Yorkshire's Debbie Wilson outlines her vision as new Ladies in Pigs chairwoman

Debbie Wilson from Preston, near Hull, is delighted to have been chosen for the role and told Country Week that when she saw the job advertised “it seemed perfect for me”.

Her husband Nigel is a pig farmer. They live just outside Hull where they farm 200 acres and have a 140-sow breeding venture with prodigy herd that is taken to finishing pigs.

“I’m married to a pig farmer and so understand the industry from a producer point of view and love to talk and communicate and share my knowledge and experience with other people,” said Mrs Wilson, who has undertaken butchery training to learn how to butcher her own pigs.

“Having lived and helped out on a pig farm for nearly 30 years, I’m familiar with all aspects of the pig industry. Only this morning I was up early, before work, to help load pigs. So farmers can rest assured that when I’m out promoting their products, I can talk to members of the public about exactly how our animals are kept and treated.”

“Farming isn’t just a nine-to-five job, it’s a vocation and I’ve always been involved with the farm, despite having a ‘day job’ in education on the side. Becoming the LIPs chairwoman will give me the chance to combine both my love of farming and pigs with having a job which gives me an income away from the farm.”

The couple have three children, Rebecca, Emma and Tom.

“As a busy working mum myself, I know how important it is to provide interesting, tasty meals on a budget, while also making sure the recipe doesn’t take too long and uses British produce.

“As part of my interview for the role I produced an instructional video about how to make a cheese and ham quiche, based on the popular Tastemade YouTube video tutorials. This is an area that I really want to concentrate on with Ladies in Pigs in the future.

“I think if we can provide people with simple step by step videos they can access on their phones and tablets, then they will cook more of our recipes.

Until taking on her new role, Mrs Wilson had worked in education for years, both in schools and in an adult and family education setting. She said that she hopes this background will help her in her new role.

KEY POINTS
Ladies in Pigs exists to promote British pig meat and educate people about Red Tractor pork, butcher’s pork and welfare standards.

Debbie Wilson succeeds East Yorkshire’s Sue Woodall who has chaired LIPs for ten years.

Mrs Wilson has already held talks with the Children’s University to see if it can work with LIPs to promote British pork and healthy eating to children in inner city Hull.