I take a keen interest in rural and environmental issues and came across this letter in a magazine. I have been able to confirm its authenticity and I find it desperately sad. I am not in any way posting this to have a go at anyone with personally held views about what we shouldn’t or should eat. My post is aimed at those (and there may or may not be some on NSC) that are militant in their opinions and vilify farmers through social media, protests and even with death threats, for simply doing their job – producing food that we all need. Its not an easy job and farming carries some awful statistics,including the highest suicide rate, death and injury rate of any profession in the country. Only now is the whole issue of mental health being talked about in an industry full of very proud and often socially and geographically isolated people.
Of course there are, like in all walks of life, some wealthy land owning farmers whose lives are a million miles distant from that of the lady below. However they maybe high profile but they are also a minority.
Everyone should, in my view, be treated with respect and hopefully love - even when someone is opposed to eating meat or decries intensive farming methods or just thinks that food appears on the shelf at Tesco by ‘magic’. There are many 'costs' (including climate impact) involved in producing the food we eat and at times take for granted. Perhaps we should become a little more aware of the human one.
Thanks for reading and listening.
I’m so tired that I am dreading Christmas.
I am one of hundreds of women who work for no wages on the family farm. My days are spent feeding and caring for calves, keeping them clean and healthy so that they, in turn, are healthy, long-lived cows.
I scrape yards, bed up and will do all the stock work – everything bar the milking. I work seven days a week and haven’t had a proper holiday since 2012. I don’t know what a weekend is.
It saddens me that farmers are considered uncaring and are demonised by some in the media. We are extremely efficient at producing good food for a nation that has no clue of how hard it is to produce.
Food is considered cheap and many seem to have little respect for it. Farmers are the very bottom of the food chain.
I am always having to defend farming practices to my friends, which saddens me greatly. They have little understanding of how expensive and difficult it is to change the way you farm, offering helpful suggestions such as “re-wilding”, “wedding venues” and “glamping”.
Of course, there are always going to be farmers who should not be farming and that bring our profession into disrepute – they should be forced to leave the industry.
But then there is the constant stress and strain of ever-changing regulations that must be adhered to. Keeping everything running smoothly is a battle, too.
I can understand how the serfs in the old imperial Russia took so long to rebel. They were too mentally and physically fatigued to expend the energy.
I too am totally exhausted. My arms, hands and feet ache.
Christmas is looming. This fills me with horror, when all I want to do is crawl into my bed.
Of course there are, like in all walks of life, some wealthy land owning farmers whose lives are a million miles distant from that of the lady below. However they maybe high profile but they are also a minority.
Everyone should, in my view, be treated with respect and hopefully love - even when someone is opposed to eating meat or decries intensive farming methods or just thinks that food appears on the shelf at Tesco by ‘magic’. There are many 'costs' (including climate impact) involved in producing the food we eat and at times take for granted. Perhaps we should become a little more aware of the human one.
Thanks for reading and listening.
I’m so tired that I am dreading Christmas.
I am one of hundreds of women who work for no wages on the family farm. My days are spent feeding and caring for calves, keeping them clean and healthy so that they, in turn, are healthy, long-lived cows.
I scrape yards, bed up and will do all the stock work – everything bar the milking. I work seven days a week and haven’t had a proper holiday since 2012. I don’t know what a weekend is.
It saddens me that farmers are considered uncaring and are demonised by some in the media. We are extremely efficient at producing good food for a nation that has no clue of how hard it is to produce.
Food is considered cheap and many seem to have little respect for it. Farmers are the very bottom of the food chain.
I am always having to defend farming practices to my friends, which saddens me greatly. They have little understanding of how expensive and difficult it is to change the way you farm, offering helpful suggestions such as “re-wilding”, “wedding venues” and “glamping”.
Of course, there are always going to be farmers who should not be farming and that bring our profession into disrepute – they should be forced to leave the industry.
But then there is the constant stress and strain of ever-changing regulations that must be adhered to. Keeping everything running smoothly is a battle, too.
I can understand how the serfs in the old imperial Russia took so long to rebel. They were too mentally and physically fatigued to expend the energy.
I too am totally exhausted. My arms, hands and feet ache.
Christmas is looming. This fills me with horror, when all I want to do is crawl into my bed.
