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Is all British pork welfare friendly?
No. Welfare experts say standards for 70 per cent of pigs (reared indoors) could be improved. The other 30 per cent are reared outdoors, where they can behave more naturally, but they must have some sort of shelter.
What do pigs eat?
In spite of being omnivores, British and European pigs are now, in the most part, vegetarians. Meat and bone meal feed are banned (due to BSE), and so is pigswill (which by definition contains meat waste) because it is thought it can spread diseases such as foot and mouth. Pigs are permitted some fishmeal, but it must constitute no more than three per cent of their feed. Pigs can eat dairy waste, such as whey from cheese making, but this is sadly rare (the whole Parma ham/ Parmesan business was founded on feeding pigs whey). Whether or not this enforced vegetarian diet affects their growth is not yet known – will the pig of the future evolve with no meat-eating teeth?
Pigs are now fed dried concentrates of cereals including soya (which can be GM derived); co-product feed from the food industry, such as biscuits (so they are snacking on lots of sugar, salt and hydrogenated fat!); or waste from the non-meat ready-meal business. Farmers can also choose to ‘wet feed’ a sort of nice porridge with cereals and, best of all, Greenwich Gold, the leftover ‘mash’ from London gin making. If I were a pig I know what I would choose from the menu. Roots are the correct natural feed for outdoor pigs, who love turnips, but best of all is the acorn and apple diet of woodland- or orchard-reared pigs. Ideally some common sense regarding pig feed needs to be applied; a return to eating fat from butchery or poultry waste could be a good thing.
Look at it this way – if the science was right, feeding meat and bone meal to vegetarians (cattle) caused a disaster; should we now be depriving natural omnivores of the small amount of flesh they would naturally eat in the wild?
When is British bacon not British?
In theory a side of Danish- or Dutch-reared pork could be cured, sliced and packed in Britain and then be labelled British (the country of origin on the pack will read ‘UK’). Beware of packaging dressed up to look ‘olde’ – the bacon may be nothing of the sort. It must be said that supermarkets often differentiate between British and, say, Danish because consumers enjoy the taste and size of the Danish rashers. Well and good, but for me welfare remains a big issue. It is a perfect example of how uneven the playing field can be among the European member states when it comes to food production.
What’s in a bacon sandwich?
It’s hard to tell, but 85 per cent of bacon sold through catering outlets – such as restaurants, takeaways, cafés, motorway service stations, schools, hospitals and office canteens – is imported. No need for a label makes it easy to hide.
What the supermarkets say
None of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets would reveal what percentage of British bacon they sell. Waitrose says 82 per cent of its bacon is British and Budgens’ own label is 100 per cent British. Some supermarkets sell speciality bacon (including organic – look for Soil Association for ultra-high welfare standards for the pigs), which is cured in the traditional manner (seek out British bacon made from British-reared pork).
Artisan-made bacon by post
Traditionally made bacon stores well, so it makes sense to buy in large quantities to justify the price of home delivery. All the producers listed below offer a mail-order service.
Blackface.co.uk, Weatherall Foods Ltd, Crochmore House,Irongray, Dumfries DG2 9SFTel: 01387 730326www.blackface.co.uk
Pork from ‘Iron Age’ pigs (a cross between Tamworth and wild boar), with a darker, fuller-flavoured meat.
Bleiker’s Smoke House Ltd, Glasshouses Mill, Glasshouses,Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG3 5QHTel: 01423 71141 Iwww.bleikers.co.uk
Smoked food experts, Jurg and Jane Bleiker, dry cure and smoke backs of 100 per cent British free-range pork, deep in the Yorkshire Dales.
Brampton Wild Boar, Blue Tile Farm, Lock’s Road, Brampton,Beccles, Suffolk NR34 8DXTel: 01502 575246
Deep-flavoured bacon from fourth-generation purebred boar.
