Thursday morning I visited a cropping and sheep farmer in Loddington, Rad. Rad was one of the farmers to initially trial GM crops in England about 10 years ago, when there was MASSIVE opposition to the crops. Most of the trials around the countryside were destroyed by Anti-GM protesters but Rad's was one of the few that were grown out and harvested. It sounds like a crazy time, with anti-gm protests going on everywhere. He found the technology very suitable to his programme, and would love to continue using it if it had of been possible.
I visited Loughborough over lunch, and browsed a few markets whilst there.
The next farm visit was a neighbour of Rad's, the Maetravers. The Maetravers are organic farmers, and run a farm shop where they sell all of their farm produce. Obviously they were very opposed to Rad growing the GM trial, as they do not support GM at all. So.... interesting to get both sides of the story!
Graeme showed me around their picturesque property, there sheep and cattle flocks, and also their small farm shop. They are doing a really fantastic job, but not without a lot of work. There crops are relatively weed free, and the stock all in very good condition!
I spent the night at their house, with the family. Graeme's 2 kids, were really fascinated by Australia and the questions kept comng about where I live and what it is like 'down under'. They particularly enjoyed my 'very strong' Australian accent!! It was a really lovely night, and they were the most welcoming and kind family!
This morning I headed to Stoneleigh where I met with a Dr from the NFU there, who has a lot to do with NFU GM policy, and also was a weed researcher for most of her career. She was extremely busy, but I was able to spend an hour with her which was very interesting!
So, now I have made it back to Heathrow, dropped of my car, got the underground to Kings cross and booked into my favourite B and B! I have a lovely little room down the tiny little stairs and have spread the contents of my suitcase over the room. I am meeting John at 6.30pm to go to the show Matilda, by Roald Dohl (spelling???). Tommorow is the tower of London with some of Johns friends, then I am going to water polo training with John tommorow night...... I know, devastating to think this white, well fed body is going to get out in the bathers!!! Then I am taking John out for dinner his 30th birthday. Home Sunday morning - yay!!!
Chow
Friday 9 March 2012
Thursday 8 March 2012
3 days to go! 1.5 of work, 1.5 of fun!
Morning!! I found a lovely little place to stay in a town called Mountsorrell. I am in a guest house, and have just had breaky downstairs and about to check out and head to a farm visit.
A visit to the NFU was interesting, and their head of PR, Alison Pratt talked to me about the National Farmer Union and what they do. She also cornered me into an article in their local NFU magazine, which will be interesting!
A short drive to this town Mountsorrell, and I found a little cozy pub for dinner, before a very early to bed night!
These pics are a little late showing my walk around Cambridge!
Here is a picture of Tomato puree sold in England I think about 10-13 years ago, with a very obvious label showing GM ingredients. It sold well initially, then when the GM scare hit the consumer, sales dropped and they were taken of the shelf.
A visit to the NFU was interesting, and their head of PR, Alison Pratt talked to me about the National Farmer Union and what they do. She also cornered me into an article in their local NFU magazine, which will be interesting!
A short drive to this town Mountsorrell, and I found a little cozy pub for dinner, before a very early to bed night!
These pics are a little late showing my walk around Cambridge!
Wednesday 7 March 2012
Cambridge
Tuesday started with a visit to the Monsanto office in Cambridge to catch up with Mark Buckingham. Mark was a nuffield in 1996. We had a really good discussion on GM's and the position that Monsanto has taken in Europe! They have more or less given up on developing crops for the European market, because restrictions in place.
I then had a few hours to spare, so caught a bus to the city centre, and enjoyed a wonder around the city. It is another pretty and historical place. I spent a bit of time in a cafe trying to mould my ideas together for my report, and something is slowly starting to take shape!
I visited NIAB in the afternoon, where they do a lot of plant breeding, and also varietal testing for many crops grown in England. They are also starting up a site called Innovationfarm which is a great initiative to demonstrate what they do, and teach business and consumers about plant breeding and also biotechnology!
John and Wendy cooked me another delicous meal of fish pie, and I stayed my last night with them. This morning I have headed North to Loddington in Leicestshire. Alistair Leake showed me around the Allerton Research project, aimed at connecting farming with wildlife conservation. It was great to see the 'other' side of the story in terms of the government payments for environmental protection, and I was really impressed with the farm he has setup and some of the things they are doing to conserve the environment! There are always two sides to every story!
I am now sitting in a little cafe in a town called Uppingham. My feet have not yet defrosted as it is very cold and wet outside. my spinach soup is warming me up, so once the feet are feeling again I will head out to catchup with the England NFU, National Farmers Union. My first night with no accommodation sorted - quite exciting really, best go google it!!
I then had a few hours to spare, so caught a bus to the city centre, and enjoyed a wonder around the city. It is another pretty and historical place. I spent a bit of time in a cafe trying to mould my ideas together for my report, and something is slowly starting to take shape!
