Here in the Goode household we’ve been watching BBC2’s Lambing Live, a series of programs screened live, with some prerecorded material, at 8 pm every evening this week. It follows in the footsteps of Spring Watch and Autumn Watch, which followed a similar format, exploring Britain’s wildlife.
By coincidence, today Fiona and I visited a rural school down in Somerset, complete with its own farm, where we saw some impossibly cute fresh-born lambs (pictured), as well as some young pigs and cows.
I get the impression that people are becoming more interested in the countryside, conservation, nature and farming. This has to be a good thing. The parallel with wine is that both the trade and consumers are beginning to care more about what happens in the vineyard, and viticulturalists are starting to see their vineyards as agroecosystems where the vine itself is but one component. Sustainability will soon be seen not as some sort of luxury, but as a moral duty.
3 Comments on Lambing live
Lambing live? Surely that’s being shown on Ewe-Tube?
Delighted to read your comments as I increasingly believe this is the only way forward for all of us! ‘Good’ food, wine, conservation, and farming should surely be on one and the same track to push the importance and benefit not only to individual consumer but the planet in general.
I certainly hope that ‘quality’ isn’t about luxury but care for how our food and drink (and everything else for that matter)is produced and delivered into our daily lives.
There does seem to be more positive and widespread coverage for the countryside and rural issues, which I am sure can and should be developed alongside interest in good food and wine.
BBC2’s Lambing Live has done a superb job of raising the profile of the farming industry. Even radio 1 has been giving it some decent coverage during the day!
Sadly the show is over now but you are welcome to continue in the enjoyment as we have been “lambing live” on the Internet via webcam on lambwatch for over 2 years now and we are due to start at the end of March.
http://www.lambwatch.co.uk