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Teacher swaps classroom for welly boots as Loch Ness farm features on BBC show

Felicity, Joanna, Alistair and Donald will feature on This Farming Life

Meet Joanna MacGregor, a teacher turned farmer who will feature on a BBC show exploring the struggles and triumphs of different farming families.

Miss MacGregor, who left the teaching profession to join her partner Donald Fraser on Dunain Farm on the outskirts of Inverness, has said it has been a “really exciting time”.

A camera crew has followed the tenants of the farm, located on the Dochfour Estate, since March.

Now, the farm and its pop-up shop will feature as part of series five of the TV show.

We are delighted to announce that we will be appearing on this years BBC ‘THIS FARMING LIFE’.The BBC have been…

Posted by Farm Ness on Thursday, 11 November 2021

Lesson inspired career change

Miss MacGregor, who taught geography to secondary pupils, has said she was inspired to get involved on the production side of things after a memorable lesson with her pupils.

She said: “One day I gave the kids homework to do the food miles of their meal that night.

“I planned I was going to have mince and potatoes. It was going to be lamb and potatoes from the farm.

“That night I actually had a curry instead. My food miles measured in at like 26,000 miles.

“I just thought ‘oh no’ and thought I need to address this.

“So I asked the kids ‘where would you go for food locally?’ and none of them knew of anywhere around Inverness.

“I just thought it needs to become a more common thing.

“My plan is that eventually we will have more food available to accommodate a wider diet than just mince and potatoes.

“We want it to become a one-stop shop for all the ingredients of a local meal.

“It is definitely a challenge but one I definitely want to take on.”

Teacher embracing new role

The former Inverness Royal Academy teacher conceded that at first she was very timid about leaving teaching behind to help on the farm.

She has said, however, that the experience has been incredibly rewarding.

“I left my teaching job just a few weeks ago to concentrate on the farm shop,” she said.

“I have been here for six years but I have had nothing to do with the farm.

“Then Covid hit and I thought I just have to throw myself into this as there’s nothing else to do, so that is how it came about that I ventured out onto the farm

“I had kind of been intimidated by it before and didn’t really like it if I am honest.

“After Covid, I got fully into it and loved it and thought what I could bring to the farm.

“It has been really exciting.”

Miss MacGregor has joined partner Donald Fraser on the farm

Farm’s produce for sale

Miss MacGregor, who grew up on a croft in Lochaber, says it is the first time she has embraced the commercial side of a farm.

She will front up the farm’s shop.

She added: “Teaching geography, I was always going on about food miles, sustainability and climate change – that is kind of my passion and my forte.

“I feel it is really important for me to understand fully where agriculture fits in with climate change and to get that message across.

“With the shop, I feel I can now practically do something and reduce food miles in my local area.

“This is the first time we will be producing food from the farm and selling locally – so hopefully, zero food miles.”

Show to air on Tuesday

The show, This Farming Life, will be broadcast on Tuesday evening on BBC Scotland at 8pm, before being repeated on BBC Two in the run up to Christmas.

Plans are in the offing to create a fixed home for the shop, once all planning requirements can be satisfied.

The Hebridean Baker was in our kitchen teaching me to make the perfect bakes to sell in our shop using most of our own…

Posted by Farm Ness on Tuesday, 16 November 2021

Miss MacGregor added: “Part of me feels sad leaving the education of children.

“I do feel though I am carrying on that education and doing something physical with it.

“I am just putting my money where my mouth is really – showing what I believe in and that it is available for other people.”

Hopes more will look to source food locally

The farmers have said the presence of a film crew has not been intrusive and felt more like having friends follow them than a TV production company.

Miss MacGregor has said she hopes Dunain Farm’s inclusion on the programme will encourage people to source food closer to home.

Cameras have followed the couple and their children, Alistair 6 and Felicity 4, on their daily grind

She said: “I would really hope that this opens up the conversation for people to explore what exactly is sustainable.

“I, and Donald, believe that a sustainable diet is what you can produce locally.

“Plant based diets have massive coverage just now and where a lot of those ingredients come from is a bit sceptical and not very sustainable at all.

“Hopefully this will just make people a bit more open minded as to what is sustainable, and what is not.

“Also, we want people to realise that farmers grow the vegan food too.

“You don’t have to be anti-farming because the farmers are growing all the vegetables.”

The farm shop, dubbed Farm Ness, will be located on the Dunain straight with the popup opening on November 27.

Sleigh bells will ring on the farm from December 10 to December 12 as reindeer from Cairngorm head north to deliver Christmas cheer.

Filming on the farm concludes at the end of this year.

Programme synopsis

Filmed across a year, this series follows six families in remote and stunning Scotland. It’s early spring as the farmers gear up for lambing, their busiest weeks of the year.

In Loch Ness, cousins Donald Fraser and David Girvan are preparing for the busy spring season ahead. Donald’s partner Joanna is new to farming. This year she’s keen to get as hands on as possible, and push on with ambitious plans to set up a farm shop.