Recent Devon Life Article.

Around a year ago I started introducing animal products into my diet again after being plant- based for five years. We all have our own journey with food. I never would have thought I would go back to eating animal products, but due to personal issues I decided to make the change back.

I have always been very conscious about where I source my food from. Years ago, when I sold my cakes and desserts at farmers’ markets in Hampshire I had an espresso machine. Being a farmers’ market I had to use 70 per cent of a local ingredient, so for my milk I chose a local Jersey cow farm which produced raw milk.

Moving to Devon I discovered Taw River Dairy, near Okehampton and the farm run by Sam and Gemma Bullingham. They farm organically and regeneratively, the cows are 100 per cent antibiotic-free and aren’t fed any grain at all, so they are 100 per cent pasture-fed.

They operate a ‘calf at foot’ system which means the dairy cows keep and rear their calves, something that is fundamental to Sam and Gemma’s holistic beliefs and which is ‘back to basics’, back to their roots and back to the ways their grandparents kept dairy cows. After all, Sam’s grandfather provided milk in a very similar way for the local area more than 60 years ago, so it is in his heritage to do the same.

The small eco-friendly farm is home to around 70 Jerseys, both pure-bred and crossed with other native dairy breeds.

Sam believes happy cows produce happy milk, and thinks that because their cows are grazing as many days as possible and all rear their own calves, then they must be among the happiest cows in the country.

Due to their natural system the cows are only milked once a day. Just half of the milk is taken, to make sure the calves do not go hungry. This delicious raw milk is then taken to the on-site processing room, where it is turned into the dairy products.

Almost all of the farm’s Jersey cows produce A2 milk proteins (85 per cent of the milk is A2 protein) which studies are now finding to be more easily digestible than standard milk.

Sam says this means even those who have been called milk or dairy intolerant can enjoy the great taste of grass-fed Jersey milk.

The farm produces beef from belted Galloways which are raised free from antibiotics and chemicals, and live outside 24/7, grazing diverse meadows on the farm. A small lock of Exmoor Horn sheep cohabit with the cows and help maintain the species rich meadows where the cows graze.

Taw River Dairy has always been about caring for the environment; wherever possible they use sustainable options, from re-usable glass bottles to compostable ice cream spoons.

Sam says all the land and animals are farmed organically. The farm has its own beehives; the bees are important in the pollination of herbal and grass leys.

No longer plant based you may ask?

Recent Devon Life Article.