Organic meat boxes

[annwfyn]

I'm being mildly amused to discover that Sheepdrove Farm (which is a lovely traditional organic farm, about two miles from where my father lives) do organic meat boxes. So, it's like an organic veg box, but containing ethically reared, tasty lovely meat.

I think I quite like the idea. I've always been firmly of the opinion that I have no issues with eating meat at all. Animals eat other animals. I do not whinge about those dastardly lions and their antelope snaffling ways. Neither do I think I feel very guilty about my own choice to eat cows, or sheep or anything else.* However, I do have an issue with the industrialisation of meat production. It's therefore quite nice to know that it is possible to get meat which has been ethically and traditionally reared, wherever you are. And because it is local to my family, I know it is a good and ethical place and is also very environmentally friendly.

Sadly, my lack of a proper freezer probably means that I can't afford to spend £50 on an entire cow buttock (although it does remind me of the year my grandfather gave my parents a cow. A dead cow. Cut up into lots of pieces. We stuck it in our gargantuan freezer in the outhouse and that provided us with our meat for about a year), but I'm still relatively glad it's all there.


*Other people, of course, must make the ethical choices which are right for them.

Comments

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

"Other people, of course, must make the ethical choices which are right for them."

Must they? Really? Isn't that a bit prescriptive? Can't they choose not to?

Joking, joking...

Hmm, £50 for a cow buttock sounds like a pretty good deal - you'd get a whole bunch of steaks out of that. Sadly, I don't have a chest freezer either.

[ginasketch.livejournal.com]

Hungry now.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

They can, of course, chose only to live on battery chickens, whilst lounging on the bodies of sex slaves imported from eastern europe, wearing silk robes made in sweat shops.

I would argue that that is still making an ethical choice. Just an alternatively moralled one...:p

[becky-spence.livejournal.com]

*awe*

Okay, I _have_ to find one of these places near to me. We have a massive chest freezer and it would be so good to fill it with nice tasty food....

[wildrogue.livejournal.com]

That's really cool. I keep hoping that someone will do a meat box similar to the veg boxes you can get - a selection of seasonable meat for a reasonable price. But I'm hugely tempted by one of these I have to say - if I could get it in the freezer it would feed me for about 6 months I think :-)

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

Doesn't sound very appealing. The sex slaves would be unenthusiastic, the battery chickens unappetising, and the silk robes unflattering.

I'd say that was more of a quality-of-life issue...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I think if you have the freezer space it would be well worth it. I'd do it myself if I thought I could store it.

Having said that, I've looked again at the prices, and it's actually over £100 for buttock of beef. £50 gets you:

1kg Beef Topside, 500g Cubed Chuck Steak, 500g Minced Beef, 1.25kg Lamb Half Shoulder, 500g Cubed Lamb/Mutton, 500g Pork & Herb Sausages, 1.75kg Whole Chicken & 250g Streaky Bacon (unsmoked)

That's still quite a lot, but I'm not good enough with weight of meat to be able to evaluate the value for money.

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

Apparently they and similar things (Donald Russell do something similar) are very, very good on the "feeding you for ages" stakes.

Of course, it helps if you have things that can cook from frozen, like, say, a sous-vide cooker...

[(Anonymous)]

More expensive than supermarket meat but pretty good value for organic.

[wildrogue.livejournal.com]

That being me, who forgot to log in again. Oops.

[red-phil.livejournal.com]

What you need are a few folk to come in with you on a box.
Split the cost and don;t have to worry about storing it all.

[badgersandjam.livejournal.com]

Now I'm all hungry. Meat is good. I wonder if any steak's on offer...

[quisalan.livejournal.com]

One of the guys at my professional college is the marketing manager of the farm... I know far too much about it!

[eladriell.livejournal.com]

Live on the bodies of Eastern European sex slaves of the battery chickens who wear silk robes?

Can You Beat Meat?

[eladriell.livejournal.com]

*Stuffs a rabbit in his overcoat pocket*

"Free range? Yeah why not, mate...£20?"

*Hides the "Mr Floppsy" collar*

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Really? That's so cool.

I never knew much more than 'I used to be allowed to use a couple of the bridleways that go through it, and it's where my family always get the Xmas turkey til recently, and I've been amazed at how much is going on up there!

BTW, if the marketing manager is anything to do with their website, he has done well at making it seem very cool and shiny.

[omentide.livejournal.com]

Abel and Cole from whom we get our fruit and veg boxes do meat and fish as 'add ons'. I've not looked into this too closely as we frequent two organic butchers (OK, I have never seen an inorganic butcher, but you know what I mean) and Waitrose and I worry about things being left in the shed all day even with an ice pack.

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

Looks groovy.

*adds to bookmarks for later*

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

My brother and sister in law swear by Donald Russell - I was trying to remember the name but am hangover impaired :)