I visited NIAB in the afternoon, where they do a lot of plant breeding, and also varietal testing for many crops grown in England. They are also starting up a site called Innovationfarm which is a great initiative to demonstrate what they do, and teach business and consumers about plant breeding and also biotechnology!
John and Wendy cooked me another delicous meal of fish pie, and I stayed my last night with them. This morning I have headed North to Loddington in Leicestshire. Alistair Leake showed me around the Allerton Research project, aimed at connecting farming with wildlife conservation. It was great to see the 'other' side of the story in terms of the government payments for environmental protection, and I was really impressed with the farm he has setup and some of the things they are doing to conserve the environment! There are always two sides to every story!
I am now sitting in a little cafe in a town called Uppingham. My feet have not yet defrosted as it is very cold and wet outside. my spinach soup is warming me up, so once the feet are feeling again I will head out to catchup with the England NFU, National Farmers Union. My first night with no accommodation sorted - quite exciting really, best go google it!!
Monday 5 March 2012
Monday
Well these are actually a few pictures from Sunday, that I couldnt get loaded up this morning! Stuart Sadler in the kitchen cooking lasagne, and a photo of a really nice town that I can not remember the name of, but is where a lot of the rowing competition takes place and some of the olympics will be held!
Jealottes Hill Syngenta research station. A pretty impressive place. It was interesting to see the process of finding and formulating a pesticide, then going through the testing to get it to the marketplace! An expensive and long process. The science and machinery involved is beyond comprehension really. I didnt get too see a lot of GM technology, nor talk about the GM issues, as Syngenta are not really focused on that technology in this country for obvious reasons! None the less, interesting to see the science behind our everyday chemical use at home.
I spent 40 minutes trying to get to the the queens windosr castle, but really couldnt get that close with the rat race of traffic and motorways, so headed up the M25 (worst motor way in the world) to Cambridge. Survived with only a few beeps!
I know sit upstairs at John and Wendys looking out the window at the lovely countryside, with the sunsetting. They had an inch of rain yesterday, so things look fresh and the farmers are happy!
Family
I am so lucky to have such wonderful family on this other side of the world!
I made it out of Heathrow in my little car (just, rather hairy in places), and found my way to Chazey Heath, where Stuart and Lyndseu Sadler live. They have a lovely little home in a beautiful area. We went for a drive together to check out the countryside, together with their 1 year old son Harry, and 2 border collie dogs. It is good to get my toddler dose, as missing the nieces and nephews!! We had a delicous meal, and a glass or 2 of bubbly together (as its not often you get to see your aussie cousins!)
Today I am in Bracknell, have found a coffee shop to catch up on the blog, and heading to Syngenta Jealottes Hill Research station at 11am. Hope to make it to John and Wendys to sleep the night! Here are some pictures of Stuart and Lyndsey.
I made it out of Heathrow in my little car (just, rather hairy in places), and found my way to Chazey Heath, where Stuart and Lyndseu Sadler live. They have a lovely little home in a beautiful area. We went for a drive together to check out the countryside, together with their 1 year old son Harry, and 2 border collie dogs. It is good to get my toddler dose, as missing the nieces and nephews!! We had a delicous meal, and a glass or 2 of bubbly together (as its not often you get to see your aussie cousins!)
Today I am in Bracknell, have found a coffee shop to catch up on the blog, and heading to Syngenta Jealottes Hill Research station at 11am. Hope to make it to John and Wendys to sleep the night! Here are some pictures of Stuart and Lyndsey.
Sunday 4 March 2012
Goodbyes
Well, have nearly said goodbye to the 60odd other nuffields we have spent the last week with ! Hard task!! A lot of these people we will never see again, some in a year, some in 10years, who knows. But it has been a really amazing week!! I enjoyed every little bit of it, but am ready for the next adventure now!
Yesterday we visited 2 farms not far out of London that are making the most of the rapidly increasing population in their area, to diversify their business, and also hep educate city people about agriculture and where there food comes from! Willow Farm had up a really good educational fun park, that had farm animals, machinery playgrounds, fishing dams, and lots more. He also had rented out his farm to a lot of different businesses such as composting site, pigeon shooting clubs, school sites the list goes on. He was involved in every business that was on his property and took a share in all the profits!
Another farmer in Harpenden, was running an annual event called Farm Sunday - where he encouraged many farms to open their gates once a year to the public, so that they could come and see what farming was all about. A great way to close the city rural divide!
It was an early night, and I am all packed up to head to Stu and Suzie Sadlers this afternoon. I will hire a car from the airport and drive out!
Yesterday we visited 2 farms not far out of London that are making the most of the rapidly increasing population in their area, to diversify their business, and also hep educate city people about agriculture and where there food comes from! Willow Farm had up a really good educational fun park, that had farm animals, machinery playgrounds, fishing dams, and lots more. He also had rented out his farm to a lot of different businesses such as composting site, pigeon shooting clubs, school sites the list goes on. He was involved in every business that was on his property and took a share in all the profits!
