01 00 13 05
For thousands of years before the age of science, people created a relationship between the natural world and the way they fed themselves.
01 00 22 04
Now increasingly powerful corporations sweep away these connections between regional ecology and people’s food…
01 00 57 21
But regional produce and how we eat still share a place at some tables.
01 01 23 24
In this episode we go to the most westerly part of a county in southwest England- the grasslands of Dorset, rolling from the crest of a series of hills down to the English Channel.
01 01 38 20
Since the last ice age people have made these beaches and valleys their home.
01 01 51 02
In the lush pastures cattle fed upon grass.
01 01 58 06
Farmers made cheese from the milk.
01 02 02 03
The left over liquid, called whey,
was fed to pigs who provided bacon and ham.
01 02 13 08
The pig’s and sheep fertilized the pastures upon which the animals grazed
01 02 19 10
….and the ‘grasslands cycle’ began again
01 02 24 14
After the Second World War, technology overwhelmed natural agriculture.
01 02 33 15
But twenty years ago, on this farm, Michael Davies revived an extinct traditional local cheese.
01 02 42 14
Elsewhere in the world farm labourers were paid little for milking cows. At home, regulations strangled Michael’s herd; cheap imports left him uncompetitive. Working harder no longer helped. Michael needed a dream…he rediscovered the secret of Dorset Blue Vinney.
01 03 01 24
Early morning, dew on the grass, milk steams as it pours into warm vats.
01 03 09 12
To these are added a speck of penicillin-which forms blue veins in the cheese, and rennet-to set the warming milk.
01 03 16 12
Priscilla says; curds and whey, all cheese made has curds and whey.
01 03 21 11
Two hours later Priscilla Vinning and Di Best cut the now thickened curd into cubes.
01 03 26 11
Di says: Thirty two six and it was thirty two eight I think.
01 03 37 20
The next day, when the curd has dried, it is ground and pressed into moulds.
01 03 45 07
Cheeses maturing, breathing into the chilled air; and everyday Michael turns them as their cream thickens and settles. And everyday Michael inspects them…
01 03 58 12
Michael speaks: “that’s a bit soft…soft cheese..”
01 04 01 21
Michael’s clients are as close as the local village and as far as the United States.
04 06 08
Michael speaks: “…just give it a little sniff just to make sure it smells ok…”
01 04 17 05
In spite of the global economy embracing Britain, people still gather to listen to local music, keeping alive their dialect, humour and stories.
01 04 30 19
At the 13th century St Mary’s Church in the market town of Beaminster, the Yetties entertain with Dorset songs, expressing passion for their region’s land, foods and traditions.
THE SONG 01 04 50 21
Within the woodlands, flowery gladed
Be (by) the oak trees mossy moot
The shining grass blades, timber shaded
Now do quiver underfoot
And birds to whistle overhead
And water's bubbling in it's bed
And there for me the apple tree
Do lean down low in linden lea.
01 05 24 24
On the far side of the square is The Bridge House Hotel. In it’s restaurant there’s always a demand for Dorset Apple Cake, one of the few remaining local recipes.
01 05 34 11
Chef Linda Paget mixes flour…sugar…
01 04 40 22
and local butter.
05 49 16
Linda speaks: “I’m going to put these raisins…”
01 05 51 15
Although Dorset is a region of apple orchards, the supermarkets mostly sell centrally purchased produce…Linda prefers tart local Bramleys.
01 05 59 20
Linda speaks: “Then everything is mixed up very well.
01 06 12 20
Linda speaks: And that’s the final mixture that you’re looking for…
01 06 22 04
Linda speaks: You got quite a level top…”
01 06 33 05
A Chinese scholar wrote: ‘…patriotism (is) the love of good things we ate in childhood'.
Linda’s luxurious finishing touch calls upon those childhood memories.
01 06 44 21
Linda speaks: “There: Dorset Apple Cake and Clotted Cream…”
01 06 52 17
Weymouth- once a port whose squares were filled with sailors waiting for the next fishing boat.
