Put your thoughts into the mix

In this episode of the Wilson & Ashley Podcast we’re looking at two topics that have been making plenty of noise both online and in real life: the controversy surrounding multi-million follower account, Ballerina Farm, and the ongoing debate around taking children out of school during term time.

If you spend any time on the rustic American farming side of social media, you’ve probably come across Ballerina Farm. Run by former ballerina Hannah Neeleman and her husband Daniel in Utah, the account has built a huge following by sharing a vision of traditional family life, home-produced food and farming with their eight children. But recently the farm found itself at the centre of a debate after it stopped selling raw milk following reports of high coliform bacteria levels in some testing. While the business says the decision was a commercial one and that the milk passed the required state tests while it was being sold, the story quickly grew online and raised wider questions about food safety, influencer responsibility and the way farming is portrayed on social media. We talk about what raw milk actually is, how it’s regulated in both the US and the UK, and whether the conversation would even exist if this were just an ordinary dairy farm without millions of followers watching.

We also discuss the bigger issue of how farming and food production are presented online, and whether there’s a growing gap between the romanticised version of rural life people see on social media and the realities of producing food safely and responsibly.

In the second half of the episode we turn to a topic that had a big response from our followers on social media: the rules around school attendance. Nearly half a million fines were issued last year for children being taken out of school during term time, as the Department for Education continues to tighten enforcement in an effort to improve attendance rates. Fines start at £80 per parent per child and can escalate quickly, with the possibility of court action for repeat offences. But what happens when your job simply doesn’t fit neatly into the school holiday calendar? For farming families in particular, there are times of year when work is completely dictated by the season and taking time off during school holidays just isn’t always possible.

We talk about whether the current system fairly reflects the realities of rural life, whether farming families should ever be considered an exceptional circumstance, and where the line sits between protecting children’s education and recognising that some professions operate on a very different timetable.

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@wilsonandashley

@rebeccawilsonfarming

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Whilst we endeavour to research podcast topics to the best of our ability, we cannot guarantee the accuracy and completeness of all conversations and as such, the podcast does not constitute professional advice.