Her sales message comes without effusive adjectives and even the most fanatical gastronomic guzzler would come away from her Wiltshire free-range pig farm convinced that where food production is concerned, the "natural way" is best.
"Our pigs are reared outside, fed on an organic GMO-free diet, rooting on clover-rich pastures untreated with pesticides," she boasts.
Mind you, this determined 41-year-old farmer's daughter and agriculture graduate has impeccable credentials. She was a member of the government's Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food, is a Meat and Livestock Commissioner, a member of the Red Meat Industry Forum, a former chairman of the Soil Association and chairman of the Food Ethics Council. And, more recently, she has become a member of the steering group of the Food Chain Centre.
Her philosophy now is winning over more supermarkets, not to mention a growing army of consumers.
In addition to being the mother of a sports-mad 12-year-old, Browning is tenant farming Eastbrook Farm, a 1,350 acre organic livestock and arable operation in a picture postcard village within hailing distance of the M4. And it is from there that she runs a pig operation, and works with two dairy herds, beef cattle, veal calves, sheep, 600 acres of cereals and 50 acres of vegetables.
Browning's is a classic agrifood success story. After taking over the family farm from her father in 1986, her first foray into organics began in a butcher's shop in Shrivenham in 1989 after she had become alarmed by what mainstream farming was doing to the environment and animals. "I was beginning to see enormous benefits from farming organically, but we had to create a market for everything we were producing at Eastbrook to help us justify converting the whole farm to organic practice.
"By 1994, we had the basis for a sensible market, and we were able to start working with other farmers, encouraging them to produce high quality organic livestock in return for realistic prices."
The early days were not always easy. Four years as a high profile chairman of the Soil Association took her on to umpteen national platforms, and she recalls the sneers from an army of sceptics.
"I understood the comments about organics from conventional farming circles. After all, it seemed like a criticism of what had gone before and was bound to put people's backs up."
Yet, despite the success of her campaigning, Browning admits that organics growth in the UK has slowed. "A lot of producers have been experimenting with organics, and were not fully committed. So there have been some very bad products out there."
She goes on:"There are two main reasons why people start to eat organic food. One is health, and the other is taste. But supermarkets wanted organics, and loads of processors without much background in the area rushed into the market with products that were not very nice to eat.
The ultimate assurance scheme
"In addition, I don't think current organic consumers will buy a lot of ready meals, for example. They are not the kind of people who will purchase something just to chuck into the microwave. They will buy ingredients, because they enjoy cooking with a glass of wine in their hand.
"A product may sell for the first time because it is organic, but it will never sell again unless it is really good. To me, organic is the ultimate assurance scheme. It is the baseline on which to build. However, I am glad to say that there has been a weeding out process as far as bad products are concerned over the past year."
Eastbrook has worked closely with retailers like Sainsbury and others to get the message across to customers. Significantly, Browning's own name is being given greater prominence on the packaging. And backed by personal assurances about animal welfare and the environment, this is bringing extra sales.
Browning goes on: "One of the reasons our brand has worked well is that it allows us to get a lot of information to the consumer in a way that own label does not. Our job is to create an intimacy with the customer that is not normal in food manufacturing and retailing."
On a broader stage, she argues that, along with the Soil Association's generic campaigns for organics, the philosophy should be about selling the positive."We must balance the message by giving people a reason to eat organically without giving the rest of farming a hard time."
But she is well aware that the political scene continues to throw up controversy. She has forthright views, for example, about the recent spats between the Soil Association and the Food Standards Agency over the benefits claimed for organic food.
"I believe the FSA's policy of getting information into the open is absolutely right. Having said that, I believe it is barmy that the agency has allowed itself to be dragged into the recent spats about organics and genetic engineering.
"That has alienated a huge number of people, and I don't believe it has done FSA chairman Sir John Krebs' credibility much good. We need an organisation like the agency and, if its credibility is diminished, it will be very difficult to recreate it. So while the FSA started off on a good footing, there are now questions about whether it is obeying political orders'."
Meanwhile, alongside her continuous work on the national agrifood scene, Browning and her team are developing new organic systems that, she says, are ever more productive, and which enhance animal welfare and the environment. Sceptics beware.
