Online trading has grown strongly in recent months, not least due to the Corona measures. Regional products received a surge in demand – farm shops were literally overrun. The number of visitors to Mucca.ch has also increased many times over: consumers use the Internet to search for nearby businesses to buy their food there.
The future is digital
It is undisputed that sooner or later digitalization will take us away from cash, travel agencies or large shopping centers. Corona has accelerated this development. The winners of the lockdown are companies that offer their products and services online. This naturally includes farmers with an Internet presence. A sign at the side of the road is all well and good, but it is also quickly forgotten. In any case, I’ve never been fast enough to take a photo of the contact details when driving by, so that I might be able to buy something next time. Also the range of potential buyers is limited.
But the possibilities are much greater via the worldwide web: not only the distribution can be controlled, but also the target audience. This means that the majority of visitors to Mucca.ch are aware of their diet and the health benefits of regional and seasonal products. This makes it all the more important to present the company online in order to expand the customer base and promote direct marketing. Because: If you don’t see someone, no one will buy from them.
Update again and again
“Now available: Christmas trees and Christmas cookies directly from the farm”, I recently read on a website. Not exactly fitting in the middle of summer. When I clicked on the link, nothing happened. And at the top left of the address bar there was a note saying that the page was “not secure”. Once again I realized that creating a homepage is not done yet. It must be kept up to date. Update texts, answer customer inquiries, make necessary security updates, pay fees for the website provider: All this and much more is coming your way. At the same time, the site should be beautifully designed with error-free texts and good pictures. And what good is an appealing homepage if nobody knows it without advertising? Some pay Google several thousand francs a year to appear high up in the search results. Connoisseurs in the industry use their sound knowledge and expertise to implement targeted, time-consuming advertising measures to make the site better known.
So the creation of a homepage is by no means the end of the story. An internet presence for your own business is an ongoing project that costs a lot of time and sometimes nerves – especially if information technology, spelling and design are not among your strengths.
More life thanks to Mucca.ch
Do you see the future of your business in direct marketing? Do you have a homepage, but too little time and expertise for the ongoing administration? Do you need help in implementing an online shop?
After a hard day in the field, it can quickly happen that texts are no longer up-to-date, security updates are postponed or mails are forgotten. So that you can spend the otherwise already scarce time with your family or your favourite hobby, Mucca.ch supports you in the realisation of your internet presence. We not only write the text and edit the pictures, you can also sit back and relax if important updates are pending or if the terms of use have to be adapted due to a new data protection law. There are no costs for the domain, hosting provider or IT support.
Direct and transparent
The aim of the independent online platform Mucca.ch is and remains the direct exchange between producers and the public. For consumers, it is much easier to search for the desired food on a clearly arranged page with just a few clicks than to struggle through the jungle of home-made websites and then realize that the desired product is not available at all. That’s why all profiles are structured in the same clear way.
Only you decide which information you want to disclose about your business and which products you want to sell online and under which conditions. All messages and orders go directly to you as profile owner. You get in contact with the customers and build up a personal relationship, so that your company becomes better known by passing it on. Because Mucca.ch is not profit-oriented, the entire annual flat-rate fee is reused to cover the administration costs and for targeted advertising. In contrast to many other providers, we do not charge transaction fees when you sell your products online. The entire amount is therefore credited to your account. And founder Lara Steiner is always available for questions and answers. Personal support is therefore also guaranteed.
So there is nothing to be said against giving your business a new future thanks to an Internet presence, independent of middlemen and high margins. If you already have a homepage, you can easily link it to your profile on Mucca.ch and you will see how the number of visitors multiplies. Test us and register your business on Mucca.ch today.
The mountains, the water, the snow: Switzerland I love you. Even if I have to admit that I only really appreciate you after my three years abroad. Before, it would never have occurred to me to go hiking voluntarily. Before, when I was 16, I was the poster child for climate change. “Whaaaaaaat, you’ve never flown before? Never drank from a coconut? And don’t even own a cell phone?” people asked me in horror. At the time, very few people were aware that not consuming is not so bad for the environment.
