Susie Emmett and her husband Nick own White House Farm which
is the other side of Oxburgh Hall. This small breckland farm is a hive of
activity. From here Nick runs his own flock of sheep as well as managing a
large organic flock which is based here in West Norfolk.
They have a converted barn that is run as a holiday let and regularly
welcome young disabled adults as well as other interested groups to walk around
their meadows which are sites of scientific special interest - full of flora
& fauna that is indigenous to The Brecks.
White House Farm is also base for Greenshoots, a production and training company that Susie runs with business partner Pat Harvey. She
can be regularly heard on radio reporting on issues as diverse as the U.K. chicken trade and pineapple production in Africa. It is however for her training
programmes that she is most widely known to the east anglian farming community.
She expends a considerable amount of time, energy & patience trying make us PR savvy
- in fact three of her students were
present at Walk The Pork.
In short Susie is an invaluable part of our local food web
not only as a local food producer but also as someone who is employed by other
food producers. By living and working with, as well as buying from, small
businesses in Norfolk she is one of many people that ensure that upto 75% of
what she spends stays in our rural economy.
Susie agreed to speak at walk The Pork about the importance of
small producers as part of a rural community.
...... As Vanessa (Scott) said there is a big commercial reason for sharing
what we have here in this part of Norfolk with people from outside.
Equally as important is presenting what we have here in The
Brecks to the people who live here and reminding them of how much it improves
the quality of every aspect of their lives.
We do Open Farm
Sunday every year on our farm and this year about 300 people came to visit us
many of whom live within a few miles of the farm.
I believe that the quality of all
our lives is improved by being connected to the place that we live in
and hearing the stories or trying the food of local producers helps to do this……
….. Also having a conversation about the food we eat and showing
the next generation the connection between the pigs in the fields and the food
on their plate is something very fundamental, something that we have to get
right in today’s society.
I think Susie's comments would be happily echoed by everyone
that was on Walk The Pork – it is why as a community we work hard to try and help
those around us understand and engage with what we do whether we are a
shepherd, a pigman, a butcher or a hotelier.
If you would like to find our more about Susie and her many
talents here is a reminder of her website http://www.green-shoots.org
which again has links to many of the projects that she has undertaken recently
