Sunday 8th November. We lost! We lost!! I had been imagining all week how I would deal with a Welsh win, which would seriously shock, devastate, and put my host nation on the back foot. Now I would have to take a dreadful ribbing at every turn especially as I was to enter a series of meetings in Wellington over the next two days. I think we played very well, but there is always that sense of inevitability that the All Blacks are going to triumph in the end. I missed my post match analysis with Nigel Dolaucothi, which usually happens on a Sunday morning following a game. At least the Australians beat our old friends the English!
We were staying at the Wellesley Hotel in Wellington, and as the game finished the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the hotel in rather a hurry, and not one but four fire engines turned up at the scene. An early morning evacuation is never welcomed by hotel guests, but on a Sunday…..I shall expand on that story after we have left New Zealand!
Unfortunately I spent most of the morning finalising my presentation to MAF officials, which I was to deliver on Monday morning. My subject would be Animal Welfare in Great Britain, Past, Present and Future. FAWC have just published a comprehensive report reflecting on the progress of animal welfare in GB post Brambell, and recommending the following conditions to be necessary to satisfy ethical consumers and also further improve farm animal welfare.
· The Government to act as the guardian of farm animal welfare
· Standards for a ‘good life’ defined by an independent body
· Minimum welfare standard defined by quality of life
· Stockmen to be educated and trained to a high standard about welfare
· Welfare assessment to be valid, feasible and rigorous with independent audit
· Due diligence in the food chain with marketing claims verified
· Citizens educated about food and farming from childhood
· Animal products to be labelled according to welfare provenance to provide consumer choice
I finally accepted after much thought that the best way to get over the All Black win against Wales was to put a big CONGRATULATIONS message into my second slide!
After lunch we had a lovely walk along the Wellington harbour front, taking in the freshness of the place with the sea on one side and the steep surrounding hills dotted with houses on the other. Entrepreneurship was in the air with the local fishermen selling their fish to the local consumer directly off their boats on the jetties. A bustling local market was the place to buy all your fruit and vegetables with the diverse growing capabilities of New Zealand coming to the fore. Sheep and dairy production is certainly not the only way forward for New Zealand agriculture.
We were staying at the Wellesley Hotel in Wellington, and as the game finished the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the hotel in rather a hurry, and not one but four fire engines turned up at the scene. An early morning evacuation is never welcomed by hotel guests, but on a Sunday…..I shall expand on that story after we have left New Zealand!
Unfortunately I spent most of the morning finalising my presentation to MAF officials, which I was to deliver on Monday morning. My subject would be Animal Welfare in Great Britain, Past, Present and Future. FAWC have just published a comprehensive report reflecting on the progress of animal welfare in GB post Brambell, and recommending the following conditions to be necessary to satisfy ethical consumers and also further improve farm animal welfare.
· The Government to act as the guardian of farm animal welfare
· Standards for a ‘good life’ defined by an independent body
· Minimum welfare standard defined by quality of life
· Stockmen to be educated and trained to a high standard about welfare
· Welfare assessment to be valid, feasible and rigorous with independent audit
· Due diligence in the food chain with marketing claims verified
· Citizens educated about food and farming from childhood
· Animal products to be labelled according to welfare provenance to provide consumer choice
I finally accepted after much thought that the best way to get over the All Black win against Wales was to put a big CONGRATULATIONS message into my second slide!
After lunch we had a lovely walk along the Wellington harbour front, taking in the freshness of the place with the sea on one side and the steep surrounding hills dotted with houses on the other. Entrepreneurship was in the air with the local fishermen selling their fish to the local consumer directly off their boats on the jetties. A bustling local market was the place to buy all your fruit and vegetables with the diverse growing capabilities of New Zealand coming to the fore. Sheep and dairy production is certainly not the only way forward for New Zealand agriculture.
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