on the radio this morning that he did not reject GM but believed more could still be achieved by conventional plant breeding. Which doesn't sound unreasonable.

Is Justin King, boss of Sainsbury's supermarkets, deliberately trying to antagonise British farmers? Last Friday, at Cirencester College, he said, and I paraphrase, that Buying British in preference to imported food was "simplistic" and pandered to the "fashion" of worrying about food miles. He called any supermarket sourcing policy that made this a priority "fundamentally flawed". Buying from African farmers really helps them, he went on, and he claimed concerns about the distance such goods had to be transported were misplaced.

It sounds to me like Mr King is preparing to increase his imports from around the world because he has located produce that is cheaper than he would have to pay here. This attack feels like the beginning of a PR campaign to persuade Sainsbury's customers its OK to import even more. Meanwhile, he doubtless hopes, it will help him enhance his companys' bottom line and perhaps his personal bonus as well.

Am I being cynical? Maybe. But no more so than Mr King, I suggest. For to come out with such an anti UK farmer statement as he did last week at a time when it is fast becoming necessary to produce more of the nations food at home to ensure long term security, is as cynical as it gets. And if he thinks African's are really benefiting from the trade he gives them he should visit the production areas to see for himself. Yes, most of the bosses are doing OK. But their prosperity relies, all to often, on the continued exploitation of workers.

I thought better of you Mr King. 

I know how much you must have been worrying about the safety of the caviar you consume on a regular basis. Well, you can relax in the knowledge that Defra has found the resources, in the middle of the biggest financial collapse in living memory, to train sixteen of its wildlife inspectors to check the sturgeon's eggs imported into this country.

What a comfort it is to those of us from the gourmet classes to know this is happening. No class distinction here; our government, which prides itself on its concern for the welfare of blue collar workers, has not stinted in this protection of the aristocracy. Moreover it appears that it has found the resources for this groundbreaking scheme from savings made on inspections of imports of potentially diseased meat and other lethally contaminated goods.

Our Defra masters obviously have a clear sighted idea of the real priorities and are spending our money to benefit the most deserving sectors of society. Well done Hilary. Pass the port.

I read that our illustrious Secretary of State at DEFRA, Hilary Benn, has started advocating that UK consumers should grow their own vegetables to save money and secure sufficient supplies. He even added that whereas food prices had fallen from the peak earlier in the year the high prices "gave us a glimpse of what is to come if we don't change course".

I suppose we should be grateful that he at last appears to be taking on board the messages many of us have been sending him for some time. But does he really believe his proposal will make a significant difference to food security?

Back in the days of the 2nd World War gardens were much bigger, allotments were ubiquitous and householders knew about growing things. Today, following years of relying on supermarkets and pre-packed veg few people have any clue about growing food crops. Most gardens that are not concreted over are as small as possible to maximise land use and minimise lawn mowing. And although there is renewed interest in allotments the potential is severely limited.

He may be beginning to understand the problem. But he still has a long way to go to recognise the answer.

So the saintly Delia Smith is recommending consumers stock up with New Zealand lamb for summer barbecues. And she includes in her "ad" for it the implication that New Zealand sheep enjoy the best welfare on the planet - so its OK to buy stuff that's come half way round the world.

Maybe she hasn't heard how they manage their flocks over there. Its all based on the Easycare principle and effectively that means no care. If a sheep is ill, flock owners don't call the vet because its too expensive and the reasoning is that the animal must have a weakness or it wouldn't be ill in the first place. So it either gets better on its own or dies. And if it dies it is left where it falls for the foxes to clear up. Which would, of course, be illegal and unacceptable in this country and land flock owners in court for neglect.

Commercially Easycare is a cheap production system and more and more European farmers are adopting some parts of it so as to allow the Darwinian principle of survival of the fittest to rule. But to pretend for marketing reasons in this country that Easycare in its purest and complete form is high welfare and kindest to animals is, to say the least disingenuous. 

