the shizzle > food & drink

Wanted: pasture raised meat, poultry, eggs, dairy in Yorkshire

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Airton and Burbage shops noted for when i'm in the area.


--- Quote from: turnipturned on August 16, 2021, 09:00:43 am ---In terms of red meat, what I think you are looking for is probably going to come from 'rare breed hairy cattle' i.e. shorthorn, longhorn, highland, belty. An easy option is somewhere like Keelham Farm shop, but any good local butchers will be able to tell you the source of your meat.

I am not sure what your motive behind this is, but if its 'animal health', then buying anything British with Red Tractor on it (i.e. all Aldi meat) will be a pretty good guarantee. If its conservation/climate change, then rare breed cattle apply. Just to put it in perspective, we run 10 (+ followers) longhorns on some land in Cumbria, within 5 years, due to change in management and grazing, we now have one of the best sites in north Cumbria for Orchids and wildflowers on this type of grassland. Similar trend can be said for farmers I previosuly worked with in Upper Wharfedale, who changed from sheep to rare breed beef. The speed at which change happens is pretty remarkable. I must add, if its a 'climate' concern, again, just make sure you are buying British. There needs to be a bit more research and depends how you look at it, but I won't be surprised if most of our beef systems in the UK are close to carbon neutral if not positive due to the amount of carbon locked up in brown soils.

--- End quote ---

Thanks for the detailed and informed response. My motives are multifactorial: environmental impact, animal welfare, and also ensuring my food is 'healthy'. That is the nutritional content of produce from an animal appears to be vastly different depending on how it lived and what it ate. 

It's been frustratingly difficult to find produce that hits all these markers. My local farm shop's website boasts about their cows being raised at the farm with the highest levels of animal welfare, but then scores an own goal with: "our animal feed is also fully traceable". 'Animal feed' most likely meaning they are fed cereals and grains?

I understand that what i'm looking for will be rare as it demands a lot of space and effort. I also understand it's not feasible to feed over 7 billion people in this way, but there's no point getting stuck in a bind over it - i've tried veggie and it doesn't work for me!

Anti:

--- Quote from: Liamhutch89 on August 15, 2021, 09:38:01 pm ---I'd like this part of my diet to come from cows/chickens that lived relatively normal lives and have themselves eaten what a cow/chicken is supposed to eat. 'Organic' and 'free range' labels can occasionally be found at the supermarket, but so far as I can tell, this does not guarantee my cow ate a healthy diet of grass.

I'm aware of various websites that offer 100% grass fed, pasture raised meat boxes and such, but would prefer to buy locally. The closer to Leeds the better. Anyone have a good source?

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I'm not sure if this is a symptom of too many American podcasts (people who've only just learned about the carnivore diet via Joe Rogan etc) but people talking about pasture/grass fed meat in the UK drives me bonkers. We don't grain feed our beef here and your lamb comes from all the heavily subsidised hilltop farms decimating the landscape. Chickens will happily eat grain, so you can speak to a local butcher about this if you want them rummaging through grass. Ours do but they love their grain stuff too.

The environmental impact of meat has very little to do with how far it's travelled and entirely due to the fact it's an environmentally impactful process.

teestub:

--- Quote from: Anti on August 16, 2021, 09:40:00 am ---...but people talking about pasture/grass fed meat in the UK drives me bonkers. We don't grain feed our beef here...

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We do have intensive beef finishing lots here too https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/29/revealed-industrial-scale-beef-farming-comes-to-the-uk

turnipturned:


--- Quote ---
It's been frustratingly difficult to find produce that hits all these markers. My local farm shop's website boasts about their cows being raised at the farm with the highest levels of animal welfare, but then scores an own goal with: "our animal feed is also fully traceable". 'Animal feed' most likely meaning they are fed cereals and grains?


--- End quote ---

Most, if not all beef (except rare breed) in the UK will be 'finished' (fattened) inside. Depending on the system, this will likely be silage and supplementary feeding. The vast majority of rare breed will also be supplementary fed during the winter, even if that's just with hay sourced from your own land. Very rare to have a system that could support year around grass.

Anyway, good on you doing your research.

User deactivated.:

--- Quote from: Anti on August 16, 2021, 09:40:00 am ---I'm not sure if this is a symptom of too many American podcasts (people who've only just learned about the carnivore diet via Joe Rogan etc) but people talking about pasture/grass fed meat in the UK drives me bonkers. We don't grain feed our beef here and your lamb comes from all the heavily subsidised hilltop farms decimating the landscape. Chickens will happily eat grain, so you can speak to a local butcher about this if you want them rummaging through grass. Ours do but they love their grain stuff too.

The environmental impact of meat has very little to do with how far it's travelled and entirely due to the fact it's an environmentally impactful process.

--- End quote ---

I can't say that I've listened to any American podcasts, but it's good to know I've been mistaken if cows in the UK aren't fed grain. Does it mean much if chickens will happily eat grain? Considering that the human population is becoming more unhealthy by the day, happily eating absolute rubbish just because it's available, I can't see why other animals would be different.

In response to the environmental impact, your comment might lead someone on the fence to buy whatever is cheapest based on the idea that they can't make a difference. Is the distance travelled so negligible that this person would be correct to do so from an environmental perspective? I'd like to think that every little helps in lieu of living off gathered berries but perhaps that is naïve? 

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