Picture: Collected
Becky Houzé is as close as Jersey farming gets to a
household name. The dairy farmer recently starred in a reality TV show and has
nearly 90,000 followers on Instagram and more than 100,000 on TikTok. Despite
the fame, she finds her farming credentials questioned.
"I was once having a conversation with an
ex-farmer," Becky recalled. "And he asked me if I had a boyfriend.
"At the time I didn't, and he said 'I think you should
find yourself a nice farmer and he can help you on the farm'… and I thought
'how come I need a man to show me what to do!'"
Ms. Houzé has a degree in agriculture and has managed Lodge
Farm, St Saviour, for more than five years.
The 2021 census published by Statistics Jersey shows women
make up 30% of the island's agricultural and fishing workforce.
This is almost double the proportion of women in the UK's
agricultural workforce, yet Jersey women don't always feel their contributions are appreciated or even seen.
Catherine Conway, director of Homefields fruit and vegetable wholesaler, said: "I can't tell you the number of times that I've spoken to people on the phone, and they've said: 'Can I speak to the boss, please?'
"You're speaking to the boss… 'but you're a girl. I've
had those exact words: 'But you are a girl. Yes, I am a girl, how can I help
you!"
Christine Hello has worked as a vegetable farmer for more
than 40 years. She said that when she returned to work after having children,
other farmers used to come into the fields and greet her husband without acknowledging her presence.
Ms. Houzé also explained that her grandmother, who worked
consistently on the family farm, had not considered herself a farmer.
She said: "I've asked my nan... what does she think her
job was and she said: 'Well, I was the housewife'. But she worked during the
day on the farm and left earlier than my papa would have done because she had
to cook the dinner and do the laundry."
Gabby Mason, the co-founder of Jade-S fisheries, believes
"there's a fundamental systemic problem in our ideas of what women work as
in certain industries".
Speaking about the fishing industry, she said: "I think
it's a British culture kind of thing. You look at America, Australia, and New
Zealand, women are all over the industries - whether it's boats or in the
background jobs, it is known. Typically, in Jersey and England, it seems to be
that it's not commonly thought of.
"When we talk about the fishing industry we often think 'man on a boat, but, actually, it could be a woman on a boat, or it could be all the extra people doing the footwork in the background."
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Source:
Online/SZK
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