{{ANALYSIS }}
"Our pigs are reared outside, fed on an organic GMO-free diet, rooting on clover-rich pastures untreated with pesticides," she boasts.
Mind you, this determined 41-year-old farmer's daughter and agriculture graduate has impeccable credentials. She was a member of the government's Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food, is a Meat and Livestock Commissioner, a member of the Red Meat Industry Forum, a former chairman of the Soil Association and chairman of the Food Ethics Council. And, more recently, she has become a member of the steering group of the Food Chain Centre.
Her philosophy now is winning over more supermarkets, not to mention a growing army of consumers.
In addition to being the mother of a sports-mad 12-year-old, Browning is tenant farming Eastbrook Farm, a 1,350 acre organic livestock and arable operation in a picture postcard village within hailing distance of the M4. And it is from there that she runs a pig operation, and works with two dairy herds, beef cattle, veal calves, sheep, 600 acres of cereals and 50 acres of vegetables.
Browning's is a classic agrifood success story. After taking over the family farm from her father in 1986, her first foray into organics began in a butcher's shop in Shrivenham in 1989 after she had become alarmed by what mainstream farming was doing to the environment and animals. "I was beginning to see enormous benefits from farming organically, but we had to create a market for everything we were producing at Eastbrook to help us justify converting the whole farm to organic practice.
"By 1994, we had the basis for a sensible market, and we were able to start working with other farmers, encouraging them to produce high quality organic livestock in return for realistic prices."
The early days were not always easy. Four years as a high profile chairman of the Soil Association took her on to umpteen national platforms, and she recalls the sneers from an army of sceptics.
"I understood the comments about organics from conventional farming circles. After all, it seemed like a criticism of what had gone before and was bound to put people's backs up."
Yet, despite the success of her campaigning, Browning admits that organics growth in the UK has slowed. "A lot of producers have been experimenting with organics, and were not fully committed. So there have been some very bad products out there."
She goes on:"There are two main reasons why people start to eat organic food. One is health, and the other is taste. But supermarkets wanted organics, and loads of processors without much background in the area rushed into the market with products that were not very nice to eat.
The ultimate assurance scheme
"In addition, I don't think current organic consumers will buy a lot of ready meals, for example. They are not the kind of people who will purchase something just to chuck into the microwave. They will buy ingredients, because they enjoy cooking with a glass of wine in their hand.
"A product may sell for the first time because it is organic, but it will never sell again unless it is really good. To me, organic is the ultimate assurance scheme. It is the baseline on which to build. However, I am glad to say that there has been a weeding out process as far as bad products are concerned over the past year."
Eastbrook has worked closely with retailers like Sainsbury and others to get the message across to customers. Significantly, Browning's own name is being given greater prominence on the packaging. And backed by personal assurances about animal welfare and the environment, this is bringing extra sales.
Browning goes on: "One of the reasons our brand has worked well is that it allows us to get a lot of information to the consumer in a way that own label does not. Our job is to create an intimacy with the customer that is not normal in food manufacturing and retailing."
On a broader stage, she argues that, along with the Soil Association's generic campaigns for organics, the philosophy should be about selling the positive."We must balance the message by giving people a reason to eat organically without giving the rest of farming a hard time."
But she is well aware that the political scene continues to throw up controversy. She has forthright views, for example, about the recent spats between the Soil Association and the Food Standards Agency over the benefits claimed for organic food.
"I believe the FSA's policy of getting information into the open is absolutely right. Having said that, I believe it is barmy that the agency has allowed itself to be dragged into the recent spats about organics and genetic engineering.
"That has alienated a huge number of people, and I don't believe it has done FSA chairman Sir John Krebs' credibility much good. We need an organisation like the agency and, if its credibility is diminished, it will be very difficult to recreate it. So while the FSA started off on a good footing, there are now questions about whether it is obeying political orders'."
Meanwhile, alongside her continuous work on the national agrifood scene, Browning and her team are developing new organic systems that, she says, are ever more productive, and which enhance animal welfare and the environment. Sceptics beware.
{{ANALYSIS }}
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