Another wet summer

What I did on my summer holidays....

I'm now back from the Belgian and French Ardennes after spending the last three weeks away. Having camped in a monsoon in Mons prior to getting to our holday cottage near Bastogne, the weather was good and it was rather a surprise to have better weather than you were having in Britain.

Being on holiday has given me the chance to relax and rather than just consider my navel, to look ahead to new ventures for the CLA's Just Ask campaign. After the success of the Game Fair at Blenheim (I was reading about the battle - 1704 - whilst on my hols and I hadn't realised that Blenheim is actually in Bavaria and not, where I thought it was, in Flanders, Belgium) and the achievements of the Just Ask stand, it is now a time to reflect and review where we go from here.

If you read the blog entries for the 3 days of the Game Fair, you would have realised that, not only did we get the 3 days that constituted the English summer, but we were able to very successfully get the Just Ask message out to the general public which, after all, is the objective of the campaign.

What we do next is very important. We launched at the Game Fair, the first edition of the Just Ask newsletter for members. The idea is that this will be updated and circulated every quarter. This will provide those who support Just Ask with the latest information on what's happening in the food chain and detail the CLA's efforts in terms of food labelling.

We will also be putting together a Just Ask directory to help both promote businesses and aid the networking process. This should be ready for the new year.

What is important is feedback. I need to know what you think of the campaign. Is it being targeted properly, are we missing a trick somewhere. Your views are vitally important as we look to widening the scope of the campaign. For an idea to have generated so much interest across the country must mean we are doing something right. But I know more can be done. It does take time but we are getting there.

So as you prepare to hibernate for the winter (you may already have done so with the lousy weather the summer brought) take a little time to think what you can do to help push forward the message of Just Ask.

Dr Charles Trotman – Head of Rural Business Development

An economist, advises on rural economic issues, particularly food policy, rural tourism, equine issues and telecommunications policy.

Phone: 020 7460 7939
FAX: 020 7235 4696
Email charles.trotman@cla.org.uk