Denhay Farms Ltd, Broadoak, Bridport, Dorset DT6 5NPTel: 01308 422717www.denhay.co.uk
Bacon from free-range pigs fed a natural diet. Denhay also make the excellent organic Duchy Originals bacon, which is widely available in supermarkets. Denhay bacon is available through mail order.
Heal Farm Meats, Heal Farm, Kings Nympton, Devon EX37 9TBTel: 01769 574341www.healfarm.co.uk
Organic bacon made using traditional breeds, reared in exceptional conditions: British Lop, Tamworth, Welsh and more.
Maynards Farm Bacon, Weston-under-Redcastle, Shrewsbury,Shropshire SY4 5LRTel: 01948 840252www.maynardsfarm.co.uk
Various traditionally cured styles of bacon, made with the interesting addition of spices in the cure such as ginger and caraway.
Richard Woodall Ltd, Lane End, Waberthwaite, Nr Millom,Cumbria LA 19 5YJTel: 01229 717237www.richardwoodall.com
Award-winning bacon from a closed herd of Landrace and Large White pigs.
Sillfield Farm, Endmoor, Kendal, Cumbria LA8 0HZTel: 015395 67609www.sillfield.co.uk
Peter Gott’s skilfully made bacon is produced from beautifully cared-for pigs that roam almost wild.
Slacks, Newlands Farm, Raisbeck, Orton, Penrith,Cumbria CA10 3SGTel: 01539 624667www.edirectory.co.uk/slacks
Air-dried bacon from locally sourced, free-range, dairy-fed pigs.
BANANAS
A banana is all the more enjoyable when you are sure the growers received a fair sum, so it is well worth paying the extra 40 pence or so per kilo for Fairtrade fruit – it is a low price for a highly nutritious food. However, as the Fairtrade phenomenon gathers pace and our supermarkets commit themselves to selling some fairly traded food, concern about the production methods for conventional bananas grows. Meanwhile, a trade war is brewing that could change the banana map forever, narrowing consumer choice.
What’s behind the incredible popularity of bananas?
In the first place, bananas are a ‘superfood’, like papaya and broccoli. They have high levels of fibre (good for the gut), vitamin C (to protect against disease) and potassium, which, apart from slashing the risk of heart disease, is an excellent hangover cure. We love them, too, as we do eggs, for their naturally built-in hygienic wrapping.
Why are bananas such an important fruit to the UK?
They’ve long been part of our culture, tied in with our loyalty to the once-colonised countries who supply us with them. The same countries used to be chiefly sugarcane growers, but that market began to collapse in the 1930s and 1940s, when northern European farmers started growing sugar beet (later sustained by some tasty subsidies). In other words, we wiped out the sugar business in the Caribbean, causing social unrest. To compensate, we set up Geest, a company whose name became synonymous with exporting bananas.
Do long, straight bananas come from a different plant
from the small, curvy ones?
Almost every banana on sale, indeed 98 per cent of world export, is the Cavendish variety. Cavendish is high yielding and travels well, lasting up to four weeks after picking. But growing one type of banana creates a monoculture, reducing biodiversity and attracting disease even to the reasonably disease-resistant Cavendish. Banana ‘shape’ comes down to the farming method; small, curvy bananas tend to be Caribbean, where they use less expensive fertilisers and pick early. A London market importer likened the Caribbean banana to ‘a small hungry hand’ – with good reason.
Why is there a banana trade war?
Because the US companies with huge banana business interests in South America protested that under WTO (World Trade Organisation) law the Europeans can no longer offer favourable trade conditions to Caribbean exporters. The EU has now ruled that all countries should pay a single tariff, or tax. The Caribbean growers say that, due to poorer growing conditions, banana production is more costly there and with a single tariff they cannot compete. They say the US complaint was about corporate greed, and will not bring fairness. The EU stands accused of making rules without evaluating the outcome. No study has been done to check how even the playing field will become and the Caribbean countries say the future of banana growing is under threat. Around 80 per cent of the banana market is controlled by corporations, including Dole, Del Monte, Bonito and Chiquita.
