Grass Fed Meat in the UK page

[milly57]

I'm not finding it easy to source grass fed meat or nitrate free bacon in the UK. I've searched online and local butchers without not much luck. Do any UK residents know of any suppliers?

Thank you

[queen_sheba]

http://www.glenlyongourmet.co.uk/Beef-s/24.htm

[reamz]

http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/resou...at/index.shtml

Heres a list of grassfed producers in the UK

[StoneAgeQueen]

I didn't see Northern Ireland on that list (but they've probably forgotten about us, as usual) but I always thought our meat was at least partly grass fed, am I wrong? I know all lamb is grass fed.

[FergalJennings]

I didn't see Northern Ireland on that list (but they've probably forgotten about us, as usual) but I always thought our meat was at least partly grass fed, am I wrong? I know all lamb is grass fed.

Most of the meat here is grass fed all year round..the famers/butchers down here in lurgan usually get their meat local..

But i find it hard to get the bacon and sausages here..hard to find gluten free.

[Lewis]

I'm not finding it easy to source grass fed meat or nitrate free bacon in the UK. I've searched online and local butchers without not much luck. Do any UK residents know of any suppliers?

I think animals, particularly cattle, tend to be less intensively farmed in the UK. I understand there are cows in the U.S. that rarely get outdoors. U.S. farmers also seemed to have moved to Holsteins for milk, whereas I don't think farmers in the UK went further than Friesians, and there are less of those around nowadays.

Grass-fed doesn't seem to be a big selling-point in the UK - maybe the omega-3 issue never made such a big splash in the UK. (Not that the omega-3 issue is a cut-and-dried one where beef is concerned anyway - although that's no reason not seek grass-fed beef, which is good for a number of reasons - see here.)

On the other hand, it's a selling point in UK to point out that you're selling beef from a proper beef breed, such as Aberdeen Angus. There are these local differences. What terms are used and what selling points are splashed will vary. In Britain - and possibly in Ireland - Kerrygold Butter doesn't say on the packs that the cows are grass-fed, but apparently it does in the U.S. But it's the same butter. The company presumably just knows it's a selling-point over there to say so.

In The UK, you probably generally want to look for the phrase "free range". That will mean an animal that hasn't been intensively farmed, but that has been allowed to wander about in the open and pick up at least some of its own food.

Sheep, of course, are always run outside. That's probably why lamb is relatively expensive compared to, say, pork. It probably makes lamb a good option, if you don't mind paying, though. Offal, such as lambs' liver and lambs' kidneys is actually a bargain, however, as most Britons, unlike in the past, shy away from it now. Welsh lamb seems to be in season right now - these are small sheep run on the Welsh hills and the meat is very sweet, although a bit low in fat for some tastes - Thomas Love Peacock:

The mountain sheep are sweeter,
But the valley sheep are fatter,
We therefore deemed it meeter
To carry off the latter.

I know Sussman's Biltong in Sussex use grass-fed Scotch beef for their biltong. Biltong is African-style dried (jerked) meat:

http://www.biltong.co.uk/default.aspx

Devon Rose in Seaton do nitrate-free bacon. I haven't tried it - I'm not convinced the issue is that important - but I'm tempted:

http://www.devonrose.com/

[Jenny]

Like Lewis and Mark ( http://www.marksdailyapple.com/a-quick-guide-to-bacon/ ) I'm not sold on the nitrate-free issue being all that important. They still get nitrates from the celery salt used to cure the meat.. sometimes that's more nitrate than you would've received compared to other products with nitrates added!

Nitrite's different -- you can read more here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/sodium-nitrite-meat/

[StoneAgeQueen]

Most of the meat here is grass fed all year round..the famers/butchers down here in lurgan usually get their meat local..

But i find it hard to get the bacon and sausages here..hard to find gluten free.

Good that's what I thought then.

Go to M&S for your sausages. ALL of them are gluten free, and most don't contain any grains or fillers at all. The pure pork ones are 97% meat (with a little spice added). The pork and apple ones are DIVINE.

[queen_sheba]

great - *Another* great reason to go to M&S...and I wonder why i have no money left at the end of the month!

but yummy no less...and stuff you can't elsewhere...

[breadsauce]

Hi. Here are a couple of grass fed meat sites - the second one definitely will post to you.

http://www.rudgwickorganic.co.uk/


http://uktv.co.uk/food/outlet/aid/619573

http://freerangereview.com/shop/kiel...ellingham-1725

I've put two links ABOUT Kielder organic meat as their website seems to be down at present. Fabulous meat - I always buy some when I am in Northumberland visiting my parents. Their lamb is wonderful - they also sell Hogget (a sheep over 1 year old but not old enough to be mutton) and it is so delicious!