Where are you all coming from?
“Mountain goat” and “Heidi” they called me. As a Swiss woman who climbs all the mountains, can’t do without her morning muesli and has cows at home, that’s pretty obvious. They were all always enthusiastic about our mountains, the cleanliness and efficiency of the Swiss. Whether this is still true remains to be seen. I think of the littered city parks and what all lies next to the highways. Sometimes it seems to me as if we’re about to burst. Where do all these people actually live? Why is everyone suddenly driving their cars into the mountains, so that entire roads to excursion destinations have to be closed? Finding a parking space after 10:00 a.m. is almost like playing the lottery. The fact is: the 9 million Swiss probably can no longer be prevented. That’s why respectful coexistence is all the more important.
Tolerance and respect
LGBTQ, #MeToo, BLM. Whaaaaat? We have to accept each other as we are. Everyone gets to decide for themselves how they live their lives. If someone eats a vegan diet, that’s their right. If someone wants to go on a trip around the world, let him. If someone doesn’t want to buy cheap clothes, I accept that. Coercion and paternalism are never good. I am also wary of extremism – whether right-wing or left-wing. Our society is constantly changing. Our decisions and behaviors have made us what we are today. There is no one person to blame for everything. Nor is there THE solution to all our problems.
Always this politics
As a self-proclaimed “bridge builder” between town and country, I would like to bring agriculture closer to consumers and break down prejudices. A big topic is always the (formerly so-called) subsidies, which no longer exist in this form. Today, subsidies secure the existence of farming families. Without these funds, the income of some families would fall below 30,000 Fr. per year. By way of comparison, a medium-sized tractor costs around CHF 90,000. For me personally, subsidies are also a form of compensation for a misguided pricing policy. Currently, a farmer receives just under 50 Rp. for a liter of milk, half of what he received in 1993 and the same as 40 years ago. In the store, the price has doubled. If you pay up to 3x more for organic products, please don’t think that the surcharge ends up with the organic farmer, it’s only a fraction of that. In short: After everyone has helped themselves, it’s the producer’s turn.
New ways for a peaceful coexistence
Have you ever made your own alpine cheese, smoked bacon, distilled schnapps or picked cherries directly from the farm? Swiss farmers invite you to their farm and show you how they live for a day. You will accompany them in their work and learn how many steps it takes until we have something to eat. On each experience day you can expect a highlight and of course you can take the homemade farm products home with you. You are also cordially invited to lunch.
Discover the wide range of Swiss specialties and book your farm experience day in the Mucca online shop today.
Become a farmer for a day and secure your very own personal farm experience
I am a walking toxic cocktail! Every morning I shower with formaldeyhd shower gel. This is followed by a spritz of (naturally aluminium-free) deodorant with artificial musk compounds. And during the short lunch break, I have a triple-packed lunch box with an extra portion of microplastics on top. Poison lurks everywhere in everyday life, how can I keep my body healthy? And what are the effects of our consumption on the environment?
Who can we still trust?
It was at the Migros checkout when I realised how little control we have over our food. I had to return a packet of organic Indian sesame because it contained ethylene oxide. Ethylene oxide increases the risk of cancer and is banned in Switzerland and the EU. So have I poisoned myself with my wholemeal sesame breads? And why is there no organic in it where it says “organic”? Since this event, my trust in the food industry has been quite tarnished. I want to know what ends up in my body and how it is produced!
Two groundbreaking initiatives
On 13 June 2021, we will decide how Switzerland will feed itself in the future. It is about the two agricultural initiatives “For a Switzerland without synthetic pesticides” (pesticide-free initiative) and “For clean drinking water and healthy food – no subsidies for the use of pesticides and prophylactic antibiotics” (drinking water initiative).
For this article, I conducted interviews with people directly affected and the president of the Schwyz Organic Farmers. The aim was to find out whether the agricultural initiatives are really as extreme as their opponents claim. All studies/sources cited are listed at the bottom.
