Beef And Dairy Network - Episode 2 - A Tribute To Paul Kitesworthy

Episode Date: August 27, 2015

We tackle the issue of whether children know enough about where food comes from and we say goodbye to network founder Paul Kitesworthy. By Benjamin Partridge with thanks to Nadia Kamil, Mike Wozniak, Jack Bernhardt, Gareth Gwynn, Sian Harries, Henry Paker and Mike Bubbins.   Stock media provided by Setuniman/Pond5.com and Soundrangers/Pond5.com.   Other music: "Piano Hymn (Instrumental)" Weinland www.needledrop.co   Introit et Kyrie from Requiem, Op.48 by Gabriel Faure Recorded by Papalin (CC-BY 3.0)

The Beef and Dairy Network podcast is sponsored by Grazex, the latest grass replacement pellet from Mitchell's. If it's not Mitchell's, get back in the truck. Grazex is formulated to provide optimum calf boost, typically leading to body mass growth at a rate 30% faster than regular silage. For 10% off all orders over 15 tons, quote Beef and Dairy when you call

or visit our secret headquarters. Hello and welcome to the Beef and Dairy Network podcast, the number one podcast for those involved or just interested in the production of beef animals and dairy herds. The Beef and Dairy Network podcast is the podcast companion to the Beef and Dairy Network website and printed magazine brought to you by Grazex. Contrary to our advice in the last edition of the podcast, we must make it very clear that Grazex should not be consumed by humans. A grown adult in good health should be able to weather the storm who got in touch about that. In this month's show, as ever, the beef forecast, the milk prices, and a memorial to Beef and Dairy Network founder Paul Kitesworthy. But first, the biggest show on the website this week has been the online poll.

Do children know enough about where their food comes from? It's led to a heated debate online and we're going to read out some of the messages now. Barry from Devon says, I was talking to a group of children at my local Lido this summer and was aghast at how little they knew about food production. I asked one of them where he thought scrambled egg came from and his response was, from the carton of course, you fat prick. Thanks Barry. Angela from Littlehampton says that each time someone under

the age of 18 buys a burger at McDonald's, he or she should have to watch a cow being slaughtered, stroking its head as the bolt goes in. Thanks Angela. Winston Trick wrote, I'm a 56-year-old magistrate and I'm not clear about where all food comes from. For example, what is gnocchi? No one knows, Winston. And finally, Paula Redside had this to say. For years I had no idea where food came from. For years I had no idea where food came from. I loved beef, of course. I'd have it for every meal, apart from on trout night.

Beef wellingtons, beefy drinks, egg and beef fingers. I gobbled it up with abandon, while having no idea where it came from. On weekends I'd drive my van to tourist hotspots, beaches, heritage properties and historically significant arches and sell it out of a hatch on the passenger side van wall. When I wasn't eating or selling beef, I was outside playing with my field of pet cows, oblivious to the link. Often I'd tuck into a beef baguette while sitting on the back of one of my herd and wandering around the forest. As the sun filtered through the evergreen canopy, scattering

an otherworldly light across the spongy forest floor, I make no connection between the strong, undulating bovine mussels beneath me and the rich bolognese stains on my face and blouse. And worst of all, sometimes when the sun had gone down and I sat in my armchair with the cows curled up in front of the fire, I'd throw them hunks of beef, which they would gratefully consume. Thanks, Paula. A troubling tableau. Now time for the beef forecast. Chunky mints coming from the east this month, with heavy deposits on the coast and at cafes. Scattered beef over the hills and highlands.

And the milk prices. Skimmed is up five on semi-skimmed with unpasteurised changing hands at a rate of $20 a bucket on the black market. Curds are steady and over on the Japanese cheese index, they still don't like it. This week, I had the honour of giving a reading

at the memorial service for former Beef and Dairy Network editor Paul Kitesworthy at Exeter Cathedral. Paul founded the network after a dream he had in 1987, and stepped down three years ago to spend more time on his hobbies of hunting and gambling. Many of you won't have heard the news that Paul sadly is missing, presumed dead. His shoes and socks were found next to the River Ex last week, and we have to assume that it wasn't an accident,

as he had cancelled his phone contract with EE, despite it being on an enviable tariff. It was a wonderful service, with many readings from his blog, screenings of his vlogs, and music from an Elton John tribute. In attendance were all the bakitas from the beef and dairy industries, as well as, of course, his wives. We thought it only right that a section of this month's podcast should be given over to our own tribute, and so I asked friends of his to leave us some thoughts on our answer phone. Leslie Peters, Porktown.com. Paul, what can I say? I'm going to miss you, buddy.

We orchestrated a minute silence for you today, which on a pig farm with over 500 hogs is harder than it might sound. It involves a vet and lots of gas. Anyway, rest in peace, big guy. Doug Block, editor of Meat Week. Paul, we never actually met, but I wish I could have said this to you while you were still with us. I respect you deeply.

It's not going too far when I say you inspired me to vlog. Roosevelt Macintosh, British Coalition of Lactose Intolerant Dairy Farmers. Paul. Well, how to sum up Paul, I mean. Sure, he was always borrowing money, which you were lucky to see again, but that was Paul. Cheeky Paul. Sorry I couldn't be at the memorial service. It was flying hunt day. Cynthia Pickton, Drennet World. Paul, I was just thinking, I wish I could have seen you one last time. Mainly to inquire about the 200 quid you owe me. Aaron Ball, Slick Flippers, Aquatic Zoo.

Are you sure he's dead? I'm pretty sure I saw him on Saturday. Anyway, dead or not, the bastard owes me 400 pounds. All right, Paul. This is Steve Caratineau, your personal friend it is. How are you doing? All right. Now listen, listen now to me. If you're listening, I'd just like to say to you,

Friday, 2 o'clock in the morning, right? Meet me at the roundabout, right? By Sainsbury's. All right? On the 8432 there. You know the road, don't you? The point is, I got everything. I got a lot, right? Everything you want there. I got a passport, and it's a new one

like you know with the chip in it not the old black one like the these sort of purpley is it purple? you know the colour anyway you know what a passport looks like

like that I got a passport I got a surgeon right I've arranged it I've got a lot and a proper and a proper surgeon

as well, like a doctor, he won't make a piece either of it. You know what I mean? I mean, you're talking top notch. Yeah?

So leave the money next to the bin, shaped like a penguin. Right? You don't, don't know what a penguin is, look it up, right? It's like a,

it's like a, like a bird fish with an orange beak and like, black and white sort of feathery scales or scaly feathers. He lives underwater like a fairy tale animal with an orange beak. But anyway, that's not

the point. The point is the bin is shaped like one of them. Just like a bin bag coming out of his beak. Alright, but we're almost there, pal. Hi, Aaron Ball again. Slick Flippers, the Aquatic Zoo. Just ringing back, definitely saw him on Saturday. He was in M&S and I shouted, Paul, and he turned and fled, which is pretty typical behaviour when it comes to Kitesworthy. So yeah, in summary, definitely not debt, and I'm going to start adding interest

to the £400. Thank you to everyone who contributed to that tribute. If you have any memories yourself of Paul that you'd like to share, maybe you were at college with him, or you worked with him in the early days of the Beef and Dairy Network, or knew him during his so-called lost years, 1978-81, please send them in to beefanddairynetwork at gmail.com. You'll be missed, Paul. Beef out.

So that's it for this week. If you're after more beef and dairy news, get over to the website now where you can read all the usual stuff, as well as information on how you can book a place on this year's dairy parade, and an interview with Italian politician Beppe Grillo. Until next time, beef out. you