A BIT ABOUT ME...
They call me the Red Shepherdess, which is exactly what I am, but who would have ever thought that the young red haired townie, who had never stepped foot on a commercial farm until after her degree, would ever be living the life that I do now. Sometimes I have to stop and pinch myself, to check it’s not all a dream, but thankfully it’s not.
People often ask me how I did it. Well in truth I had a dream and I had the passion and determination to do whatever was needed to make my dream a reality. I initially worked free, in return for board and lodgings and I took every opportunity I was given to gain experience. Slowly and steadily across 8 years the townie transformed into the farmer I am today and what has been so exciting is so many people have shared my journey through social media.
One of first things I came to realise was just how disconnected I was from where my food came from and from the work that goes into producing good food. I was part of the instant society were I just needed to think about what to buy from the faceless supermarket. Since then I have seen first hand the impact of mass food production, which sees animals and crops ‘fed’ all kinds of things to make them grow faster, as opposed to respectful farming that gives the animal and crops the time and the resources to grow how nature intended. Right at the outset, I knew I didn’t want to be part of that mass production rat race, but how could I be part of building a bridge between what had become the instant food society and the respectful farming practices, that placed the welfare of the animal higher than the ability to make a profit?
Over 100,000 people follow my journey everyday across social media. It initially served me well, as a tool to help me connect with farmers, but now it is my window to share our farming life with people who have become disconnected with the countryside and where their food comes from. Through social media I have built a customer base who purchase lamb and mutton direct from our farm, and who can be assured of the fact that it has been supported to grow happy and free, eating the grass that nature intended our animals to eat.
My journey has been possible because of amazing people. People who gave me the opportunity to learn at the beginning of this journey, through to the people who choose to buy our produce.
People are the most powerful force for positive change and as we look to how we build that bridge and reconnect people back to where the food comes from, I believe that this is possible one person at a time. Each person then sharing their story with another, winning more hearts and minds and making that connection.
So my journey going forward is to continue to share my story, to play my part in respectfully farming our lamb, rearing animals with the love and the care they deserve and producing food for the nation that has been grown to the best standards and has been supported to grow as nature intended.
Please support British farmers and our high standards, please buy local, sustainable food from reputable places who can tell you where the food has come from, and how it was been raised, follow people similar to myself on social media and share your story one person at a time. Together we will build that bridge.
Love Red x