The initiatives in brief
The prophylactic use of antibiotics, pesticides and non-native feed are the main concerns of the drinking water initiative. It states that too many antibiotics are given to humans and animals in this country, resulting in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. More and more pesticides are being detected in drinking water. And the import of animal feed pollutes the environment abroad and, according to the initiators, is even responsible for the deforestation of primeval forests. Only food produced without pesticides may be imported. In Switzerland, too, farmers must completely renounce pesticides and the prophylactic treatment of their animals with antibiotics if they want to continue to receive direct payments. In addition, they may only feed their animals with their own feed. A possible reduction in domestic food production is to be compensated for by a change in consumption behaviour (e.g. less food waste).
Organic food prices for everyone
Acceptance of the initiatives weakens food security, endangers jobs and shifts environmental pollution abroad. That is why the Federal Council recommends a 2 x No. But what do organic farmers say?
Mucca.ch spoke to Paul Ebnöther, President of the Schwyz Organic Farmers’ Association. He emphasises: “These initiatives are not free. A Yes vote costs. And it costs all of us. Food prices will rise, that’s for sure. We can no longer choose between the M-budget carrots or the three times more expensive organic carrots. If we force all farmers to convert to organic farming, we will have to reckon with higher crop failures and quality losses. And if less is produced, prices will go up.”
To guarantee our food supply, imports would increase, a move away from regionality and short transport routes! The environmental impact will be higher and shifted abroad. In Switzerland we have the most strictly controlled agricultural production in the whole world. We are controlled a lot and intensively. At the same time, laboratory sample tests keep revealing sensitive substances in foreign food. If we import more, we not only make ourselves more dependent on foreign countries, but we also lose control over how our food is produced and who produces it. In the last twenty years we have lost 30% of all farms. Already, we can only provide about 60% of the population with domestically produced food. If the initiatives are to be adopted, this would likely mean we could feed 1.5 million people less.
At this point I would also like to emphasise that we take the concerns of consumers seriously, for example with the Pesticides Act recently passed by Parliament. But these popular initiatives are coming too quickly and are too extreme. We must not forget that we are deciding the fate of tens of thousands of farming families.
Impact on farmers
In Brunnen on Lake Lucerne, Ursi and Armin von Euw are the third generation to run their farm according to IP-Suisse guidelines. In the past they lived mainly from dairy farming, but today direct marketing is an important mainstay. In their self-service farm shop they sell their own fruit, eggs and chicken as well as many other specialities from farmers in Schwyz.
Who are your customers?
Our customers are families and individuals who consciously eat regionally and seasonally. They want to know what ends up on their plate. They not only want to know the people behind their food, but also how it is produced. Especially with eggs and chicken meat, we notice how important the husbandry of the animals is to them. It is important to us that they can get fresh air at any time and that they have enough space. Our customers trust us and know that we do our best for our animals and plants every day.
We can score with a large selection of apples, pears, plums and cherries. Some of our varieties are no longer even available in the shops and are real taste bombs. In order to preserve this diversity, we would like to keep the old high trunk trees on the farm for as long as possible, even though the care and harvesting of the fruit with the high ladders can be quite time-consuming.
Why haven’t you switched to organic farming?
In many ways, especially in milk production and chicken keeping, we already farm very close to organic standards. The main reason why we chose IP-Suisse is because we grow fruit. We live in an area with a lot of rainfall and the associated high humidity and risk of fungal attack. In addition, there are pests such as worms, aphids or the Asian cherry vinegar fly, which can destroy entire harvests. Anyone who has their own garden knows that every head of lettuce is a found food for slugs and aphids. And if you invest hours and days in caring for your plants, it would be infinitely sad to have to watch the many fine fruits fall victim to them without us being able to do anything about it. At the same time, we know that many consumers are not willing to buy wormy and bad fruit.
All of us, including organic farmers, practice plant protection. This is nothing negative, but necessary, because it is about protecting the plants. We spray only as much as necessary, but as little as possible. After all, why should we poison our own soil and plants on it unnecessarily? Our parents and grandparents lived off the yields of this soil. We, too, only use it for a limited time before it becomes the basis of life for our children.