01 07 00 00
To provide for their thirst, ale was made on the quay from 1252 until 1985 when the last brewery folded.
Six years ago, Giles Smeath, sensed an increasing interest in regional beers .
01 07 17 05
A slow brewing process, pungent hops and rich malt create a beer distinctively different than the quick brewed mass market varieties.
01 07 28 00
He and Peter Bird produce 720 gallons a week…and the demand is growing.
Hand crafted processes need constant attention.
01 07 38 23
A slight mistake can create too weak a taste or too strong an alcohol.
01 07 47 12
This mash of water and roasted barley is heated to create a liquor called the wort…the body of the beer.
01 07 55 22
Regardless of the instruments and equipment, the process relies on instinct.
01 08 03 00
Giles speaks: “See the temperature I’ve lost.”
01 08 11 22
Carefully chosen hops and yeast are added and the slow fermentation begins to produce the beer’s distinctive qualities. It is the time, patience and long brewing, the hours rather then minutes that produce delicious, complex tastes.
01 08 25 18
Giles:”He’s in…”
01 08 32 20
In the cellar Pete oversees the steam cleaning of the kegs.
01 08 49 21
Finally all their craft is revealed in a sip.
01 09 19 09
Nic Clayton drives 12 miles to Lyme Regis where she joins Brian Mark’s boat which motors 6 miles out to sea. There they trawl for whelks and Dorset crabs.
01 09 33 09
They return, off load, drive the catch 40 miles to be cleaned and frozen, trucked to an airport and flown to Korea. The seafood is sent by road to the wholesaler, then to the retailer and finally to customers who travel by underground, road and bus.
01 09 48 24
…these are called food miles…each food mile increases global warming
But the whelks are delicious and in Lyme Regis, the fishing community finds a way to survive changing tastes, government restrictions and the depletion of the sea.
01 10 15 14
A few local crabs and other fish find their way to Bridport’s thriving street market.
01 10 23 01
Fishmonger speaks:” About there…”
Customer speaks: “You got to know me Duncan.”
01 10 35 12
In the monthly Farmer’s Market in the Art’s Centre, local growers and producers sell directly to the public.
01 10 49 02
This cuts out the wholesaler’s, processor’s and supermarket’s profits, giving the consumer access to Dorset’s un-travelled and less expensive local foods.
01 10 58 21
Producer speaks: “Hello…”
Shopper speaks: “How are you?”
01 10 58 23
Moist smoked fish, fresh baked breads, sparkling cider, rich meat pies, thick fruit jams, free range eggs, organic pork and early spring lamb are on sale.
01 11 20 02
Jo Sage and her husband Clive maintain a prize winning naturally reared flock of Poll-Dorset sheep.
01 11 32 22
Clive said that if he had been told 5 years ago he would have to leave his flock to sell in street markets, to package his own meat, to learn to promote and advertise he would have said the notion was crazy…today as he and Jo turn the corner towards success, Clive said: I’m surprised with my life’.
01 11 49 19
Grass in the warm weather, natural hay in the chill, carefully chosen feed, worry, patience, care and dedication…
01 12 02 07
Clive speaks; “Give up, give up…I just take off the bag…so they can breath…and that’s number two.”
01 12 15 24
As their sheep give birth he or Jo are on hand, day and night, watching, waiting…
01 12 32 01
Many producers attempt to work within the biological limits of the earth, air and water of their region.
01 12 39 10
This creates wholesome food and helps sustain the land and the survival of local communities.
01 12 51 24
Jim Webber, 101 years old.
01 12 56 06
Jack his younger brother, 94…farm labourers all their lives, once masters of cart horses; Jim, a dancer and singer in his youth…they still work the land, craftsmen of the hedgerow, knowing how and where to thin the elder, ivy and beech saplings.
01 13 14 06
Until recently, hedgerows- home to many species -were destroyed at the rate of 16,000 kilometres per year as farmers were encouraged to create ever larger fields called ‘an economy of scale’.
