Time to Relax and Think about Diversity
It's always busy here on a Monday as orders arrive by telephone, text & email. Production carries on and then there's picking and invoices before the first deliveries of the week head out the door. Woe betide any of the family who might think of an excuse to avoid this routine (in the past few years, I've missed one day due to a medical appointment). The lads are absolutely superb though and would never dream of skiving off. Maybe because all of us have so much of our energy committed to it and our lives revolve around our business.
This morning as we were slicing rashers, I began thinking of the variation in the size of the rashers and especially the free range. You'd think I was stuck in a groove as I regularly repeat that our pigs are not a 'one size fits all'. This is reflected in the rashers. Wandering around supermarkets and especially in our larger towns, it's easy to see why there is a disconnect between food production and the packaged product. Humans aren't all exactly the same and this is so true of the world, but we want our food to be exactly the same today, tomorrow and for ever - so boring!
Our farmhouse cheese makers; smoked salmon producers and many more will spend time telling you the variables that affect the finished product. For example, cheese will change as the year progresses. The make-up of the milk changes from the time the cow is first milked after calving through to the time she is dried-off and will depend on her diet as well. It's probably easier to control nowadays as the grass is very uniform in most fields (not the same availability of meadow grass) and then there's silage and the feed stuffs bought in to supplement especially during the winter months.
Small producers like us celebrate diversity and would like to encourage it. Do you remember that time there was a report that cucumbers would be straight - and they are - in supermarkets, but if you get the chance to grow your own or buy from a small producer, you will soon find out they are in all sorts of shapes and, oh the flavour. We need to celebrate diversity and thanks be for the Slow Food movement who promote this internationally.
I'm delighted that SLOW Food is being revitalised in West Cork and for further details, please contact Convivium Leader, Frank Krawczyk (you'll find him on Twitter & probably Facebook too). New & returning members always welcome.
Until tomorrow
Avril
P.S. I'll take a photo of those rashers of ours just to show the reality of real meat!
This morning as we were slicing rashers, I began thinking of the variation in the size of the rashers and especially the free range. You'd think I was stuck in a groove as I regularly repeat that our pigs are not a 'one size fits all'. This is reflected in the rashers. Wandering around supermarkets and especially in our larger towns, it's easy to see why there is a disconnect between food production and the packaged product. Humans aren't all exactly the same and this is so true of the world, but we want our food to be exactly the same today, tomorrow and for ever - so boring!
Our farmhouse cheese makers; smoked salmon producers and many more will spend time telling you the variables that affect the finished product. For example, cheese will change as the year progresses. The make-up of the milk changes from the time the cow is first milked after calving through to the time she is dried-off and will depend on her diet as well. It's probably easier to control nowadays as the grass is very uniform in most fields (not the same availability of meadow grass) and then there's silage and the feed stuffs bought in to supplement especially during the winter months.
Small producers like us celebrate diversity and would like to encourage it. Do you remember that time there was a report that cucumbers would be straight - and they are - in supermarkets, but if you get the chance to grow your own or buy from a small producer, you will soon find out they are in all sorts of shapes and, oh the flavour. We need to celebrate diversity and thanks be for the Slow Food movement who promote this internationally.
I'm delighted that SLOW Food is being revitalised in West Cork and for further details, please contact Convivium Leader, Frank Krawczyk (you'll find him on Twitter & probably Facebook too). New & returning members always welcome.
Until tomorrow
Avril
P.S. I'll take a photo of those rashers of ours just to show the reality of real meat!
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