What does a yes vote mean for your business?
No one can tell us how we should maintain hygiene standards in the future. We would not be able to disinfect our hands and boots before and after the stall without disinfectant. And the cleaner for the milking machine is banned, without an alternative having been found so far.
Due to the climate and the soils, it is hardly possible to grow crops here in central Switzerland and in mountainous areas. Therefore, we have to buy in the grain for our animals. The initiative denies us this exchange and cooperation with colleagues if we want to continue to receive direct payments. It only allows us to buy our own feed. This means that we would have to stop producing laying hens, eggs and chicken. Our colleagues, organic or not, would also no longer be able to keep chickens or pigs. So we are turning our backs on regionalism.
It remains to be seen how the growing demand for LIFE foods is to be met. Aren’t we encouraging factory farming? What about spices like paprika for crisps, which are not produced organically abroad in sufficient quantities? What about the 160,000 jobs directly affected in agriculture and the retail trade if higher prices lead to an increase in shopping tourism?
Who will receive how much?
It would be nice if our children and grandchildren continue to run the farm one day. We love working with nature and the animals and are grateful that we can largely feed ourselves. However, we feel that our profession and our work are less and less appreciated. Unfortunately, we have no influence on the price policy of the retailers. We find it absurd that only a fraction of the surcharge that consumers pay for organic food ends up with the organic farmer. Some of them even return to conventional farming. With IP-Suisse we also meet high standards of animal welfare and environmental protection.
Too extreme and counterproductive
Back to the walking poison cocktail. Do you know what flows down the Rhine river in a year? According to the Federal Office for the Environment, 65 tonnes of industrial and household chemicals, another 20 tonnes of pharmaceuticals, 20 tonnes of artificial food additives and 1 tonne of plant protection products. Our medicines, cosmetics, suntan lotions, birth control pills, paints, rust-proofing agents – all of these pollute our water. Plant protection products account for less than 1 per cent! And yet Switzerland is the only country where I drink from the tap without a second thought and fill up my sports bottle at the nearest fountain.
I don’t have a car, my mobile phone is four years old, I am afraid of clothes shops and I have greatly reduced my avocado consumption. All this because I know the damage we do abroad with our consumption. In my opinion, these initiatives are not thought through to the end and are anything but social or ecological. We want to “protect” our health and the environment, cut back on regional food production, accept more imports (=longer transport routes) in return and largely relinquish control over compliance with production and animal husbandry standards. We demand less food waste, but overlook the harvest losses if all farms are forced to convert. We leave the Swiss apple with scab on the shelf and reach for the perfect apple from New Zealand or South Africa.
We have to rethink agricultural policy, that’s true. But we also have to rethink our own consumption. Switzerland will soon have 9 million inhabitants and the most beautiful meadows are being concreted over. More people lead to more traffic, more littering and more pollutants in the water. Should we really blame agriculture for all this? Maybe it soothes the conscience of some, but this black-and-white thinking does not get us anywhere.
I am already looking forward to June, because then we will have fresh cherries at home again. I love climbing the ladders and picking the sweet fruits. Even if I know they are sprayed, I eat them straight from the tree. I grew up like that and I still live like that. I know that my parents only spray as little as possible to prevent there being a worm in every fruit. It might even be healthy, but for meeting my protein needs I still prefer the fresh eggs from the neighbour.
It’s important to me that I know who produces my food. And that we don’t become too dependent on foreign countries. If, in the next crisis, it’s every country for itself again, there shouldn’t be a shortage of basic foodstuffs as well as toilet paper...
Over the past ten years, milk consumption in Switzerland has declined significantly: According to the Swiss Farmers’ Association (Agristat), consumption fell from 75 litres in 2008 to currently around 50 litres of milk per capita per year. Milk producers speak of a smaller decline of “only” 18 percent, because the first figure also includes milk held back by producers for their own use. Retailers are also feeling the effects of this change in consumer behaviour: Less and less people are turning to “pure” milk. At the same time, substitute products and mixed drinks are becoming increasingly popular. Sales of soya, almond or rice drinks are increasing disproportionately.