But year after year Jim and Jack renew remaining hedges.
01 13 40 01
Knowledge of a lost landscape may be remembered for a generation or span five as with Jim and Jack, but eventually it’s only imagined and then forgotten.
01 13 54 18
In the village of Cerne Abbas, at the Royal Oak Inn, the owners use mostly local produce.
01 14 00 19
Chef Pete Battey prepares a Dorset Stew with Clive and Jo’s lamb.
01 14 06 01
In Dorset, landowners thrived off the Grasslands Cycle. But farm labourers, with their long history of low pay have always grown potatoes, onions and root vegetables to cook in their meatless stews.
01 14 37 17
Several glasses of local cider, the cubed lamb and herbs are added…
01 14 41 09
Pete speaks: “Put some fresh rosemary in...just give it that bit of flavour.”
01 14 46 02
…and then a thick lamb stock is poured in.
01 14 56 19
Once Pete is satisfied, this modern take on the humble stew simmers for several hours.
01 15 09 21
Up the lane are the remains of Cerne Abbas Monastery, begun in the 10th century
01 15 15 18
After William the Conqueror’s invasion of 1066, his Norman monks were installed in the Abbey. They introduced cider making to the West Country.
01 15 24 18
Although a part of the abbey still stands, the rest was destroyed under Henry the Eighth as he sought land to buy loyalty from powerful nobles.
01 15 34 16
The stones were used to build the village and in part, the Royal Oak Inn.
01 15 55 04
Surrounded by these once religious stones, Pete finishes the stew
01 16 06 14
In the past, farm labourers were rewarded with cider.
01 16 13 24
Today it is made by large and small presses throughout the West Country as here at Mr. C.K.Castle’s farm.
01 16 25 07
Now retired, he still produces a soft delicious blend of apples from his own orchard.
01 16 36 06
Mr Castle speaks: “There’s an awful lot of people who don’t know what they are missing in the haste of their daily life, an awful lot their missing.”
01 16 45 04
Distinctive regional culture and produce is threatened by global forces including the supermarket’s drive to sell profitable ‘cheap’ food.
01 16 59 23
But ‘cheap’ food has hidden costs:
flooding caused by erosion from land stripped of its hedges, trees and walls;
rivers contaminated by pesticides;
medical bills and suffering from food related diseases,
and the loss of beautiful landscape and species.
On the shop 01 17 18 00
At Washingpool Farm, four generations run a shop for their own and other’s local produce.
01 17 46 19
On the land they are developing ways to take no more from the environment then they return to it…this is a definition of sustainability.
01 17 58 13
The work for Simon Holland and his family is constant and challenging.
01 18 04 17
Another farmer said of Simon: ‘he’s got energy now, but wait twenty years and see how worn he’ll be…’
01 18 19 17
Simon and his family struggle to create a dream for their land and neighbours and they maintain the traditions of the countryside which provide them the strength to believe in a good future.
01 18 50 06
On nearby Tamarisk Farm, Adam Simon and his family have created a sustainable mixed farm- as farms used to be- growing traditional bread making varieties of wheat and rye which are harvested, cleaned and milled on the farm.
01 19 19 16
In the old barn, Adam mills enough wheat for the next farmer’s market, using his stone grinder.
01 19 46 22
Adam combines the natural organic craft world with machinery and technology: chemical free fields and the internet for information and sales…a modern fusion.
01 20 17 10
Along with the wheat they raise sheep and Devon Ruby Red cows which are pastured above the shore for as many months as possible, feeding them on their own organic hay.
01 20 45 01
Perhaps when people stared at the stars and wondered about the harvest, this is what they imagined.
01 21 09 19
In the village of Evershot, there is a bakery known in the region for a bread it has produced for 100 years…the Dorset Cobber.
01 21 18 22
Pete Knott mixes water with additive free malted flour and toasted wheat flakes for sweetness.
