Ethically sourced meat

Charis

Redlady, this shop is in the nearest town to me, they have a farm out in the countryside not far from here. They could probably tell you the provenance of everything they sell and where it's slaughtered. They make all their own pies and pasties. Their meat is excellent quality, including rare breeds, and they have an email facility to ask questions. Online delivery is free at the moment. I'm not connected to them in any way, they're well known locally.

redlady_1

Thanks for that Charis. Will have a look. I will probably drop them a mail to find out about the slaughter.

Mojisola

zcrat41 wrote: »

Organic means it has been reared without certain growth promotors/food grown with the use of chemicals etc but don't think that means it's perfect - farmers are still allowed to use certain chemicals at certain times of the year for certain things.

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

See here for permitted drug use under organic standards.

None of that is routine. However, animal welfare comes above everything and if a vet says a medicine is needed, it has to be used. Permission has to be gained from the certifying body before some medicines can be used and the animal is often removed from the organic certificate for a time period. It all adds up to far less chemicals/medicines being used than in ordinary husbandry.

Mrs_Chip

Philip Warren in Launceston is a fabulous butcher, the meat is first class and they run their own abbetoir. Not sure where you are in Wilts Redlady, but might be worth a trip down the A303/30. They did have an online/mail order facility,but the website seems to be a W.I.P again.

Mojisola

You can read some organic standards for slaughtering animals here - https://www.organicfarmers.org.uk/licensees/controlmanual/pdf/CM_12_Abattoir_Standards_Oct06.pdf

There are several organic certification bodies and although they all comply with the organic standards legislation, they do vary in some details.

redlady_1

Well Launceston is not that far away really and I am often up and down the A303 in the summer. I like the idea of that. I have found a website called well hung (calm yourselves ladies!) and it seems to have good ethics so will drop them a line too.

Wig

Organic meat is guaranteed better welfare, they have standards that must be kept to get the organic stamp. There are however, different standards of organic, all organinc is good, just some are better than others.

Soil Association is the best you can get. There are numbered standards of organic

Organic Standard UK1, UK2, UK3, UK4, UK5, & UK6 according to who is the certifying body, i.e. Soil Association (UK5), European Union, Organic food and growers etc,

I used to have a magazine that told me about them and what they did for chicken farming flock sizes. It's not only flock size, they also differ on field rotation, Soil association has them move the field more often (fresh grass) and not allowed to return to a field for a few months longer than the other organic standards. And also the birds require a sky tarpauling so they can sit under it and feel safe from predators.

Soil Assoc max flock size for meat is 1000. For eggs 2000, with a recomendation size of 500
Other UK organic certifiers are up to 9000 birds
Non organic can have up to 40,000 flock size

The same better standards apply to pigs sheep and cows.
Cows fed on fresh grass for longer in the year are healthier and have more Omega 3 as a result, which is then better for you.

http://www.soilassociation.org/whatisorganic/organicstandards

http://92.52.112.178/web/sa/saweb.nsf/ed0930aa86103d8380256aa70054918d/09c73a034b80306580257149004cb42f?OpenDocument

If you look for organic, look for Soil Association Guaranteed to be "one of" if not "the" top standards of farming in the entire world.

For dispatch the SA require all animals to be stunned before death. I don't know how that compares to other types of farming, we have all seen the slaughter house videos of animals not being stunned properly. I don't know enough about that side of things to comment. From what I read on the SA website, would indicate that home "on the farm" stunning is allowed for chickens. I would have to be convinced that just picking them up into your hands and snapping their neck -instant death- would not be a lot easier and more humane than stunning and all the shennanigans that stunning must entail, but maybe stunning is the legal minumum for all animals.

HelenYorkshire

Try http://www.handmademeat.co.uk/

I can pass on a couple of names of good "local farmers" if you like, but you would have to speak directly with them about the slaughter process. Normal (non Halal) practice is to stun then kill. We would all hope that slaughterhouse staff show respect, however I'm certainly aware of "bad apples". The small local farmers are in a better position to talk, to care about their stock if that makes sense? In purely financial terms, they wouldn't put all that effort in to have it ruined by a stressful end.

Home slaughter is legal for sheep for one's own consumption, but you're not even allowed to give it away.

I'll make some enquiries

Incidentally, this is why lots of small, local slaughterhouses closing down is a disaster - no-one wants to send their stock on an epic journey at that time.

taxsaver

redlady_1 wrote: »

Thats what I am talking about Mrs Chip. Its the stress at dispatch that I want to avoid. I would love to find a farm/shop/anything that kills its own meat. Will certainly have a look for a Q Guild butcher. That is what I wanted to know.

It is just a total minefield and whilst I am not fussed about organic I dont want an animal that has totally freaked out when put on the lorry because it can smell blood and then gets so stressed waiting for the end. It is the final journey which is beginning to play on my mind.

Sagz wrote: »

I haven't eaten meat for around 15 years because of the way animals are treated before being killed. If I could find a pig / lamb / cow / chicken that had led a happy life and was killed on the farm it was raised on with the least amount of stress I'd be the first in line at the buffet!

Wig wrote: »

For dispatch the SA require all animals to be stunned before death. I don't know how that compares to other types of farming, we have all seen the slaughter house videos of animals not being stunned properly. I don't know enough about that side of things to comment. From what I read on the SA website, would indicate that home "on the farm" stunning is allowed for chickens. I would have to be convinced that just picking them up into your hands and snapping their neck -instant death- would not be a lot easier and more humane than stunning and all the shennanigans that stunning must entail, but maybe stunning is the legal minumum for all animals.

I'm not a farmer by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm fortunate in that my house has about an acre of garden. I've kept poultry for a few years but this year have added in a few rare breed pigs and rare breed sheep. This is because I want control over my own meat supply and like many of you here want to know the animal has had a good life etc.

The regulations are something of a hurdle I'm afraid. I am allowed to humanely kill (includes stunning as a requirement for all but poultry - poultry must be dispatched humanely ofc but it needn't involve stunning as a quick blow to the neck with an axe for example is guaranteed instant, which ofc can't be said for larger animals) but if I home slaughter a pig or a lamb then the meat can ONLY be consumed by my immediately family RESIDING at my address..... I cannot let my grown-up children living in their own houses have any, I cannot give it to neighbours and friends and I cannot sell it! If I want freedom to share/sell my meat then I am REQUIRED to have the animal killed at a slaughter house. Fortunately I live only 5 miles from a very small abbatoir and can personally take my animal there in my own trailer and can accompany it into the building and right up until the very end. I therefore know that the end was swift, clean and humane.

I always keep my trailer clean and in fact it is a legal requirement, subject to random inspection, that ALL trailers are cleaned thoroughly within 24 hours of delivering to an abbatoir.... so there is no truth in the belief that animals on the way to their demise can 'smell the blood' of previous occupants!

Feel free to pm me if anyone wants to know more.

threemuttleys

Get yuorself a copy of Hugh FW's Meat Book...not only is it a real eye opener as to what goes on with mass produced meat, and the huge difference you get with properly raised and slaughtered meat, but also where to find good meat.

Do you have a garden? I am next year going to raise my own chooks (some for eggs and some for meat)