07/11/2025
We’ve stepped out of a restaurant kitchen and into a bigger story - one that starts in the soil and feeds back into our community.👇🏽
Jersey Farming Conference 2025 - Reflections from the Field
We’ve just stepped out of the kitchen and into a whole new world - one that starts in the soil and feeds into our communities. Today was about connection, collaboration, and a reminder that farming isn’t just our heritage - it’s our living culture.
As food people, we spend our days thinking about flavour, freshness, and the magic that happens when good ingredients come together. But today reminded us where that magic really begins - in the soil. In the rain. In the people who grow and nurture it all.
A few moments really hit home:
💧 “Drinking water is the most intimate interaction we have with the environment - we are literally made up of what we put into our bodies.” - Mark Bowden Jersey Water
🥛 “Jersey milk has 18% more calcium, 20% more protein and the lowest carbon footprint of any milk.” - Phil Le Maistre snr, Jersey Milk Marketing Board
🌾 “Productivity isn’t just about money, it’s connection” - India Hamilton, Hypha & Regen
🌍 “Right now, 98% of our island doesn’t have a connection to Jersey’s farming.” - Alan Le Maistre, CFA, nationaltrustforjersey
That last one really stopped us in our tracks.
Because if farming is our island’s heritage - and it is - then it’s not something to look back on, it’s something we need to live and protect right now.
We learned about cover crops and soil health, solar power and sustainability, but mostly we learned about connection - to land, to people, to purpose.
We left feeling fired up.
We’ve stepped out of a restaurant kitchen and into a bigger story - one that starts in the soil and feeds back into our community.
We’re so inspired by the conversations we’ve had and the opportunities ahead to work more closely with Jersey’s farming families - to bring that connection full circle, from soil to soul.
More to come soon… but for now, we’re feeling grounded, grateful, and ready to grow. 🌿
Thank you Farm Jersey for a thoroughly interesting day & Hannah Shellswell for your wonderful presenting skills, as usual!
