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| kisses on the free range fields |
It came as a bit of a surprise to me that less than 3% of the pork in the UK is actually truly ‘free range’. You think if you choose for the ‘freedom foods’ or ‘red tractor’ label, you’re sorted, but no, that doesn’t mean your bacon is free range at all.
To learn more, I ventured out to sunny Suffolk to meet up with second generation pig farmer Alastair Butler on their family farm Blythburgh Free Range Pork.
As it turnes out, a lot of the pork we think to be free-range, has actually not had a better life than a pig in an intensive farm. We assume when we spot the label ‘outdoor bred’ or ‘outdoor reared’ that it is free-range, only it isn’t.
First we have to understand how pig farming works.
There are two stages or herds, the ‘breeding herd’ – these are the sows and the newly born piglets, and the ‘finishing herd’ where the piglets go after they are weaned which is after about four weeks of age.
In the majority of the higher welfare farms, the high welfare terminology only applies to the first herd, the sows and their babies.
Outdoor bred and outdoor reared is NOT free range pork.
Outdoor bred: this means the breeding herd is kept free range but the after the piglets are weaned, they are moved indoors to the finishing herd where they are intensively reared. The pork from these pigs will not be any different from your average intensive farm.
Outdoor reared: here the breeding herd is free range too, and the finishing herd is kept in a semi outdoor arrangement of tents or huts. The pigs do not have free access to the outside, and are confined to these huts and tents at all times. Alastair refers to this arrangement as ‘intensively reared outdoors.’
Free range: here the breeding herd is free range, and the finishing herd is kept in an even larger free range space. This is the only true higher welfare farming system.
Blythburgh is one of the largest free range farms in the UK, this means that the pigs have an incredibly large amount of land to roam freely. The animals grow slower, which means the fat has been around the muscle for longer and therefore delivers more flavour.
But for Alastair the welfare of the pigs is what’s most important, he steps into the field with his dad and nearly all of the pigs in the field come storming towards him to see what is going on and have a sniff on the farmers leg and shoes. “This is what it’s all about” he says “pigs showing their natural behaviour which is that they are incredibly curious and clever animals”.
I asked him if he is still smitten with the breeding herd after years of seeing piglets being born, and he tells me that he still loves everything about the breeding herd, but the fact that they have to keep the sows on a more confined paddock means he prefers to visit the finishing herd which looks to me like a gang of friends having a nice play in the sand rather than a bunch of farm animals being finished for slaughter.
The natural behaviour of a pig is to root in the soil and eat the mud, they love a good dust bath or wallow in the muddy pools and enjoy a good run. Imagine if you would place an animal like this on a concrete floor, with no light apart from a couple of industrial lights if they are lucky. No fresh air, nothing. Farrowing crates contain the sows, they are so tight that they can not turn, they can not stand, they just have to lie there. Piglets are taken from these animals after birth, while pigs are known for being good mothers, imagine what the animal must be feeling. And that is what is important, we can’t ignore that animals have feelings. Farm animals are no different from pets. It is important to take a stand against intensive farming, and eat less meat, but choose to buy high welfare meat.
Ask your butcher where the meat comes from, investigate by looking up the farms website to see that you are getting your money’s worth in free range meat.
There is no room in this day and age for animal abuse, so find a free range source for your meat.
From farm to plate
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| The breeding herd |
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| A happy mama and her babies fighting over the best teat |
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| And suddenly another mama started farrowing, she covered her piglets in straw to keep warm |
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| Alastair Butler and his piglets. I got to hold her too, she fell asleep on me. |
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| A curious bunch – the finishing herd. |
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| Didn’t I say they love a good run? |
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| And that they love to eat and root around the mud? |
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| Are you looking at me? Well you’re looking at us human! |
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| Slaughtered and butchered by Gerard King. |
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| The mark, so you know what you get. |
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| The final stage – the table. |
Thank you very much for inviting me to your family farm Alastair, and for the beautiful pulled pork lunch your mother made us. Thanks Gerard King from craft butcher Salter and King for a butchery demonstration to round up the day and the process from birth to slaughter. Good meat can’t be taken for granted, it has to be respected.
Recipe for the roast coming soon.
My views are my own.
The post How free range is your bacon? appeared first on Miss Foodwise.
]]>The post Apple glazed ham – Best of British appeared first on Miss Foodwise.
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I went to London 3 days before christmas for a ridiculously short visit. We arrived with the Eurostar at 10:30 and left again at 5.
My bestie Vanessa and I wanted to shop for food and bras, that was our mission.
After the bras were sorted we started the food shopping and ended up with a full backpack each and more to carry in our hands. I was actually relieved to be on the train again as the
2 kg Gammon and the quarter wheel of Stilton were doing my back in. To be fair, I did buy some dinner plates and bowls too and those might have been the heaviest of all.