01 21 28 17
When Pete’s sense of touch tells him the dough is ready, it is left to ferment for an hour.
01 21 40 06
During this time, chemical changes form the cobber’s unique taste. Industrialized bakeries may inject the dough with raising agents to speed the process…cheaper bread> a dose of additives> less taste.
01 22 22 04
As he presses dough into the form:
When ready the dough is formed into individual loaves.
01 22 17 08
Again the bread rests to enhance its flavour.
01 22 23 09
Afterwards Pete and the master baker Steve Crate, hand mould the loaves, one after another and then coat them with flour for the crusty top.
01 22 45 11
Around 4:30 in the morning the bread is baked.
01 22 50 21
When finished it is a crusty malt flavoured loaf..
01 22 59 16
On these rolling downs, the Crocker family have farmed the land since the late 1800’s.
01 23 08 16
Now they have created a fully organic free range farm.
01 23 17 10
Their conversion to organic status was difficult but at last they produce additive free meats which tastes like pork used to.
01 23 28 03
Kevin’s invention: a heavy curtain against crows which, he says: ‘stand as high as my waist’. Otherwise, when the sows are elsewhere, the birds swoop upon the piglets.
01 23 45 00
Kevin and Dan, his assistant, watch-over and care for their pigs but still they lose some to clever foxes and the ‘waist high crows’.
01 24 05 06
Kevin said he would have been as distressed as his animals had he accepted supermarket pricing policies. They would have forced him into intensive rearing systems using growth promoting drugs.
01 24 23 09
Back at Washingpool, the family gather for a farmhouse breakfast
01 24 27 18
They cook Kevin’s black pudding
01 24 30 12
…bacon and sausages…
01 24 32 21
their own fresh eggs…
01 24 34 16
they toast Evershot’s cobber…
and grill local mushrooms.
01 24 40 23
In the face of global forces which sweep away regional identity, farmers, bakers, chefs, musicians and others resist by building a future based upon their own traditions.
Text:
We do not inherit the land…we borrow it from our children.
A native north American
wds 2256
For thousands of years before the age of science, people created a relationship between the natural world and the way they fed themselves.
01 00 22 04
Now increasingly powerful corporations sweep away these connections between regional ecology and people’s food…
01 00 57 21
But regional produce and how we eat still share a place at some tables.
01 01 23 24
In this episode we go to the most westerly part of a county in southwest England- the grasslands of Dorset, rolling from the crest of a series of hills down to the English Channel.
01 01 38 20
Since the last ice age people have made these beaches and valleys their home.
01 01 51 02
In the lush pastures cattle fed upon grass.
01 01 58 06
Farmers made cheese from the milk.
01 02 02 03
The left over liquid, called whey,
was fed to pigs who provided bacon and ham.
01 02 13 08
The pig’s and sheep fertilized the pastures upon which the animals grazed
01 02 19 10
….and the ‘grasslands cycle’ began again
01 02 24 14
After the Second World War, technology overwhelmed natural agriculture.
01 02 33 15
But twenty years ago, on this farm, Michael Davies revived an extinct traditional local cheese.
01 02 42 14
Elsewhere in the world farm labourers were paid little for milking cows. At home, regulations strangled Michael’s herd; cheap imports left him uncompetitive. Working harder no longer helped. Michael needed a dream…he rediscovered the secret of Dorset Blue Vinney.
01 03 01 24
Early morning, dew on the grass, milk steams as it pours into warm vats.
01 03 09 12
To these are added a speck of penicillin-which forms blue veins in the cheese, and rennet-to set the warming milk.
01 03 16 12
Priscilla says; curds and whey, all cheese made has curds and whey.
01 03 21 11
Two hours later Priscilla Vinning and Di Best cut the now thickened curd into cubes.
01 03 26 11
Di says: Thirty two six and it was thirty two eight I think.
01 03 37 20
The next day, when the curd has dried, it is ground and pressed into moulds.
