Picture story: Farmers strike a pose to promote organic milk
A bunch of organic dairy farmers has been persuaded to be photographed striking Tai Chi poses as part of light-hearted campaign to promote organic milk.
The Federation of Organic Milk Groups (FOMG) is to officially launch a new interactive website on the 7 April as part of its ongoing Love-OM! campaign.
The website celebrates the wellbeing associated with organic milk and aims to drive sales by highlighting the benefits to consumers – for their health, for the environment and for the cows.
The first feature will be welly-clad dairymen and women, tanker drivers and herdsmen from across the nation striking Tai Chi poses in order to bring an additional spiritual uplift to their cows, fields and farmyards.
FOMG members have adapted a series of seven traditional Tai Chi routines – one for every day of the week – videos of which will be available on a weekly basis.
Tristan Dale, Love-OM farmer demonstrator of the move ‘surveying the fields’ explains: “Being an organic dairy farmer is hard work. I want to make sure I am as relaxed and focused as possible. My mood definitely transfers to my cows and as organic farmers we believe happier cows produce better milk.
“Organic farming, like Tai Chi, is all about maintaining a balance. In organic farming we do our best to maintain a balance with nature and Tai Chi has helped me maintain the inner balance which is reflected my farm.”
Drawing inspiration from China, where farmers have practiced Tai Chi since the seventeenth century, the FOMG enlisted the services of a Tai Chi Master or ‘Sifu’ to help teach members the special moves, renowned for bestowing a mood of wellbeing.
Over the past few weeks, the official Love-OM Tai Chi Sifu has been travelling the country spreading peace and harmony to the organic dairy farms of Britain. Each of the movements has been assigned a series of easy-to-follow instructions created for the agriculturally minded, with names like ‘up with the lark’, ‘lazily buttoning overalls’ and ‘arms like tractor wheels’.
Love-OM is a joint venture between the FOMG and the Milk Development Council (now called DairyCo) with the objectives of increasing awareness of organic milk through promoting the choice available in the milk category and driving demand for organic milk through usage occasions.
View a gallery of the Tai-Chi pictures – by double-clicking on them and signing in you can also add your own comments. Some of them are screaming out for a caption!