I wanted to cook a glazed ham for ages, we don’t get that cut of meat here so I had to buy it in London that day. Because there were strikes going on in Public transport the cancellation of our trip was pending for a week. To much of my regret I couldn’t risk ordering a gammon from the butcher I wanted it from. I was looking forward to a ham from a rare breed pig rather than a pig that was kept indoors as I don’t approve treatment like that. Luckily I found a nice piece of gammon that came from a farm where animals are raised naturally and outdoors, but no rare breed sadly.
If you are in London and wonder where to get that wonderful rare breed meat, these are a few places you can buy from:
The Ginger pig: shops in Sheperds Bush, Marylebone, Hackney, Waterloo and Borough market
www.thegingerpig.co.uk
Daylesford farm shop: shops in Pimlico, Notting Hill and Selfridges.
Main farmshop in the Cotwolds
http://www.daylesfordorganic.com
Preparing this glazed ham is actually very easy, I was surprised how easy it was. Imagine how much you can save by cooking your own ham if you have a large family to feed.
If I could get my hands on this cut of meat easier I would cook this a lot!
What do you need
2 kg gammon
a lot of cloves
for the cooking tray
1 teaspoon of cinamon (or 1 stick)
10 peppercorns
half an apple cut into small wedges
2 bay leaves
a small sprig of thyme
1 small onion
for the glaze
4 teaspoons of apple syrup
2 teaspoons of mustard
2 teaspoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cider vinegar
Method
preheat your oven to 160° Gas
Cook the gammon by filling half a roasting tray with apple juice or water, add the mix of spices and finally the ham.
Cover with tinfoil and leave to cook for about 45-60 minutes.
Prepare the glaze by adding all the ingredients to a small pan and warm it through.
When ready, take the ham out of the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes, covered.
After the ham has rested and cooled, take of the skin but leaving a generous amount of fat on the meat.
Score the meat with a sharp knife and stick a clove in each crossing.
Now you can start brushing the glaze onto the meat.
Brush on one generous coating and put the ham in the oven for 30 minutes. Add another coating of glaze after 15 minutes.
Ones removed from the oven, leave to rest in the baking tin for 10 minutes while you set the table.
We ate this ham with roasted potatoes and a fresh salad.
The leftover ham is great in pasta dishes or in a sandwich, the options are endless.
Other recipes in the Best of British category:
Pork stew, braised with cider and apples
This recipe was inspired by one of Jamie Magazine #december
Please leave a comment. I appreciate every single one.
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The comfort of food
Although it was the last week of August the weather became quite chilly, not to speak about the storms we’ve been faced with.
There’s been thunder and lightning every evening for about a week now. At times the weather got so bad a tent collapsed at a music festival leaving utter destruction and fatalities.
I had some friends there who kept themselves safe, thank god for that. But others did lose friends and are now left to cope with the loss. It leaves you with a strange feeling when tragedy strikes a place where thousands of young people are gathered to enjoy themselves and be merry.
Some of the young people’s lives will never be the same and others will be strengthened by it but nevertheless the experience will be a part of their lives for a very long time, if not forever.
At times like this I’m beginning to think about warming stews and the comfort they can give you.
I love making stews, you can make it in the morning and leave it to simmer for a few hours so it fills the house with a mouthwatering aroma. There’s something about a big pot of delicious food on the stove that always gives me a feeling of warmth towards my family.
I wanted to cook something with the last of my discovery apples and I knew I had some Cider tucked away from our wedding. Apples and pork are one of my all time favorite combo’s, classic.
This is a truly British dish, I hope you’ll like it !
Ingredients: (serves 4)
Cider half a pint
Water half a cup
500 g of free range/Organic stewing pork
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
2 medium potatoes
1 carrot
2 medium onions
1 teaspoon of cider vinegar
1 or two small (I used my discovery) apples
Salt and pepper
Flower to dust the meat
Method
Preheat your oven to 160° (gas)
Take 1 tablespoon of salt (I always use coarse seasalt), a bit of freshly ground pepper and the leaves of a few sprigs of fresh Thyme and rub meat in with it, dust with a bit of flour.
Cut the onion into medium sized wedges, quarter the carrot (half if it’s a small one) and slice the potatoes in cubes like seen in the picture above.
Peel and slice the apple in small cubes (about the size of a dice).
Put on the heat under a heave base pan (I always use cast iron) and pour in some olive oil.
Add the onion and carrot to the pan and stir for about two minutes, now add the potato and the apple.
Stir a few times and add the meat, let it color a bit and than add the Cider and the water.
Bring to the boil and than put it in the over for about 2,5 hours.
You can take it out sooner but I like it when the meat falls apart.
Drink this with a Cider, just delicious!
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| My sweetheart enjoying his meal and his Cider, bless him X |
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