Farming | Louise Gray

Archive for Farming

A year of fruit and veg in Scottish Field

February 4, 2019 Angus Soft Fruits, apples, Bartlett, blackberries, Blochairn, Blochairn Fruit Market, brussel sprouts, carrots, Climate Change, cookery, countryside, eating, environment, ethics, Farming, Food, Food education, food photography, food technology, food waste, Food writing, foraging, Fruit, fruit&veg, future of food, Glasgow, Intelligent Growth Solutions, James Hutton Institute, organic, peas, potatoes, scotland, scottish field, Uncategorized, Veg, vegan, Vegetables, vegetarian, wildlife Comments Off

Workers at Angus Soft Fruits, mostly from Eastern Europe, gather strawberries from dawn on a farm by the sea. © Angus Blackburn, Scottish Field

Over the past year, in a series of columns published in Scottish Field, I have explored an ethical issue about a fruit or vegetable grown in Scotland every month. It has been a privilege to meet the farmers growing our food and I hope to go into more detail about some of the challenges of feeding the world without destroying the environment in my next book. If there is a subject you would like me to explore please post comments below. Read more

Photo story: Plucking a goose for Christmas

December 9, 2016 animal ethics, animal rights, animals, birds, Books, butchers, chefs, Christmas, christmas dinner, countryside, eating, environment, ethical carnivore, ethics, Farming, Food, geese, goose, Meat, photography, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetarian 2 comments

I have recently written a piece for Spectator Life on why goose are back in fashion this Christmas – following the news Theresa May favours goose over turkey. Here is a photo story about how I plucked and gutted my own goose for Christmas, making sure to save the fat for the roast potatoes – just like our Prime Minister likes them. Read more

In which I meet my illustrator…

August 7, 2015 animal ethics, animal rights, animals, Books, bushcraft, cookery, Country sports, deer, eating, environment, ethical carnivore, ethics, Farming, field sports, Food, four feathers, game, Meat, nature, roe deer, shooting, tracking, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetarian, venison Comments Off

Learning to shoot with Chris Wheatley-Hubbard of Four Feathers. Illustration by Sam Goodlet. I like my ‘flippers’, like I could swim away…

The Ethical Carnivore is to be illustrated by Sam Goodlet, a talented artist and a vegan… Read more

Photos of farmers – because we probably don’t appreciate them enough

June 17, 2015 animal ethics, animal rights, animals, beef, Books, chefs, chicken, cookery, cows, dairy, devon, eating, environment, ethical carnivore, ethics, Farming, Food, lamb, Meat, nature, pigs, pork, scotland, sheep, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetarian Comments Off

Producers supplying Farmdrop, a kind of online farmers' market that provides Londoners with fresh produce.

Producers supplying Farmdrop, an online farmers’ market that provides Londoners with fresh produce.

Pork, chicken, lamb, beef, eggs, dairy – it all came from a farmer getting up early and working on your behalf – as these Farmdrop producers did. Here are some other farmers that I have met during research for my book The Ethical Carnivore. I will try and update it as I go along… Read more

Hitting the target – but not how you think – with the BBC & Scottish Field

May 15, 2015 animal ethics, animal rights, animals, arbroath, bbc, cookery, Country sports, deer, eating, environment, ethics, Farming, field sports, Food, game, highlands, Meat, nature, roe deer, scotland, scottish field, shooting, television, trees, vegan, vegetarian, venison One comment

My rifle skills are improving but does that mean I’ll make a clean shot?

My year spent only eating animals I have killed myself has featured on the BBC and in Scottish Field, leading to some expected ribbing about ‘glamorous’ photos with guns and some unexpected conclusions about the nature of shooting. Read more

My first shooting season

February 10, 2015 animal ethics, animal rights, animals, birds, Country sports, eating, environment, ethics, Farming, field sports, Food, game, Meat, nature, pheasant, shooting, vegan, vegetarian, wildlife 6 comments

I spent the winter learning about shooting

I spent the winter learning how to shoot

I grew up in the countryside, so it may seem strange to call this my first shooting season. But this is the first time I’ve actually held a gun. Read more

Gregg Wallace didn’t like my vegan shepherd’s pie, so I made a real lamb roast

December 10, 2014 animals, Books, chefs, cookery, eating, environment, ethics, Farming, Food, Gregg Wallace, lamb, Meat, nature, shooting, television, Uncategorized, vegan, vegetarian, wildlife Comments Off

Wild soay sheep

This blog is about to get bloody. Sorry, but I did say I was writing a book about only eating animals I have killed myself. This means at some point I will have to kill something. The point is to do it in as humane a way as possible and to educate people about where meat comes from. Read more

Could social media revolutionise farming?

January 14, 2014 Farming, Food Comments Off

A ‘felfie’ snapped with some Hereford cattle

Is Twitter and Facebook an opportunity for farmers to sell food direct to the consumer and tell the ‘truth’ about their industry or just and excuse for posting ‘felfies’? Read more

Book Review: Badgerlands by Patrick Barkham

October 24, 2013 Farming, Food, nature, wildlife Comments Off

What is it about Patrick Barkham finding himself in compromising positions to spy on wildlife?

Are genetically modified organic community-owned farms the future?

September 30, 2013 Farming, Food Comments Off

Microdosing crops with fertiliser using a bottle cap. Copyright Gordon Conway

It was a perfectly nice day out in the Suffolk countryside but the organisers of Aldeburgh Food Festival decided to liven things up with a ‘Frankenstein’. As Sir Gordon Conway pointed out to the audience at Snape Maltings he was part human, part pig. Read more