Bridge of Allan’s Graham’s The Family Dairy is recruiting children to help them spread the word about where food comes from. Nora McElhone found out more.
Faced with the news that nearly a third of primary schoolchildren think cheese comes from plants and one in five think fish fingers are made from chicken, the Graham family – dairy farmers for five generations – decided they were perfectly placed to get more children involved in finding out about food.
Graham’s The Family Dairy created a children’s tasting panel last year to help youngsters find out more about life in the dairy and children, aged from five to 11, from throughout Scotland now have the opportunity to win a place on the tasting panel for this year and find out more about life in the dairy.
The youngest members of the Graham family, Holly and Douglas, currently head up the tasting panel as Perfection Prefect and Dairy Dude respectively and they will be ready to welcome the new taste testers along to the farm.
The winning children will spend the day at the Bridge of Allan dairy, have the chance to feed the farm animals and find out more about the journey the milk the cows produce undergoes before it is transformed into the milk, butter, cheese and ice-cream that they consume at home.
The winners will also be treated to some home-made recipes such as Victoria sponge with Graham’s cream, cheese scones and, of course, delicious ice-cream.
If your child is aged between five and 11 and interested in joining the Graham’s children’s tasting panel, they don’t need any foodie experience, just a love of dairy products and some enthusiastic tastebuds.
It’s all about grassroot support for Carol Graham, marketing director at Graham’s.
All members of the Graham family, including her and her brother Robert, grew up at the dairy surrounded by farm animals and the dairy. “It really helps to understand the farm-to-fork principles,” she says. “And it’s that knowledge we aim to share.
“The tasting panel was created to help children find out more about life in the dairy,” she says. “Children can discover the journey from cows producing milk to creating our product range of milk, butter, cream, cheese and ice cream found in their kitchens at home.”
So what qualities are they looking for in panellists?
“Children that are genuinely interested in food, whether that be helping their parents make Sunday lunch or baking with their grandparents,” she explains. “Also those who can understand the nutritional goodness dairy adds to a daily diet and how it can be used in simple recipes that can be enjoyed by all the family.”
By all accounts the 2013-14 panel, recruited from visitors to the Royal Highland Show, had a splendid time.
“The children had a fantastic day at the Bridge of Allan dairy,” recalls Carol.
“Robert Graham sen (aka Papa) guided the panel through the dairy journey from the careful rearing and milking of the cows to making the products that they eat on a regular basis.
“They were given a tour of the farmyard animals, including Holly’s hens and Douglas’s ducks, as well as Graham’s award-winning Jersey cows, before seeing how the products are made.
“Everyone seemed amazed by the size of the butter churn, watching the milk getting bottled at speed and tasting the ice cream straight from the machine.”
This year’s panel will meet at Bridge of Allan on a Saturday in April 2015 and will have one of these special titles conferred upon them: Junior Butter Boffin, Chief Cream Custodian, Master Milk Monitor, Ice Cream Inspector, Chief Cheese Champion, New Products Picker and Delicious Jersey Junior.
“We want people to have fun but also to learn about the nutritional value of dairy but also cooking from scratch,” she says.
“If they are excited about cooking at home from an early age then they will take this passion forward into their adult lives.
“Being a member of the children’s tasting panel is like receiving the golden ticket to gain access to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. It’s a brilliant chance to see the journey of milk and learn all about it.”
How to enter
All interested children should apply through the Graham’s website and complete a simple application form.
Applications will be open until the end of January 2015 and will be reviewed during the first two weeks of February. New panellists will be contacted directly by the end of February. Consent must be granted by the parents of applicants during the process.
Apply at: www.grahams
familydairy.com/kids/
childrens-tastingpanel/
application-form/
Holly and Douglas Graham’s Victoria sponge recipe:
Create this creamy Victoria sponge at home!
Ingredients
150g/6oz caster sugar and a little extra to dust
3 free range eggs
150g/6oz Grahams butter plus a little extra to grease the tins
150g/6oz self-raising flour
A drop of vanilla extract
Filling
Good-quality strawberry jam
Graham’s whipping cream
1. Preheat the oven to170 C/Gas 3-4. Grease and line two 18cm (7in) tins with baking parchment.
2. Sieve the flour into a bowl and add the sugar, butter and vanilla extract. Crack the eggs and mix well, until light and fluffy.
3. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins. Use a spatula to remove any excess from the bowl and gently smooth the surface of the mixture in the tins.
4. Place the tins on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Leave the cakes to cool in the tin for five minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
6. Once cakes have cooled, place one of the cakes upside down on a plate and spread with jam and cream.
7. Place the other cake on top and sprinkle with caster sugar.