Are bananas sprayed?
Bananas rank second on the ‘most sprayed’ list (cotton ranks first), especially on large-scale plantations that can afford the expense of agricultural chemicals. Some of these pesticides and fungicides are hazardous to growers. Workers in Honduras have just persuaded a multinational corporation to stop using chlorpyriphos after a study showed it caused skin allergies, appetite loss and fertility problems. There are compensation cases pending in Nicaragua over similar claims of horrific damage to workers’ health.
Are bananas artificially ripened?
All bananas, including organic ones, need a trigger for ripening. Most producers use ethylene, a gas that is permitted even under Soil Association rules. Ethylene is naturally produced by fruit, but for commercial purposes it is manufactured, a by-product of industry. Remember that you can ripen bananas, tomatoes and avocados by putting them in a paper bag and letting the natural ethylene enclosed get to work. Ethylene is not that harmful and the Soil Association argues that it must permit this treatment or we can forget the availability of organic bananas.
Are organic bananas more eco-friendly?
Bananas travel several thousand miles, organic or not. But both conventional and organic bananas travel by boat, not plane, and leaving the banana out of the fruit bowl would have a devastating sociological impact on producing countries so it is a worthwhile exception to make, even for those aiming to keep food miles to a minimum. Bananas are also very nutritious. Soil Association-certified bananas hail from the Windward Isles, Costa Rica and Ecuador.
Which is the ideal banana to buy?
It is best to buy organic or Fairtrade bananas; the extra is worth paying and they are still a remarkably cheap food. Be aware, however, that Fairtrade does not necessarily mean organic, and Fairtrade bananas could have been treated with agricultural chemicals unless the pack also says organic. Having said that, it is also the case that Faitrade bananas tend to be grown by producer groups of small-scale farmers who cannot afford the expense of pesticides and fertilisers, so minimise their use. Likewise a premium should be paid to organic banana farms, boosting their income, so there is an element of fair trade, too.
Sales of Fairtrade bananas are growing at an astonishing rate of 43 per cent per annum, increasing from sales of 18 million kilos in 2003 to 25 million kilos in 2004. Some countries need more help than others. The Windward Islands are the most needy and fairly traded bananas from there are the ones to buy. Look for the ‘Windwards’ label, but also for Caribbean bananas in general.
What the supermarkets say
Sainsbury sells both a Fairtrade and an organic supply of bananas. Marks & Spencer and the Co-op import their bananas from the Caribbean and sell an additional Fairtrade supply and an organic supply. Budgens sells bananas sourced from all over the Caribbean, including a Fairtrade and an organic variety. Waitrose sells Fairtrade bananas from the Windward Isles and Tesco sells them from the Caribbean.
It is interesting to note that at the time of writing the price of conventional bananas in the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets was a standard 85 pence per kilo. Could they be ‘price fixing’, which is illegal? No – the price is too low to accuse the stores of this. Supermarkets rate bananas as a KVI – a ‘known value item’. This means they lower the price as far as it can possibly go, which works out the same for each of the Big Four. No wonder fair trade is needed.
BEEF
Burnished and juicily rich, a roast forerib of beef is as magnificent on the Christmas table as turkey or goose, and just as seasonal. Traditionally December is the time to slaughter adult cattle still fat from grazing, then slowly mature the beef, hanging it in cool winter temperatures. But while a margin of this culture continues, the beef industry in general has been turned on its head by modern farming methods, technology and, in the last decade, by consumer uncertainty over BSE.
The implementation of the Over Thirty Month (OTM) age-limit rule, a measure brought in at the height of the BSE scandal, had a devastating impact on our native breeds. Farmers crossbred purebred ‘native’ cattle with larger Continental types so they would grow to full size within the allowed time. While this beef is safe and nutritious, it does not measure up to the great flavour and texture of the British pedigree breeds so suitable for roasting. With the lifting of the OTM rule in November 2005, it is hoped that farmers will be able to afford to revive and maintain the pure native breeds and British beef will be 100 per cent British again.
