Day 4 St David’s Day - Welsh Patron Saint.

We were in the Welsh Assembly Building and the WAG has 60 members with just 3 farmers. Mike Bates who is an MP and farmer from Mid-Wales gave us the WAG’s side of the agricultural programs. He stated that the EU’s CAP was protectionism. He told us the “grants” were given to help farmers to stay in the rural areas and therefore keep the rural communities alive. They have been working with the Welsh Development Program to promote Welsh Pride. The program is working to develop opportunities along the food chain. They promote Welsh Black Beef & Welsh Lamb.
Mick introduced us to Wynfford James, from Welsh Assembly Government’s Food, Fisheries and Market Development Director. He ran through the True Taste Brand for Welsh products post farm gate. I have a book on True Taste and a good Welsh cookbook if interested. The photo shows the WAG an it’s big wooden funnel which takes all of the hot air out of the building
We headed next door to a magnificent building: The Welsh Millennium Centre. It was a beautiful building which hoses the Welsh Arts, from opera to cultural dancing, from art shows to drama workshops for disadvantaged & disabled. The slate for the walls, were from 7 mines across Wales and the 7 different timbers for the inside. The architect went to town on the whole place. It is up there with the Sydney Opera House but not quite.
Next port of call was the Food Science Industry Centre at University of Wales Institute in Cardiff. It was a facility for extension and knowledge transfer for the food sciences. It is there to train people in the industry such as bakers & butchers. Companies can come to help develop new products such as non stick chewing gum. They have staff and the facilities to make small batches for start up companies who have none. Once they have the product they can do taste testing in full lab conditions.
The facility can test how good instructions are on labels as they have a room made up with 6 kitchens and mums and dads can follow them to see if the end product turns out properly. The victims/consumers are monitored with CC TV.
I enjoyed this visit and they have someone working on gluten free puff pastry.
The low light of my day was the cancellation of the tour of Millennium Stadium and the WRC shop. It may of had something to do with St David’s Day.
We headed North West to Cross Hands for the night. We met Will Scale who was a Nuffield Scholar in 2006 from Pembrokeshire. He is a no-till farmer and someone who I hope to visit again during my private study.