Story about this coming …

We all know milk comes from a cow, right? But how often do we really consider the farmers who provide us with that milk? Living in the city it’s easy to forget about our primary producers – the industry that allows us city slickers to pop into the supermarket and grab a carton of milk with no mud, no sweat, no tears. This weekend I found out that plenty of dairy farmers are shedding tears.

I was in Moss Vale, an hour or so south-west of Sydney, on a day tour with Jill and Nick from Food Path culinary tours. I wanted to get out of Sydney and see some of rural New South Wales. Having never been to this part of Australia before I decided the best way to see it was to take a tour with some locals. I found Food Path tours on the internet and what a wonderful find. Jill and Nick treated us like old friends and took us to private farms that we would never have seen on our own. We met Mark Williams, an aircraft engineer turned cheese-maker who owns the award winning Small Cow Farm. We sat around a table laden with delicious cheeses that you only find in top delicatessens, such as my local ‘Gourmet Grocer’. I learned that cheese should be made from milk no older than three days and that I should store my cheese with the bag slightly open. I loved the fettice (fetta) and the St Aminay – a mild white log delicious spread on crackers.

We also visited a dairy farm and that’s where I was given an insight into how Coles Supermarket’s recent slashing of milk prices is affecting our dairy farmers.

“It’s very serious,” Craig from Mayberry Farm told me.

Feeling down? Feeling depressed? Here are some practical strategies you can try – both physical and emotional.

Eat plenty of salmon and other oily fish. Omega-3 fats make up a large part of our brain and are critical for it to function properly. Although not conclusive, research has found a link between omega-3’s and depression.

Do some exercise. Better than any mood enhancing drug, a regular dose of exercise makes the body produce endorphins – the ‘feel-good’ hormone.

Change your clothes – the emotional ones. ‘Put on the garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair’ (Isaiah 61:3) When we feel depressed it’s like wearing a heavy blanket. The last thing we feel like doing is praising, thanking or singing. That sodden, heavy blanket weighs us down, making us sink into depression and self pity.

It’s the hardest thing in the world to do, and the last thing I feel like doing, but if I force myself to praise God, that heavy blanket of depression soon starts to slide off. Even if you don’t feel like it, make yourself listen to some praise music or read Psalm 66 out loud. It really works!!