British farmers comment on consumer demand for better quality meat

Environmental impact of eating better quality meat

• Eating less but better-quality meat is an increasing trend we’re seeing at field&flower. We our finding our customers are increasingly deciding to purchase from us on ethics and the desire to support British farmers. We often have customers join us that have considered going vegetarian but recognise that not all meat is equal. They are seeking British free-range meat and placing emphasis on quality and provenance.
• Better quality beef and lamb will be grass and forage fed. This is because animals are ruminants and can naturally extract most of the nutrients they need from grazing on grass. The problem comes from the supermarkets desire to sell cheap meat, balanced with a farmer who needs to make a profit to stay in business. Grass-fed grazing means the animal will take longer to finish, and when an animal takes a longer time to reach maturity, it is extra cost for the farmer. We must be prepared to pay the true cost of free-range, British meat, where our welfare standards are some of the best in the world.
• Cheap meat is being produced abroad and being imported to the UK by feeding high proportions of grain to ruminant livestock – essentially like feeding fast food to animals. Not only does this impact the health of the animal, it also drastically increases the carbon output of the cattle’s diet. 
• UK Grass-fed beef and lamb will benefit the land as the livestock manure naturally fertilises the soil. When the soil is healthy, it will capture carbon and prevent this entering the atmosphere through a process called carbon sequestration. Nutrient depleted soils, as caused by heavy tilling and crop cycles, will have much less capacity for this. 
• Livestock are often farmed on marginal grassland that won’t support crop growth. Instead of the land having little to no food producing capacity, by rearing ruminant animals you can produce a nutritious food source with little input. This method of farming will also often avoid the use of herbicides, pesticides, and fertilisers – all of which are damaging to the environment and reduce biodiversity.

How lockdown/working from home has affected this

• During the first lockdown we saw a huge surge in demand and interest for our grass-fed and free-range meat. This was driven by panic-buying and consumer’s looking for new outlets to buy their food, but we also saw a marked increase in people wanting to buy British food and support British farmers. Working from home gave people the opportunity to experiment with food and cooking – and being a delivery service, it also made it easier for some people to receive our orders. Encouragingly we continue to see orders 300% up on 2019. Our Christmas orders are tracking 3 weeks ahead of 2020 as customers look to secure their free-range bronze turkey.