So, Delia, Commander of the British Empire, do a bit more research before you hit your sheep farming Norwich City supporters and others in this country in the teeth. I think you will find their lambs have a better life than those you have been persuaded to promote.

Every year the Royal Norfolk Show runs competitions for schools based around food, farming and the countryside. Pupils are encouraged to research issues of their own choice and then present their findings at the annual Show. Such entries are clearly guided by teachers and that means they get to learn things too.

Last week at the County's highly successful Show this worthwhile tradition was continued and although it is probably invidious to mention just one entry I do not apologise for reporting on the historic presentation from Acle school not far from Gt Yarmouth that jumped out at me - because I was there!.

The pupils had chosen to feature the "Dig for Victory" campaign launched to help feed the nation during the 2nd World War. They had researched what went on during those years and found press cuttings and government pronouncements about how ordinary citizens could produce food from their gardens and allotments.

They recorded how this effort was led by farmers who responded magnificently to the challenge of keeping the nation fed in the face of German U Boat attacks on convoys of ships bringing in food from abroad, mainly America. They disclosed that there were some periods during the conflict when Britain was just a few days from running out of food. And they wrote about rationing to preserve what stocks were available.

It was a particularly timely topic for those of us who think a few years ahead to when this country might again be faced with a similar situation - too little food for a hungry nation. And I encouraged the pupils to spread their message as widely as possible so that more consumers come to understand the need for domestic food production, a minimum level of self sufficiency and adopt a habit of buying home produced food to encourage those who grow it to supply even more when its needed.

Our industry owes a debt of gratitude to a number of organisations and events, all of which have helped alert British consumers to the benefits of buying home produced food. Cynics would probably say the changes in public opinion in favour of what we produce have been consolidated by the fall in the value of sterling that makes imports more expensive.

That broad point cannot be denied but never forget government policy was leading to increased imports and reduced self sufficiency until recently and our home grown promotional bodies have worked magnificently to try to reverse that situation. Currency changes have merely made food buyers appreciate local food more.

The Red Tractor has played its part and LEAF, of course, in which I declare and interest. But one of the most successful campaigns has been British Food Fortnight (BFF), now in its eighth year, which runs this year from Sept 19th to Oct 4th.

From a standing start back then Alexia Robinson and her team have worked tirelessly to promote British food to British people. This year all the major supermarkets are running special promotions and there will be the widest and greatest support for the concept from the food industry since the project began.

And its not just retailers who are taking part. Most of the big food service catering organisations will be involved as well and are planning special BFF menu's. Several major pub chains are participating as well as high profile public venues like Wembley Stadium, the Cabinet Office, John Lewis, the National Trust, the BBC, and even the fictional Grey Gables hotel in The Archers where they will be serving British Food, as will The Farmers Club in Whitehall, London.

So, thanks Alexia for what you have done and will keep on doing, I hope. I for one will be looking out for special menu's whenever I eat out during the fortnight and complementing the chefs when appropriate in the hope that they carry on cooking British when this years Fortnight is over.

After an extended period of fine summer weather we usually have a good crop of wild mushrooms. This year is no exception and I'm convinced our horse livery helps. Anyway, on a wander around our horse paddocks I have just found loads. 

In my humble opinion there is little that can beat the taste of wild mushrooms fried in a pan with good English bacon and a couple of eggs. So, off came my cap and out came my penknife. I cut enough to fill my cap to overflowing in no time at all and headed back to the farmhouse kitchen.

I am now dribbling as I anticipate the feast to come. It will be better than all the cultivated mushrooms in the world and the taste will add piquancy to the bacon and the eggs. I might even throw in a piece of fried bread to soak up the juices left in the pan.

I read somewhere recently that a good fry-up is better for you than lots of over salted and over sugared corn flakes. I shall cling to that information as I enjoy the fungal fruits of the field. I don't think I've ever tasted a truffle, but I can't believe it could be better than what I am about to enjoy.