Another farmer in Harpenden, was running an annual event called Farm Sunday - where he encouraged many farms to open their gates once a year to the public, so that they could come and see what farming was all about. A great way to close the city rural divide!
It was an early night, and I am all packed up to head to Stu and Suzie Sadlers this afternoon. I will hire a car from the airport and drive out!
Friday 2 March 2012
Busy Days
We spent 2 more days in the Netherlands. Visited a piggery, and had a good discussion day talking about European Union agricultural subsidies, listening to a representitive from the oxfam organisation, and an organic and non-organic pig producer.
In terms of GM, it was interesting to note, that the organic pig producer was having a hard time finding non-gm soy to feed his pigs, due to the large dominance of GM soy in the world.
It was interesting day and learnt a lot about the European subsidies that I had no understanding about before. It seems they are more neccessary than I realised, and it is not quite as easy as just removing them from EU farmers!!
We spent our last day in the Netherlands at an amazing Cress farm. A fantastic speaker on Marketing, and a look round an amazing glass house set up for growing crazy tasting varieties of cress. We were cooked an amazing meal, these guys are really into good wholesome food, good cooking, and supporting sustainable agriculture. This a pic showing the beautiful meal that was cooked for us, and the cook explaing it all to us.
We finished with a quick tour of Amsterdam, a look at the Red light district, interesting..... then hopped on late flight back to London. Here is a pic of me in Amsterdam.
The holiday inn in London, has a gym, so it was great to start Thursday with a bit of exercise!! To get to our destination for the day we had to jump on the London underground at 8am. It was CRAZY. I litterally had to push myself into the train like a sheep on a truck! Hilarious!
We made it to New Zealand house in London, and we spent the day on the top floor, which was the BEST view of London city! A really interesting day for me listening to a speaker from the SOIL association, which is an organic group that are totally anti-gm. We then heard from GM freeze, another speaker obviously totally against GM crops. I can understand some of their point of views, but some of their points I totally disagree with. The reacurring argument against GM crops that I keep hearing is the problem of large multinationals controlling the seed and intellectual property. But I am not sure how we get technical advancements in agriculture if we don't have these companies investing into the technology!!
In the afternoon we learnt about the world trade organisation, and heard the perspective of a few different countries of their opinion on world trade arrangements at the moment! A good learning session for me!
We finished the day with a night walk tour of London, then a beer at the London Farmers club! A lovely old cosy building, that didnt know what had hit it when we all rocked in for a drink!!
Today (friday), we have been in another beutiful old English building - talking about leadership in Agriculture. It was an excellent day, with some passionate, captivating and very moving speakers!
We have learnt and talked about so much, I hope that I can keep it all in my head! Everyone loves to talk agriculture all the time, and my brain is choc a bloc!
This afternoon we did a tour of the houses of Parliament!! What a building!!!! REally amazing architecture. Tonight is a conference dinner windup, then out to the country tommorow!
In terms of GM, it was interesting to note, that the organic pig producer was having a hard time finding non-gm soy to feed his pigs, due to the large dominance of GM soy in the world.
It was interesting day and learnt a lot about the European subsidies that I had no understanding about before. It seems they are more neccessary than I realised, and it is not quite as easy as just removing them from EU farmers!!
We spent our last day in the Netherlands at an amazing Cress farm. A fantastic speaker on Marketing, and a look round an amazing glass house set up for growing crazy tasting varieties of cress. We were cooked an amazing meal, these guys are really into good wholesome food, good cooking, and supporting sustainable agriculture. This a pic showing the beautiful meal that was cooked for us, and the cook explaing it all to us.
We made it to New Zealand house in London, and we spent the day on the top floor, which was the BEST view of London city! A really interesting day for me listening to a speaker from the SOIL association, which is an organic group that are totally anti-gm. We then heard from GM freeze, another speaker obviously totally against GM crops. I can understand some of their point of views, but some of their points I totally disagree with. The reacurring argument against GM crops that I keep hearing is the problem of large multinationals controlling the seed and intellectual property. But I am not sure how we get technical advancements in agriculture if we don't have these companies investing into the technology!!
In the afternoon we learnt about the world trade organisation, and heard the perspective of a few different countries of their opinion on world trade arrangements at the moment! A good learning session for me!
We finished the day with a night walk tour of London, then a beer at the London Farmers club! A lovely old cosy building, that didnt know what had hit it when we all rocked in for a drink!!
Today (friday), we have been in another beutiful old English building - talking about leadership in Agriculture. It was an excellent day, with some passionate, captivating and very moving speakers!
We have learnt and talked about so much, I hope that I can keep it all in my head! Everyone loves to talk agriculture all the time, and my brain is choc a bloc!
This afternoon we did a tour of the houses of Parliament!! What a building!!!! REally amazing architecture. Tonight is a conference dinner windup, then out to the country tommorow!
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