Basket 0 items Checkout

Latest Blog Story

IS FOOD SECURITY IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Published 14th January 2020

As you all know I am a passionate campaigner for our local and British food  (I'm a Community Supporter for www.lovebritishfood.co.uk) and as a farmer's wife married to an award winning farmer who has a passion for sustainable and good farming practices I aim to share my knowledge with anyone interested in listening.

As we approach the end of January we will know how Brexit will pan out and how we will continue to trade with the rest of the world.  In Britian we have ALWAYS had HIGH WELFARE STANDARDS for rearing and slaughtering animals for food consumption.  We have HIGH QUALITY STANDARDS for our vegetable and fruit growing and of course LOW AIR MILES.  The best meat, fish, fruit and vegetables will always come locally (and by local we mean within a 30 miles radius of where we all live) but even if our food comes from a neighbouring county or further afield in the UK we are all doing our bit to help save the planet - that's got to be a good thing hasn't it?

I've always been a keen supporter of my local farmers and producers and bought from their farm gates/farm shops or from farm shops locally who stock the local grown, reared produce.  That way I know it is THEIR OWN HOME GROWN PRODUCE and not imported from anywhere in the world.  I take time to talk to them about how they produce their food.  I know that looking after animals, crops and the environment is expensive if you do it right - and I am happy to pay a little more to know that I am supporting a British farming and food industry which cares about all of that.  I'd hate to think that I was buying food from a country with poor welfare and poor quality production/unethical practices with employees to find it was shipped 1000s of miles, repackaged and stamped with a union jack symbol so that it appeared to be British - now that would really upset me.  

I know we can't grow citrus fruit, pineapples and the like in this country so I am happy to buy food like this, BUT I do make a point of checking out (as much as I can from the information given on the labels) about the grower, importer etc when I make my choices.  The same with some of the exotic spices, although I must admit I do grow quite a few herbs in my farmhouse kitchen garden which flavour my food really well and I'm really into growing my own chillies these days!

Remember - at Ownsworth's we GROW, HARVEST, PRESS and BOTTLE our COLD PRESSED RAPESEED OIL, HERE on our farm in Fulbeck.  As all accredited British farms we are inspected and accredited every year and we are proud to say we have always passed our inspections and have impressed our inspectors with our hard work and commitment to doing things right.  We have always been awarded a Food Hygiene Rating 5 (the highest rating) since we started producing our cold pressed rape seed oil.  

We like to take as many opportunities as possible to talk with our customers, stockists and educational organisations to explain what we do, how we do it and what makes us special in the way we care about good British farming practices and how we provide a full traceability for our products.  Food security is important to me as a mother, farmer's wife and producer.  

If you are interested in learning more about British farming, British recipes and sites for teachers to download teaching resources, then I've listed a few of the best here.  I love Love British Food and NFU online for their comprehensive and clear information, but if you have time do take a look at some of the others listed. 

www.lovebritishfoodl.co.uk
www.leafuk.org

Join me in supporting your local farmers and food producers - you've always been in safe hands!