Comments on: Inspection time

By: Stonehead

Stonehead — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:49:07 +0000

It comes down to trust. Do you trust the labelling on your meat? Do you trust the standards that your meat is reared to? Do you trust the bodies that impose and monitor those standards? Do you trust the farmers who say they will abide by those standards? And so on.

I don’t tend to place much trust in agri-business or the supermarkets as they will inevitably work down to standards unless it is in their financial interest not to. They will also try to step around standards if they believe avoidance will maximise returns and profits.

If you have a local farmers’ market or a local butcher, then by all means use them if you are confident you can trust them. Ask about the sources of the meat, ask about the conditions the animals are kept in - heck, even ask if they mind having visitors. We don’t mind people wanting to see how our animals are kept.

But how confident are you that the even premium supermarket brands are all they claim to be? Produce arrives at a supermarket via a long chain of middlemen that gives the business both lower costs and a “get out of jail free” card if something goes wrong. After all, it was simply a dodgy supplier and not the supermarket.

You give the example of Waitrose, saying you think their standards are much higher. But what is their standard? What are those of the other supermarkets? What can you see for yourself? Or do you just take their word for it?

And remember, they can use a lot of very carefully worded statements in their marketing that appear to say something to the consumer, but mean something else entirely to regulators and the courts.

Find a meat supplier you think may have what you want, ask hard questions, consider the answers carefully and, if it appears to match what you want, set about building a relationship of trust with that supplier.

By: wimblejigs

wimblejigs — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:13:35 +0000

hang on a bit… we will never, ever rear livestock, but isn’t there a half-way line between scabby supermarket cheap meat ranges and rearing your own?- a lot of our meat (well, his - I don’t eat a lot of meat) comes from our local farmers market which runs twice a month, where the stall holders seem to hold animal welfare very dear, and they can talk about the good conditions that their animals are kept it. Seems to me that it’s a long way from the supermarkets meats. But then again, Waitrose has farm here in Hampshire where I believe the standards for chickens is much, much higher than even free range chickens in other supermarkets.

By: susie

susie — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:37:18 +0000

I would love to be able to buy meat that was produced in the conditions that your animals live in. Will just have to wait till we can raise our own, until then have to settle for the second rate stuff from the shops and try not to dwell on how it is produced.

By: Sara

Sara — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:24:56 +0000

I am looking at getting a few pigs to keep on my farm in Yorkshire. I have searched the web for information about what I need to do with regards to paper work but nowhere including defra seems to provide easy to understand information. Can you advise? Thanks for your time.
Sara from farmingfriends

By: stonehead

stonehead — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 09:36:31 +0000

A couple of people have emailed to ask why we bother to register with the authorities and keep all the paperwork as they don’t.
Well, if I’d been ignoring the regulations and not keeping the paperwork, where would have I been when the animal welfare officer came calling?
The regulations are often poorly drafted and sometimes downright daft, but because I could show that I had all the relevant details recorded (if not in the “right” way), I didn’t have to worry about any enforcement action. Even if we were only finishing a couple of porkers a year, I’d still do it the same way.
But when we’re breeding and selling pedigree animals - even on a small scale - trying to stay on top of the regulations and paperwork is absolutely imperative. Even more so, when people are complaining about what we do!
The same goes for the way we house, feed and rear our animals. We exceed, by a large margin, the quite low minimum animal welfare requirements.
Yes, we could cut corners and work closer to the requirements, but if we were doing that then we might as well buy meat from the supermarket and save ourselves a lot of work amd hassle.
But if I’m going to eat meat then it’s going to come from animals that are respected, well cared for and lead happy lives.