Food facts forum to inform consumers in their choices

Denis Lehane hears how the Farmers Feed Families initiative hopes to raise awareness of food facts

I like that idea that burger chains have of putting the smiling face of a farmer on the placemat. I like their food, and I like that they use 100% Irish beef. I will always support that cause.

I like the way they tell the world that the food they dish out is not entirely of their doing, but that in the background is a hardworking, diligent farmer supplying the raw material.

The last time I went to a burger restaurant, I sat there for a while and wondered about the diners who surrounded me.

I wondered how many who were busy masticating a burger or slurping a milkshake were aware of the origins of their food?

How many knew the facts?

The basic stuff — that milk doesn’t come from a carton, or that fried chicken doesn’t necessarily come all the way from Kentucky?

How many people know that farmers feed families?

Well, concerns over potential awareness deficits like these are precisely the reason behind the setting up of Farmers Feed Families — a new initiative which will try to bridge the gap that exists in the mind-set of many who have very little knowledge on the origins of their food.

Behind the Farmers Feed Families venture are Anne Brady and Jess Zaffino. I caught up with them recently to chat about their plans.

I asked Jess what was it all about.

“Well, we set up Farmers Feed Families to promote the role of the farmer in food production, and highlight to consumers that our quality food is thanks to the work that farmers do every day.

“We feel there is a significant disconnection between the work that Irish farmers do and the food that people buy in supermarkets, and Farmers Feed Families aims to bridge that connection.

“To do this, we have many initiatives planned, the first of which is our Tweeting Farmers project that begins in June.”

I asked Anne and Jess to explain tweeting to a farmer like me — a fellow who is unsure and, indeed, perhaps a little wary of it.

“A ‘tweet’ is basically a text- based message of no more than 140 characters,” Anne Brady explains. “You do not need a computer to tweet. Twitter can be set up on any device, a computer, mobile, iPad, etc. As long as you have the internet, you can get on Twitter.

“The idea of getting onto social media may be scary for some — privacy, security, just not knowing how to do it. But it is secure and safe, and there are a lot of benefits, whether it’s just chatting to people, getting advice from other farmers, or just keeping up to date with news.

“If farmers have any questions about getting on Twitter, they can let us know, and we will point them in the right direction. We are very excited about our Tweeting Farmers project, because there is no one else doing anything like this.

“Tweeting Farmers will take place on Twitter. Each week, we will have a different farmer in charge of the Tweeting Farmer account, telling us all about daily life on their farm, what time they are getting up, what they do each day, when they are feeding animals, mucking out the sheds, etc.

“Our tweets will all be based around the daily activities on a farm. We will be using the #tweetingfarmers hashtag. A hashtag is used to group tweets together by subject so they are easier to find.”

Could the farming tweet become the creamery of the modern age, I wonder? A place where farmers come together and share their views on life in farming?

“We think that as well as being a great communication tool between farmers, it will be a great way of bridging the gap between the farming and the non-farming community,” says Anne.

“It will provide a very good opportunity to find out more about what goes on each day on different farms around the country, and people can really find out what it takes to get food on their table each day.

“Anyone with questions for farmers will also be able to get in touch and ask them, whether it’s someone from an urban background that doesn’t know anything about farming or perhaps even a new farmer starting out looking for advice.

“What’s more, it’s an invaluable way of promoting the quality of Irish food, not just in Ireland but throughout the world, and this promotion is coming direct from the farm. Who better to promote our great food than the people producing it!”

I asked Anne how has the response been by farmers to the tweeting initiative?

“The response so far has been tremendous. People are really excited about the idea. Farmers especially have been very interested in our Tweeting Farmers concept, as it gives them an opportunity to tell people about their farm and share what they are doing each day.

“Everyone we have talked to about the initiative has given us positive feedback, and we feel there is a real need for this type of campaign focussing specifically on the work farmers do.”

“This is just the beginning of ‘Farmers Feed Families,’ Jess explains, “we have plenty more exciting ideas to put in to place.

“We also hope to get profiles or short biographies on farmers from all different farm enterprises, so that we can connect the consumer with the person or the family producing their food. In this way, we hope to build a story around farmers in Ireland, to create a better understanding of Irish agriculture and an increased loyalty towards Irish produce.

“This will be achieved through a national branding campaign to spread the ‘Farmers Feed Families’ message. We are currently looking for funding from various companies that might like to get involved and be a part of this campaign.”

Who are the two women who have set up Farmers Feed Families? What do they really know about the Irish farmer?

I started by talking to Anne Brady about her background in farming. She comes from a farm in south west Cavan near the Cavan-Longford-Leitrim border.

Her father has been farming organically there since 1994, and was certified organic back in 09.

“My father Gerry started farming in the early 70’s and initially planned to farm in a commercial sense, using chemical fertiliser and so on.

“However, the land on the farm is not very good land — very boggy and rocky, and he found it very difficult to spread the fertiliser on such ground.

“He always had an interest in organic farming and so decided to start farming organically in 1994. He then decided to get certified, as he hoped to get a better market for his organic milk.

On the Brady farm there are between 70-80 cows and they are a mix of jersey, shorthorn and aryshire breeds.

The farm is around 120 acres. “My father enjoys organic farming because there are fewer pressures. Organic farming isn’t as intensive as non-organic, less stock is kept on the farm and more recently there hasn’t been as much pressure with fodder as other farms in the area.

“He also feels that he gets very good grass growth, now that he has mobilised all the natural elements of growing grass — having lots of clover and improving the earthworm population on the land.

“He has farmed organically very successfully over the last 20 years. He managed the farm successfully without a second income and reared a family of five.”

While coming from a different background and indeed a different country, namely Canada, Jess Zaffino too has a good understanding of life on the land. “I come from Guelph, Ontario, Canada. And while I didn’t grow up on a farm, I developed a love and appreciation for agriculture through my studies.

“I did my undergrad and masters degree at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. My undergrad was in animal biology, where I learned the basics of nutrition, genetics, physiology, housing, and reproduction as it relates to animal agriculture. I also took general farm animal systems classes where I learned the basics of each industry in terms of the cycle on the farm, the goals of the industry and the main obstacles each type of farmer would be dealing with.

“In my third year of undergrad, I took a class in farm animal welfare and realised that was what I was really passionate about.

“I went on to do a masters degree in the epidemiology department, and my research was part of a national dairy cow welfare assessment. Through my research I was able to visit farms across the province and have a lot of interaction with farmers.

“I gained a huge appreciation for the work that they do every day. I was absolutely amazed by the number of things a farmer must deal with each day, and the number of management decisions they must make.

“Each day a dairy farmer would be juggling the tasks of not only milking and feeding, but breeding, calving, nutrition, health care, cleaning, barn maintenance, etc. etc. And when I was there making all these assessments about their farm and taking up their time, they were all very kind and wanted to contribute to the research.

“I’m not sure that any other job would require a skill set so varied and demand so much time. I would think about how I looked forward to sleeping in on weekends and getting to relax, and how these farmers would never, not one day a year, get to do that.

“I really admire that level of dedication and commitment. I came to Ireland last year, because my fiancé was here, studying to be a vet at UCD.

“I love Ireland and really like how friendly everyone has been to me, and I think it’s funny how nearly every Irish person I meet has a relative or friend living in Canada!

“From what I can see, I believe farmers are proud of their work, but in a very humble way. They are dealing with the many struggles that come with farming, but really wouldn’t want to be doing any other work.”

Clearly, she knows us well enough.

You can find out more about Farmers Feed Families on the www.farmersfeedfamilies.ie website.