ORGANIC DAIRY FARMERS TAKE UP TAI CHI - CONSUMER PRESS

08 April 2008

Chi-ing the cud?
Organic dairy farmers take up Tai Chi

Committed to ensuring the maximum levels of wellbeing in every pint of milk – for us, for the environment and for the cows – Britain’s organic dairy farmers have taken up the ancient practice of Tai Chi. Following the launch of the Love-OM campaign to encourage shoppers to choose organic milk, welly-clad dairymen and women, tanker drivers and herdsmen from across the nation have been striking Tai Chi poses in order to bring an additional spiritual uplift to their cows, fields and farmyards.

Drawing inspiration from China, where farmers have practiced Tai Chi since the seventeenth century, the Federation of Organic Milk Groups (FOMG) has enlisted the services of a Tai Chi Master or ‘Sifu’ to help them learn the special moves, renowned for bestowing a mood of wellbeing. Over the past few weeks, the official Love-OM Tai Chi Sifu has been travelling the country spreading peace and harmony to the organic dairy farms of Britain.

Tristan Dale, Love-OM farmer and demonstrator of Friday’s move ‘surveying the farm’, says: “Being an organic dairy farmer is hard work. I want to make sure I am as relaxed and focused as possible. My mood definitely transfers to my cows and as organic farmers we believe happier cows produce better milk. Organic farming, like Tai Chi, is all about maintaining a balance. In organic farming we do our best to maintain a balance with nature and Tai Chi has helped me maintain the inner balance which is reflected my farm.”

FOMG members have adapted a series of seven traditional Tai Chi routines - one for every day of the week. Each of the movements has been assigned a series of easy-to-follow instructions created for the agriculturally minded, with names like ‘up with the lark’, ‘lazily buttoning overalls’ and ‘arms like tractor wheels’.

Love-OM Tai Chi is not reserved for organic farmers. The moves are simple enough to do anywhere, from tube station to toddler group. To help the rest of us introduce a little bit of wellbeing into our everyday lives, videos of organic dairy farmers demonstrating the Love-OM Tai Chi moves have been uploaded to www.love-om.com which launched this week.

Roger Kerr, Chairman of the FOMG, adds: “Enjoying organic milk everyday is a great way to enhance your wellbeing. It’s kind to the environment, kind to your body, kind to your wallet and comes from happy and contented cows. That’s what Love-OM and Tai Chi are all about so we hope that everyone will embrace the feeling and log-on to the site to try out the moves for themselves.”

Learn more about how organic milk can improve your wellbeing at www.love-om.com.

Ends

For interviews, further information and great pictures and video clips of farmer’s demonstrating Tai Chi, contact:

Laura Allen / Melita Swan
Bray Leino PR
T: 0117 973 1173
F: 0117 906 4542
E: lallen@brayleino.co.uk

Notes to Editors
Love-OM’s seven Tai Chi routines are available to view at www.love-om.com with a series of easy to follow instructions:

1. Lazily Buttoning Overalls – adapted from ‘Lazy about Tying Coat’ or ‘Lan Zha Yi’
2. Up with the Lark – adapted from ‘The White Crane Spreads its Wings’ or ‘Bai He Liang’
3. Directing the herd – adapted from ‘Single Whip’ or ‘Dan Bian’
4. Sweeping the yard – adapted from ‘Move Sideways and Brush Knee’ or ‘Xie Xing Lou Xi’
5. Surveying the fields – adapted from ‘Cover Head and Push Mountain’ or ‘Bao Tou Tui Shan’
6. Opening the farm gate – adapted from ‘Part the Wild Horse’s Mane’ or ‘Ye Ma Feb Zhong’
7. Arms like tractor wheels – adapted from ‘Wave Hands like Clouds’ or ‘Yun Shou’



About Organic Milk:

• Organic milk is kind to your purse - It costs less than £1 a week for a family of four to switch to organic milk

• Organic milk is kind to you – Organic milk offers all the healthy goodness of milk and, due to the natural diet of the cows, some studies have shown that organic milk may contain increased levels of some beneficial nutrients

• Organic milk comes from happy cows – Organic cows roam and graze in lush meadows for as much of the year as possible, when they are not grazing they have plenty of space and comfortable bedding in well aired barns. Organic cows are only treated with antibiotics when they are sick

• Organic milk is kind to the planet – Some studies have shown Organic milk production to be a relatively low user of energy. Organic farms encourage biodiversity, there are more birds, butterflies, beetles, bats and wild flowers found on organic farms. The organic system encourages healthy soil, replacing essential nutrients like nitrates without the use of synthetic nutrients

About the FOMG
The Federation of Organic Milk Groups, FOMG, is a stand alone trade organisation representing farmer cooperatives. The objective of FOMG is to promote the interests of and develop the organic dairy sector to the benefit of organic dairy farmers and other parties within the organic milk supply chain.

The FOMG is made up of the following cooperatives: Calon Wen, Dairy Farmers of Britain, Milk Link, First Milk and the Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative (OMSCo)



About the Milk Development Council
The Milk Development Council (MDC) was set up in 1994 (after the disbanding of the milk boards) to pick up essential services for dairy farmers that would not otherwise be provided. These services include the genetic evaluation of dairy breeding stock, research and development into better ways of producing milk, and the stimulation and development of the market for milk.

The MDC is funded entirely by milk producers, via a statutory levy on all milk sold
off-farm, at the rate of 0.06p per litre. This provides an annual income of around £7m.
The MDC’s current focus is on improving the profitability of dairy farming by focusing on three specific areas:

• Innovation and consumer education to stimulate demand and create more value in the dairy ‘category’

• Better supply chain relationships that ensure farmers as well as processors and retailers can enjoy a sustainable share of the profits

• Competitive milk production to help farmers realise better margins in the short term and increase their ability to compete in European markets in the long term.

The MDC co-funds the industry’s nutritional and issues management resource – The Dairy Council – with the processors’ trade body Dairy UK.