01 03 45 07
Cheeses maturing, breathing into the chilled air; and everyday Michael turns them as their cream thickens and settles. And everyday Michael inspects them…
01 03 58 12
Michael speaks: “that’s a bit soft…soft cheese..”
01 04 01 21
Michael’s clients are as close as the local village and as far as the United States.
04 06 08
Michael speaks: “…just give it a little sniff just to make sure it smells ok…”
01 04 17 05
In spite of the global economy embracing Britain, people still gather to listen to local music, keeping alive their dialect, humour and stories.
01 04 30 19
At the 13th century St Mary’s Church in the market town of Beaminster, the Yetties entertain with Dorset songs, expressing passion for their region’s land, foods and traditions.
THE SONG 01 04 50 21
Within the woodlands, flowery gladed
Be (by) the oak trees mossy moot
The shining grass blades, timber shaded
Now do quiver underfoot
And birds to whistle overhead
And water's bubbling in it's bed
And there for me the apple tree
Do lean down low in linden lea.
01 05 24 24
On the far side of the square is The Bridge House Hotel. In it’s restaurant there’s always a demand for Dorset Apple Cake, one of the few remaining local recipes.
01 05 34 11
Chef Linda Paget mixes flour…sugar…
01 04 40 22
and local butter.
05 49 16
Linda speaks: “I’m going to put these raisins…”
01 05 51 15
Although Dorset is a region of apple orchards, the supermarkets mostly sell centrally purchased produce…Linda prefers tart local Bramleys.
01 05 59 20
Linda speaks: “Then everything is mixed up very well.
01 06 12 20
Linda speaks: And that’s the final mixture that you’re looking for…
01 06 22 04
Linda speaks: You got quite a level top…”
01 06 33 05
A Chinese scholar wrote: ‘…patriotism (is) the love of good things we ate in childhood'.
Linda’s luxurious finishing touch calls upon those childhood memories.
01 06 44 21
Linda speaks: “There: Dorset Apple Cake and Clotted Cream…”
01 06 52 17
Weymouth- once a port whose squares were filled with sailors waiting for the next fishing boat.
01 07 00 00
To provide for their thirst, ale was made on the quay from 1252 until 1985 when the last brewery folded.
Six years ago, Giles Smeath, sensed an increasing interest in regional beers .
01 07 17 05
A slow brewing process, pungent hops and rich malt create a beer distinctively different than the quick brewed mass market varieties.
01 07 28 00
He and Peter Bird produce 720 gallons a week…and the demand is growing.
Hand crafted processes need constant attention.
01 07 38 23
A slight mistake can create too weak a taste or too strong an alcohol.
01 07 47 12
This mash of water and roasted barley is heated to create a liquor called the wort…the body of the beer.
01 07 55 22
Regardless of the instruments and equipment, the process relies on instinct.
01 08 03 00
Giles speaks: “See the temperature I’ve lost.”
01 08 11 22
Carefully chosen hops and yeast are added and the slow fermentation begins to produce the beer’s distinctive qualities. It is the time, patience and long brewing, the hours rather then minutes that produce delicious, complex tastes.
01 08 25 18
Giles:”He’s in…”
01 08 32 20
In the cellar Pete oversees the steam cleaning of the kegs.
01 08 49 21
Finally all their craft is revealed in a sip.
01 09 19 09
Nic Clayton drives 12 miles to Lyme Regis where she joins Brian Mark’s boat which motors 6 miles out to sea. There they trawl for whelks and Dorset crabs.
01 09 33 09
They return, off load, drive the catch 40 miles to be cleaned and frozen, trucked to an airport and flown to Korea. The seafood is sent by road to the wholesaler, then to the retailer and finally to customers who travel by underground, road and bus.
01 09 48 24
…these are called food miles…each food mile increases global warming
But the whelks are delicious and in Lyme Regis, the fishing community finds a way to survive changing tastes, government restrictions and the depletion of the sea.
01 10 15 14
A few local crabs and other fish find their way to Bridport’s thriving street market.