Expensive water
Although some substitutes are four times more expensive than normal whole milk, they are largely water-based. In addition, they contain less than 15 percent rice or a maximum of 10 percent soy or 8 percent almonds. This is shown by a study conducted by the consumer magazine K-Tipp. Nutritionist Beatrice Conrad explains in an interview that whole pure milk contains all the main nutrients the human body needs: Carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Milk products are also important sources of calcium, which is one of the building blocks of bones and plays an important role in muscle activity. Cereals such as rice and oats are by no means comparable to whole milk in terms of nutrient distribution. They contain only traces of protein and at least twice as many carbohydrates, which contain a lot of natural sugar. Although almond milk has as much fat as pure milk, it also contains very little protein. Soy milk is the only milk that has almost the same nutrient distribution as whole milk – only it lacks calcium.
High quality
The quality of Swiss whole milk is generally very high. This is proven by a laboratory test of the K-Tipp from September 2017, in which various milk types were tested for their composition and the effects of the feed on quality were examined. Fortunately, pesticide residues were not found in any of the 15 products. There were also only minor differences in the quality of whole milk varieties, mainly due to the good feeding conditions of dairy cows in Switzerland, as over 80 percent of the animals spend most of their time outdoors from May to October. Differences were particularly noticeable in vitamin and omega-3 content: while mountain milk products generally contain a great deal of vitamins, Demeter and organic milk have a higher omega-3 content. Conclusion: The less concentrated feed the cows receive and the greater the proportion of different herbs in their roughage, the more valuable ingredients their milk contains.
So cow’s milk is and will continue to be an important component of our food, whether in its pure or processed form. If you pay attention to your wallet and don’t want too much sweetened drinks, it’s a good idea to include a glass of milk in your daily diet.
Milk facts and figures
UHT milk contains practically the same amount of vitamins A, B12 and E as pasteurised milk. Heating is important to kill germs and make the milk last longer.
Whole milk contains more vitamins than skimmed milk. This is because the fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E are partially lost during skimming, which is unfavourable because vitamin D is important for incorporation into the bones.
A cow eats up to 80 kilos of native meadow fodder per day and gives 20-25 litres of milk.
It takes two to three days to convert grass to milk
A cow in the USA gave almost 10,000 litres of milk in 2013. In Switzerland, it was "only" 7,400 litres per animal. The reason for this big difference is the fact that in the USA mainly concentrated feed is fed. Concentrated feed, however, has negative effects on milk, meat, cow health and the environment.
Lose weight thanks to milk? The high protein and calcium content helps the body to burn fat and inhibits the formation of new fat. Protein-rich meals are a good satiator, increase energy consumption in conjunction with muscle building and prevent attacks of ravenous hunger because blood sugar remains stable for longer.
Because their small intestinal mucosal cells produce little or no lactase, people with lactose intolerance cannot digest lactose. This leads to fermentation processes in the stomach with flatulence and diarrhoea.
More people tolerate lactose in northern countries than in the south
Around 70% of all people worldwide are lactose intolerant: in Africa and South America it is around 60% and in Southeast Asia and China 98% who cannot digest lactose.
Sources: Swissmilk.ch, K-Tipp (vitamins in UHT milk), Centre of health (lactose intolerance), Landwirtschaft.ch (development of milk)
There are half a million sheep in Switzerland. The Animal Welfare Act stipulates that they must be sheared at least once a year for hygienic reasons. Many farmers even let the professional shearers shear the wool of their animals twice - in spring and autumn. Some of the shearers learn their trade in New Zealand, where around 4.5 million people live together with 30 million sheep. Shearing has to be fast here: A New Zealander needs 44 moves for one animal. There are also regular sheep shearing competitions on the island, and there is even a world championship.
The correct order
With special non-slip shoes and skintight clothes, the shearer frees a sheep from its wool within 2-3 minutes. The world record is 44 seconds. The position and the order of the body parts can vary. One possibility is to turn the sheep on its back so that the four legs protrude into the air. From behind the belly is shorn first, later the hind legs, the chest, the neck and the chin, the shoulders, the back and finally the other side. During clipping it is important to make long, strong strokes, not to have to cut a spot a second time and to keep the skin tight with the other hand. Each shearing operation produces about 1.5 to 2 kg of wool per sheep.
