Start the day properly with a Welsh breakfast
WE all like to start the day well and this week we are celebrating our annual Farmhouse Breakfast Week.
All week events, whether virtual or in person, will be promoting the health benefits of eating breakfast, as well as shine a light on the quality of Welsh farm produce.
For those of us who can’t physically sit around the table together, the ethos of enjoying the wonderful food our farmers produce, from eggs, cheese, bacon and sausages to butters and yoghurts etc, is still very much do-able at home with our closest family.
And as we’re sitting round the table, or chatting to friends and family on the phone or over video call, we get to share our thoughts before starting the day. The opportunity to talk to like-minded people over some great food, a cup of tea and have a chat and a joke is important for good mental health generally.
Farming can be isolating, spending days on our own working away, and not seeing or speaking to anyone.
So please make the effort to check in on friends and neighbours who might be alone and keep an eye on your family members as well. Sometimes we only know that they need help if we ask them.
To compound things further, the industry is facing challenging times and it’s all too easy to dwell on negative thoughts and begin to feel that you’re on your own.
What is worth reminding ourselves of is that our industry comprises a rich network of family farms, which support and fuel local communities, pump prime the circular economy and protect and nourish our special Welsh culture and identity.
Our farmers also look after our precious landscape for local people and visitors to enjoy, while our grassbased, rain refreshed, livestock production system is one of the world’s most sustainable.
We harness, encourage, replenish and replace the planet’s natural resources and our products meet environmental, welfare and health rules that put to shame farming systems in most other parts of the world, where pillaging the environment for profit is more often the norm.
It’s quite clear that we are living in different times, challenging times, and perhaps the most uncertain times that many of us will have experienced in decades. But what better way is there to get ready to face those challenges than with a proper Welsh breakfast!
So get involved with our breakfast week by purchasing locally sourced breakfast ingredients, and sharing your photos and videos of your breakfast with us through social media, or if you can join us round the table at one of the in-person farmhouse breakfasts.