Meat

[tortoise]

I love eating meat and am a true omnivore. I don't really want to become a vegetarian, but after seeing the horrible items on the news about the so called "Free food", I really need to find somewhere honest to buy my meat from.

I am going to email supermarkets and find out where they source all their meat and food from and then I am going to contact farmers etc.

Have any of you got any ideas as to where I can source my food. I am so pi**ed off that the RSPCA backed that Free Food campaign, but didn't have the resources to monitor the farms involved.

I really don't want to see animals being ill treated and abused to feed me and my family, but I do like to eat meat. I spoke to a vegetarian friend and she more or less called me a murderer!

We always try and buy Fairtrade where we can and even my engagement ring was a conflict free diamond! So we do want to do our bit.

Any ideas??

:unsure:

[tortoise]

Thanks for the link Mrs Sb, it looks good.

We don't eat too much red meat either, mainly chicken and pork. We do have the occasional veggie meal like stir frys and cous cous based stuff. We also use Quorn. We eat a good varied diet, but just want to try and do what's right.
We always buy free range eggs, but find it hard to buy free range chickens!!

[Annabel]

its not too difficult tortoise.

i used to be a veggie because of animal welfare issues, but lapsed when i was expecting. hubby is such a meat eater its very awkward trying to be a veggie, but lately i really have started to feel like i want to give up meat again.

i never ever buy any 'value ' meat, i have noticed that increasingly, Sainsbury's are naming the farms where their meat comes from, so i try to buy that, even if it is a lot more pricey - i think our food is too cheap anyway...

the best thing to do though is to find a local butcher if you have one as you can ask them lots of questions about the source of their meat and if they are good butchers they will try to get you what you want.

Buy British!

try to steer clear of ready meals with chicken in, most of that meat is sourced from abroad and of poorer quality, and cos its covered in sauce you cant really see what its like..also be wary of chicken nuggets turkey products and any frozen meat generally, especially mince!

the one thing i always always buy free range and organic is eggs, if i know an egg is battery produced i would rather not eat it as they conditions for those poor animals is nothing short of hell on earth and i dont want to be part of supporting it. i dont buy quorn as it is made partly with eggs that are not free range or organic...

[tortoise]

Oh my God I didn't know that about Quorn, won't be buying that anymore. :no:

We don't have a local butcher, but there is one by my Brother in Laws house, so I will try there.

I don't buy value meat and ready meals anyway as the meat always looks cr*p.

[tortoise]

I know that Morrisons have a trained butcher and fishmonger in each store. We do have the sides of meat delivered and the butcher cuts its and packs it. I always try to buy this meat rather then the pre packed food that comes in.

Our fishmonger won the retailer of the year award for his mongery skills!

[Annabel]

more power to his elbow, tortoise!

i thought i would post this link to the Soil Association, HERE (http://www.soilassociation.org/web/sa/saweb.nsf?Open)

I wish i could just chuck my job in and go and work for them! :rolleyes:

I stopped buying British beef (mince) cos of the BSE outbreak.[/b]

I dont have a problem with beef anymore, and i think we should support the British beef industry, they have done a lot of work to improve standards.

[tortoise]

Great link Annabel, thanks

We have put a carbon offsetting link on our wedding website so people can buy a tree or invest in a climate change programme to offset their flights.

[StoneHenge]

I do most of my grocery shopping at ASDA, but there are lots of farms around here who have farm shops and they are more than happy to let you question them about how they keep their animals etc before slaughter.

I know a man who keeps chickens and keeps them very 'free range' and even though he only has a few, he is happy to collect half dozen eggs for you if you want.

I always buy free range eggs. I stormed out of one of our local shops once because all they had were caged eggs, and when I see the bargain eggs in the supermarkets, it makes me mad.

I can understand people's apprehension over buying British beef, but they have very tight controls over these now and if you source your meat from a local farmer, you know you are getting good stuff. Plus if you are lucky enough to own a chest freezer, or you can go in with another person (family, neighbour etc), and go halves on a half a cow, then usually they are happy to cut them into joints for you to freeze and use later, and you end up saving money too. Same with lamb.

I'm afraid I enjoy my meat too much to become veggie, but I do worry about where it's sourced, especially chicken. I never buy ready meals because you just don't know where the meat has been, how it has been kept or if it's actually fresh, as I've seen some programmes where they showed chicken that had been bleached and injected with water to make it look fresh when actually it should have been condemed.

Organic is so expensive when you are on a budget. I would love to buy organic all the time, but just can't afford it.

I have no idea why more supermarkets don't support local farmers and local produce. It would make so much sense, and cut overheads down for them on importing food when it's on the door step.

Some places even offer delivery of veg etc now don't they (from farms).

[Noise Stopper]

The main reason for not supporting local farmers is economies of scale, sadly it is cheaper and easier for a multi national like Walmart to buy whole herds of thousands of cow's from a farm in Argentina or Chile and ship them here than buy twenty or so cows from the bloke down the road!

The bit I really like about the organic meat websites is the fact that no one is bothered about the actual killing, more about the taste of the killed! (I should point out that I am a total omnivore and have actually worked in a slaughterhouseand have no problems at all with the ethical arguements!)

Bon appetite Y'all

Ian :nfh1:

[Annabel]

The main reason for not supporting local farmers is economies of scale, sadly it is cheaper and easier for a multi national like Walmart to buy whole herds of thousands of cow's from a farm in Argentina or Chile and ship them here than buy twenty or so cows from the bloke down the road[/b]

This is exactly what has to change though! supermarkets have driven the cost of food right down - because that is what they had to do to compete with each other, but its been passed off in the guise of 'the consumer demands cheap food'
now we have issues of global warming to contend with, we should not be having food we can produce here flown in from halfway across the globe and nor should we be eating veg and fruit out of season.

we have got used to having everythign we wnat all the time, but i am hoping gradually that attitudes will change and more people will buy British and buy local where they can. :)

[Bonkers Mad!!!]

i became a vegetarian on monday after reading about the "kill it, cook it, it" programme on BBC3. and so far i have lost 4lbs :yes: :lol:

[StoneHenge]

I think I need to try that diet BM!! After loosing 6 I've got stuck (must be the chocolate!).

Trouble is I'd start craving bacon at 3am and stuff like that. Don't know why, just can't give up the meat.