Many uses
A privilege of wealthy citizens was wool clothing until the 19th century. Only since sheep's wool became available in sufficient quantities thanks to imports from Australia and New Zealand can the rest of the population afford the warming material. After shearing, the wool is washed abroad and sorted according to colour and quality. It is twisted into threads, processed into felt or used as natural thermal insulation.
Sponsorship for a lamb
The wool from Meinrad Fässler's sheep is also shipped abroad as insulation material. Twice a year he has his 100 ewes sheared by specialists: In spring, when it gets warmer, and in autumn, when they come from the alp. The Feusisberger farmer is glad that he can now sell the wool again, because there were times when he even had to pay for the disposal of the wool. Today he receives between 30 and 90 centimes per kilo - depending on the quality. Anyone who would like to get to know his sporty sheep, is interested in sponsoring a lamb or would like to spend a day on a farm is very welcome at Meinrad Fässler by appointment. Click here to see his profile.
Kiwis aren’t fruit here, they’re animals. It snows in summer and there are more sheep than people. Although New Zealand could hardly be further away geographically, Switzerland and Aotearoa have more in common than you think. Especially the South Island with its snow-covered mountains is reminiscent of the alpine country. Again and again one is seized by a warm feeling of home. However, this is quickly distorted in road traffic, when suddenly everyone honks their horns, because as a tourist one does not have the left-hand traffic under control.
Is the fight already lost?
While the north with its lush green hills and many sheep reminds of Ireland, the homesick Swiss get their money’s worth on the South Island. There are mountains as far as the eye can see. Above all, the vastness of the landscapes has appealed to many.
But the appearance of an idyll is deceptive: New Zealand’s unique animal and plant world is under severe threat. Not only imported animals, but also diseases and mushrooms are affecting the country’s flora and fauna. Also the New Zealand heraldic animal, the kiwi, is not spared: the nocturnal and flightless bird is a found food for dogs, cats and weasels. Due to New Zealand’s isolated location, land mammals – e.g. goats, hares or opposums – reproduce very quickly because they have no natural enemies. To control their spread, they are killed by hunters and in the woods they stand above animal traps. However, many New Zealanders are less confident. For them it is only “a matter of time” before the fight against the alien animals and plants is lost. Until then, whole forests are poisoned with sodium fluoroacetate (1080) from the air to get the non-native mammals under control.
Low milk price also a problem here
Not only in Europe, but also in New Zealand the market demands more and more and cheaper milk. In New Zealand the average size of a cow herd has tripled in the last 30 years. As a result of this strong growth in mass livestock farming, more than half of all lakes and rivers are no longer suitable for bathing due to the high nitrogen load. It is also easy to see from the car that the animals are much closer to each other on the meadow compared to Swiss herds of cows. And because the fresh grass is not enough, everyone gathers around the container of concentrated feed, which has a negative effect on milk quality (click here for article).
New hope thanks to tourism
In the long term, the current economic situation will harm both animals and humans. For this reason, some farmers have realigned themselves. Tourism is booming in New Zealand. Not only backpackers, but also school leavers with a one-year “working holiday visa” are literally overwhelming the country. For some farmers this is reason enough for a rethink. In the remote hills of Whakahoro, almost three hours by car from the nearest hospital, Dan Steele has built up a real business with his Blue Duck Station. Because he can’t live on agriculture alone – the land is too hilly and road sections are regularly washed away – he has turned his farm into a tourist attraction. Whether riding ponies, kayaking or shooting a goat with a hunter, everyone helps to give the visitors two unforgettable days on the farm. At night there is a homemade wild boar pie with a potato stick and the farm’s own Manuka honey.
For this unique experience, many are prepared to dig deep into their travel bags. And who knows, perhaps Swiss farmers will also be able to benefit from the tourism industry in the future.
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