Local, home grown food is important Date

Ashover show was again a great success earlier this year and this proves it is the premier one-day agricultural show in the Midlands.

The success of the show is all down to the number of volunteers who help before the show and on show day, when it is all over, they then take it down ready for next year.

There was a food marquee at the show selling a variety of local produce. British, local food is important and there is a lot of it in Derbyshire.

In Chesterfield, Cheese Factor R.P. Davidson sells cheese both retail and wholesale. When Hartington Creamery was closed over five years ago , three people decided to start a new Hartington Creamery, and one of the directors is Simon Davidson, the owner of R.P Davidson. They make Peakland White and Peak land Blue, both prize winning cheeses.

On top of this, at Povey Farm in the Moss Valley, in north Derbyshire, Stephen and Karen Thompson produce pork bacon and sausages.

They have 220 sows and most of their products are sold under the name of Thompson’s Moss Valley Fine Meats brand.

Stephen and Karen say the local brand has made their business grow as restaurants like to buy local produce.

Moss Valley Fine Meats was awarded the Best Sheffield Brand award in the Sheffield Food Awards in 2013 for its pork , ham,and sausages. This is an excellent example of farm diversification.

As well as this, Mick and Amanda Dakins have a farm at Masson Farm on the outskirts of Matlock. It is a 200-acre working dairy farm and we can see that diversification has taken place in the shape of Matlock Meadow ice-cream parlour.

This has come from the family deciding to take more control over what they were producing.

There is a cafe at their farm where you can sit and watch the cows while you eat your local ice cream.

Finally, I think in light of Rememberance Sunday, and the fact it is 100 years ago since World War One broke out, we must remember the women who farmed the land during the war.

The women’s LandArmy was founded in 1916 and without them Britain would have starved.

25/11/2014