Open Farm Sunday sheep

Open Farm Sunday 2017 – JC Farm, Little Kingshill

Gavin Wren Food Education, Writing

Animals make people happy, it’s a proven fact of life.

People who have dogs are proven to be healthier, happier people. In America, a care home introduced cats, dogs and 100 birds for the elderly residents to look after and it possibly saved some of their lives. A man who had given up on life was drawn back into the world by a pair of parakeets. Animals are also a cornerstone of the food system, helping to provide eggs, milk, yoghurt, cheese, meat, leather and lots more besides, something the little people of the world need to learn if they’re going to understand where their food comes from in the future.

Scape Goat.

A few months ago I saw an advert on Twitter for Open Farm Sunday, an annual event run by LEAF, when farms around the country open their doors to the public, to meet the furry, fluffy… come and read more…

Free Range Eggs Box with little blue barn raised stickers

What Free Range Means and Little Blue Stickers

Gavin Wren Food Education, Writing

Have you seen those little blue stickers on the packs of eggs recently? The ones telling you that hens have been temporarily housed in barns? It’s because there’s been a bout of Avian Influenza (AI), a disease that’s bad news for the chicken population of the UK so they’re all being kept indoors to prevent it spreading and these stickers are part of that process.

A few weeks ago somebody on Twitter was questioning whether it’s right to carry on buying these eggs, if the hens are no longer free range. It’s a good question, and not a very easy one to answer. I also realised that many people might not know the difference between barn eggs and free range eggs, so I’ve written this post to spill the beans on how the 35 million UK laying hens spend their lives. After reading this, you can make a decision on