What is – or was – the Over Thirty Month rule?
The OTM rule was introduced in March 1996 to restore shoppers’ confidence. Under the rule, all British beef or dairy animals must be slaughtered before the age of 30 months. There is much argument about the science behind the introduction of the OTM rule, with government scientific advisors insisting that the measure would eradicate the disease and keep cattle BSE free. Farmers complained it was simply a PR initiative, there to placate consumers, and I agree with them. It led to the slaughter of over five million older animals at a huge cost to the taxpayer. The rule was implemented in the dairy industry, too. But numbers of animals with BSE in the UK have dropped to equal levels with other EU countries and the scheme is now to be scrapped. This means that the slower-growing traditional breeds will have the four or more years they sometimes need to reach optimum maturity and a return to traditional flavour and texture.
But how can we be sure British beef is risk free?
The UK will change to a testing regime once the OTM rule is dropped: any animal suspected of having the disease will be slaughtered, then tested. Meat and bonemeal feed, the suspected catalyst for BSE infection, is banned and so-called ‘specified risk material’ (SRM), such as heads, some offal, most of the vertebrae and all spinal cords, is not permitted for sale. With no proof that nvCJD (the human form of the disease) is spread by eating meat from cattle with the disease, the risk can never be fully assessed. The best way to be sure that beef is safe is to have a full history of the herd from which it was supplied. The new beef labelling laws provide full traceability, but there is nothing like buying from a herd that has always been closed, i.e. one where animals are never bought in.
Where’s the benefit in removing the OTM rule?
Nearly a million British cattle will return to the food chain over the next two years, pushing up the percentage of beef available in shops so we can move towards eradicating the need for imported beef, specifically the forequarter beef used in cheaper burgers. This will obviously boost the incomes of British livestock farmers.
What’s wrong with imported beef?
Problems with imported meat include lack of traceability and lower safety standards. Imported meat has been found to contain spinal cord, and SRM banned throughout Europe. Some beef is imported from South America, Africa and EU countries. Shops do not like to advertise this fact so it tends to find its way into the catering trade or ready meals. There are always welfare and feed issues with imported meat; most countries do not have our stricter rules on welfare and especially feed. Incidentally, beef sold by breed name can be a product of another country. Dutch Aberdeen Angus is frequently sold in the UK and is often the ‘Aberdeen Angus’ steak on menus.
Is all the Aberdeen Angus in shops 100 per cent
Aberdeen Angus?
No – and the industry is very protective of this information. Cross breeding results in a high ratio of meat to bone, quickly – hence its appeal after the OTM rule was introduced, which saw slower-growing native breeds being slaughtered before reaching their full potential. Also, be aware that beef called ‘Scottish’ may be native-Continental cross. This is not so much a taste issue (the beef can be delicious if kindly reared, well fed and hung for the correct time) but it is a breed heritage and especially a welfare problem. The cross breeding of Continental cattle such as Limousin and Charentais with Aberdeen Angus is rife but the resulting meat can be called Aberdeen Angus. I have visited farms in Scotland where this practice takes place, where farmers have complained to me that mixing the breeds can cause the calves to be too big for the native-bred mothers and they can have trouble giving birth. Lastly, in my view, the larger-grained meat of fast-growing native–Continental crossbreeds is ill suited to British cooking, especially as roasting joints, and far better, I’m afraid to say, for the Continental veal market. Connoisseurs of beef prefer the small joints of tight-grained native beef. Given the choice, I would go for pure-bred native beef.
What information is on the label of beef packs in
supermarkets?
Labels on beef sold in supermarkets must comply with the new labelling regulations, and butchers must display somewhere in the shop notices showing the origin of their beef. The labels or notices should show the name of the country or countries in which the animal was born, reared, slaughtered and cut. Beef labelled ‘British’ must come from animals born, reared and slaughtered entirely within the UK. Supermarket labels rarely carry more information; suppliers must seek approval for additional information on labels, such as ‘grass fed’, ‘Farm Assured’, or astonishingly, ‘English’.
