What is thought to be the UK’s first Ethical Farming Conference has been announced in south west Scotland. The event is designed to raise awareness of ethical and sustainable food production. It is being organised by four south of Scotland farms – Mossgiel, Peelham, Rainton and Whitmuir – who all lead on organic, ethical and sustainable propositions.
The event will take place on 16th May at Rainton Farm, home of The Ethical Dairy, the largest cow with calf farm in Europe. Plans for the conference were revealed in the autumn after seed-funding for the event was provided by supporters of The Ethical Dairy’s successful crowdfunding campaign. Those pledges by members of the public have now been match funded by a grant from the Regional Food Fund, financed by the Scottish Government.
Wilma Finlay of The Ethical Dairy commented:
“Ethical and ecological approaches to farming are not exclusive to our farm and there is a wealth of knowledge, expertise and inspiration to be found on farms across the country. We have always said we wanted to freely share what we have learned about cow with calf dairy farming at scale with the wider industry. The Ethical Farming Conference is an opportunity to seek out and share knowledge across a range of farming sectors, and to look at how collaboration and supply chain development can support ethical food production.
“People increasingly want to know that the food they buy has been produced responsibly, ethically and sustainably and it is important that our industry responds to those consumer concerns. That the conference plans have received such strong support from members of the public in such a short space of time is very exciting indeed.”