01 10 23 01
Fishmonger speaks:” About there…”
Customer speaks: “You got to know me Duncan.”
01 10 35 12
In the monthly Farmer’s Market in the Art’s Centre, local growers and producers sell directly to the public.
01 10 49 02
This cuts out the wholesaler’s, processor’s and supermarket’s profits, giving the consumer access to Dorset’s un-travelled and less expensive local foods.
01 10 58 21
Producer speaks: “Hello…”
Shopper speaks: “How are you?”
01 10 58 23
Moist smoked fish, fresh baked breads, sparkling cider, rich meat pies, thick fruit jams, free range eggs, organic pork and early spring lamb are on sale.
01 11 20 02
Jo Sage and her husband Clive maintain a prize winning naturally reared flock of Poll-Dorset sheep.
01 11 32 22
Clive said that if he had been told 5 years ago he would have to leave his flock to sell in street markets, to package his own meat, to learn to promote and advertise he would have said the notion was crazy…today as he and Jo turn the corner towards success, Clive said: I’m surprised with my life’.
01 11 49 19
Grass in the warm weather, natural hay in the chill, carefully chosen feed, worry, patience, care and dedication…
01 12 02 07
Clive speaks; “Give up, give up…I just take off the bag…so they can breath…and that’s number two.”
01 12 15 24
As their sheep give birth he or Jo are on hand, day and night, watching, waiting…
01 12 32 01
Many producers attempt to work within the biological limits of the earth, air and water of their region.
01 12 39 10
This creates wholesome food and helps sustain the land and the survival of local communities.
01 12 51 24
Jim Webber, 101 years old.
01 12 56 06
Jack his younger brother, 94…farm labourers all their lives, once masters of cart horses; Jim, a dancer and singer in his youth…they still work the land, craftsmen of the hedgerow, knowing how and where to thin the elder, ivy and beech saplings.
01 13 14 06
Until recently, hedgerows- home to many species -were destroyed at the rate of 16,000 kilometres per year as farmers were encouraged to create ever larger fields called ‘an economy of scale’.
But year after year Jim and Jack renew remaining hedges.
01 13 40 01
Knowledge of a lost landscape may be remembered for a generation or span five as with Jim and Jack, but eventually it’s only imagined and then forgotten.
01 13 54 18
In the village of Cerne Abbas, at the Royal Oak Inn, the owners use mostly local produce.
01 14 00 19
Chef Pete Battey prepares a Dorset Stew with Clive and Jo’s lamb.
01 14 06 01
In Dorset, landowners thrived off the Grasslands Cycle. But farm labourers, with their long history of low pay have always grown potatoes, onions and root vegetables to cook in their meatless stews.
01 14 37 17
Several glasses of local cider, the cubed lamb and herbs are added…
01 14 41 09
Pete speaks: “Put some fresh rosemary in...just give it that bit of flavour.”
01 14 46 02
…and then a thick lamb stock is poured in.
01 14 56 19
Once Pete is satisfied, this modern take on the humble stew simmers for several hours.
01 15 09 21
Up the lane are the remains of Cerne Abbas Monastery, begun in the 10th century
01 15 15 18
After William the Conqueror’s invasion of 1066, his Norman monks were installed in the Abbey. They introduced cider making to the West Country.
01 15 24 18
Although a part of the abbey still stands, the rest was destroyed under Henry the Eighth as he sought land to buy loyalty from powerful nobles.
01 15 34 16
The stones were used to build the village and in part, the Royal Oak Inn.
01 15 55 04
Surrounded by these once religious stones, Pete finishes the stew
01 16 06 14
In the past, farm labourers were rewarded with cider.
01 16 13 24
Today it is made by large and small presses throughout the West Country as here at Mr. C.K.Castle’s farm.
01 16 25 07
Now retired, he still produces a soft delicious blend of apples from his own orchard.
01 16 36 06
Mr Castle speaks: “There’s an awful lot of people who don’t know what they are missing in the haste of their daily life, an awful lot their missing.”