How can I be sure of buying the best beef?
• Ask about breed – beef from native breeds has tight-grained flesh best suited to roasting; native breeds include pedigree Aberdeen Angus, Hereford, South Devon, Welsh Black, Lincoln Red, Longhorn, Belted Galloway, Highland and White Park.
• Ask about feed – meat from animals grown slowly on a mainly grass/silage diet with some cereal in winter has the most flavour. Non-organically reared animals can be fed GM cereals in the UK.
• Ask about welfare – stress caused by long journeys to abattoirs, and thereafter overcrowded pens (lairage), and noise has been proved to change PH levels in meat, affecting tenderness and flavour.
• Ask about hanging – a side or quarter of beef should be hung for between three and five weeks, uncovered, at a temperature of 2-3°C.
What the supermarkets say
The Co-op sources its beef from the UK and Ireland and 95 per cent of the animals are reared outdoors, feeding on natural pasture, silage and some concentrates, as required. Although the Co-op operates a strictly non-GM policy, it states that these concentrates may contain soya that is not specified as non-GM. Journey time to the abattoir is approximately six hours.
Sainsbury sells a range of organic beef and well-hung conventional beef. It cannot guarantee the latter is not given GM feed.
Marks & Spencer sources its beef from England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Animals are fed a forage-based diet with at least one season grazing at grass and no GM feed. The journey to the abattoir takes no longer than four hours.
Budgens’ beef is reared in England. The cattle are fed on grass, silage and meal, which, although free from fishmeal and growth promoters, may contain some GM substances. The abattoir is less than 100 miles away.
Waitrose sources all its beef in the UK. The mixed breed animals are reared 95 per cent of the time outdoors on a GM-free diet that is 75 per cent forage based (grass, silage), the rest wheat, barley and soya. Journey times to slaughterhouse average nearly four hours.
Tesco beef is sourced from the UK, Ireland, Argentina and Brazil (country of origin is always labelled, so look for the small print; even if the label says Aberdeen Angus, the country of origin could be food-mile-heavy South America). The cattle are fed a forage-based diet with other cereals (‘not generally soya bean’). Tesco did not state whether the feed was GM free.
Where to buy British beef
We taste-tested beef from the farms below and, without exception, the meat was outstanding: tight grained, full flavoured and beautifully tender. Salt was never an option. Meat from these farms is produced from slowly grown cattle fed a natural, predominantly grass diet, then killed locally and traditionally matured. All the farms offer home delivery.
Barkers, Mid Torrie Farm, Callander, Perthshire FK17 8JLTel: 01877 330203www.barkershighlandbeef.co.uk
Breed: Highland
Baylham House Rare Breeds Farm, Mill Lane, Baylham,Needham Market, Suffolk IP6 8LGTel: 01473 830264www.baylham-house-farm.co.uk
Breed: White Park
Blackface.co.uk, Weatherall Foods Ltd, Crochmore House,Irongray, Dumfries DG2 9SFTel: 01387 730326www.blackface.co.uk
Breed: Scottish Galloway (now aged up to four years)
Brown Cow Organics, Perridge Farm, Pilton, Shepton Mallet,Somerset BA4 4EWTel: 01749 890298www.browncoworganics.co.uk
Breed: Guernsey (beef animals are from this family farm’s dairy herd)
Donald Russell Direct, Harlaw Road, Inverurie,Aberdeenshire AB51 4FRTel: 01467 629666www.donaldrusselldirect.com
Experts in butchery (Continental and British cuts) and hanging meat.
Edwards of Conwy, 18 High Street, Conwy,North Wales LL32 8DETel: 01492 592443www.edwardsofconwy.co.uk
Breed: Welsh Black
