This was taken in July, as we biked back from our monthly meat gathering expedition at Luddenham Farm. It's a perfect bike ride - just enough hills to make you feel like you worked for your pint at the end. We went back last week and all the grain was yellow. I bet if we went this weekend it would be gone.
Luddenham Farm is why we still eat meat without huge guilt paroxysms - although not organic, they raise their animals traditionally and feed with what they grow on their farm. You can walk around and see the animals - and yes, they do look happy. Happy pigs are a pleasure to behold. They sell their own meat on the farm, butchered to your specifications, should you have any. The lack of middle man and packaging means that ethical, well-hung meat is affordable, if you're careful about what cuts you are buying. Although they sell the best sirloin I have ever had. Ever. Cut from (I kid you not) the biggest hunk of meat I have ever seen - hung to perfection and enough to make our chef-y friend James salivate and immediately increase both his previously requested steak thickness and amount.
Buying and eating ethically is difficult at the best of times, and in the tug-of-war between locality, organics, gm/not gm, and animal welfare, I often find it hard to make decisions. It's easy not to bother - to go to Tesco's and buy whatever - after all, as a human, I am uniquely adapted to shove down guilt and do it anyways. Luddenham Farms makes decision making enjoyable, and we are supporting our local community to boot.
Not to mention the lovely bike ride!
1 comment:
I'm trying to picture you biking through a beautiful Kent countryside with a slab of beef strapped to your back. I admit to giggling randomly at the thought of it all...
We have a local farmer who give us preperly cared for, fairly raised beef as well...happy cows taste better it owuld seem. I like supporting local farmers...it needs to happen. Sometimes sustainable, local and humane are more important than organic.
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