01 16 45 04
Distinctive regional culture and produce is threatened by global forces including the supermarket’s drive to sell profitable ‘cheap’ food.
01 16 59 23
But ‘cheap’ food has hidden costs:
flooding caused by erosion from land stripped of its hedges, trees and walls;
rivers contaminated by pesticides;
medical bills and suffering from food related diseases,
and the loss of beautiful landscape and species.
On the shop 01 17 18 00
At Washingpool Farm, four generations run a shop for their own and other’s local produce.
01 17 46 19
On the land they are developing ways to take no more from the environment then they return to it…this is a definition of sustainability.
01 17 58 13
The work for Simon Holland and his family is constant and challenging.
01 18 04 17
Another farmer said of Simon: ‘he’s got energy now, but wait twenty years and see how worn he’ll be…’
01 18 19 17
Simon and his family struggle to create a dream for their land and neighbours and they maintain the traditions of the countryside which provide them the strength to believe in a good future.
01 18 50 06
On nearby Tamarisk Farm, Adam Simon and his family have created a sustainable mixed farm- as farms used to be- growing traditional bread making varieties of wheat and rye which are harvested, cleaned and milled on the farm.
01 19 19 16
In the old barn, Adam mills enough wheat for the next farmer’s market, using his stone grinder.
01 19 46 22
Adam combines the natural organic craft world with machinery and technology: chemical free fields and the internet for information and sales…a modern fusion.
01 20 17 10
Along with the wheat they raise sheep and Devon Ruby Red cows which are pastured above the shore for as many months as possible, feeding them on their own organic hay.
01 20 45 01
Perhaps when people stared at the stars and wondered about the harvest, this is what they imagined.
01 21 09 19
In the village of Evershot, there is a bakery known in the region for a bread it has produced for 100 years…the Dorset Cobber.
01 21 18 22
Pete Knott mixes water with additive free malted flour and toasted wheat flakes for sweetness.
01 21 28 17
When Pete’s sense of touch tells him the dough is ready, it is left to ferment for an hour.
01 21 40 06
During this time, chemical changes form the cobber’s unique taste. Industrialized bakeries may inject the dough with raising agents to speed the process…cheaper bread> a dose of additives> less taste.
01 22 22 04
As he presses dough into the form:
When ready the dough is formed into individual loaves.
01 22 17 08
Again the bread rests to enhance its flavour.
01 22 23 09
Afterwards Pete and the master baker Steve Crate, hand mould the loaves, one after another and then coat them with flour for the crusty top.
01 22 45 11
Around 4:30 in the morning the bread is baked.
01 22 50 21
When finished it is a crusty malt flavoured loaf..
01 22 59 16
On these rolling downs, the Crocker family have farmed the land since the late 1800’s.
01 23 08 16
Now they have created a fully organic free range farm.
01 23 17 10
Their conversion to organic status was difficult but at last they produce additive free meats which tastes like pork used to.
01 23 28 03
Kevin’s invention: a heavy curtain against crows which, he says: ‘stand as high as my waist’. Otherwise, when the sows are elsewhere, the birds swoop upon the piglets.
01 23 45 00
Kevin and Dan, his assistant, watch-over and care for their pigs but still they lose some to clever foxes and the ‘waist high crows’.
01 24 05 06
Kevin said he would have been as distressed as his animals had he accepted supermarket pricing policies. They would have forced him into intensive rearing systems using growth promoting drugs.
01 24 23 09
Back at Washingpool, the family gather for a farmhouse breakfast
01 24 27 18
They cook Kevin’s black pudding
01 24 30 12
…bacon and sausages…
01 24 32 21
their own fresh eggs…
01 24 34 16
they toast Evershot’s cobber…
and grill local mushrooms.
01 24 40 23
In the face of global forces which sweep away regional identity, farmers, bakers, chefs, musicians and others resist by building a future based upon their own traditions.
Text:
We do not inherit the land…we borrow it from our children.
A native north American
wds 2256