FUW Column

SEPTEMBER has come around again and with that the increasingly popular Love Lamb Week (September 1-7), which was set up in 2015 by the late Rachel Lumley, a passionate Cumbrian sheep farmer who campaigned for lamb to get the attention it deserves.

The FUW once again supported the campaign, which aims to encourage consumers to get cooking with home-bred British and, of course, Welsh Lamb.

We took to our social media channels and highlighted the many benefits sheep farming and PGI Welsh Lamb bring to all of us - producers, processors and consumers.

Indeed, we have said it many times before - our lamb is of the finest quality and those who have tasted it will, we are sure, agree that it stands out as a premium product.

What is worth remembering though is our Welsh lamb is a family affair - from the family farms in Wales who produce it, to our consumers who enjoy coming together around the table to eat.

By eating together with family and friends, coming together after a long day at work, cooking with the kids or your other half, even going out and sourcing your meat from the local butcher - we connect with each other.

It’s social, it celebrates our human connection and we are making it clear PGI Welsh lamb is a perfect ingredient to bring all those things together.

But we must protect our family farms if we want to continue enjoying this wonderful sustainable, nutritious, food.

With free trade negotiations ongoing, as well as a new farming policy and schemes in the making which could have potentially negative consequences for the sector, it is in our interests to safeguard the family farms of Wales.

Our farmers do so much more than just produce sustainable, quality food for us - they take care of our environment, create value in the rural economy, keep our heritage and culture alive and so much more. We must work together to ensure our family farms can continue to produce sustainable, nutritious food for us all to enjoy.

With that in mind, I can assure members that the FUW will continue its mission to advance and protect Wales’ family farms, both nationally and individually to ensure there are thriving, sustainable family farms in Wales.

We will do all we can to address the political issues that could threaten our farming sector but I ask our consumers to stand by our side as well.

By buying Welsh lamb you know that it has been produced to standards which are second to none in the world, that it is traceable right back to the farm, nutrient dense and has one of the lowest carbon emissions per kg globally for lamb (at 10-13kg CO2 e/kg).

By eating Welsh lamb, you are helping to sustain jobs, keep the economy going and safeguard our heritage, culture, and language.

Glyn Roberts (FUW President)