Re 'The Ginger Pig'... oh dear!!! 

Just visited their web site http://www.thegingerpig.co.uk/ ... found the following statement re their 140 strong herd of Longhorn cattle... "They are fed almost exclusively on fresh grass from our fields and finished on our own barley and a little molasses"... this is in total contradiction the info given to me by the farmer himself a good few years ago... he even told me a horror story of how he lost a couple of Longhorn bulls or so to grain which was scattered in the fields for pheasant shooting just before he bought the farm...  

OTOH... pigs are omnivores so possibly their pork, which IS the tastiest I've ever eaten, is OK...

Looks like 'Wild Beef' at Borough might be a better option... hope theirs are still exclusively grass-fed...

Dedy


  From: Geoffrey Purcell To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 1:56 PM


  I'm very grateful for that Seeds of Health website, as it's been useful to me in the past.

  Re Marylebone:- Sorry, I should have remembered to mention that they weren't grassfed- I remember finding out what their animals' actual diet was, ages ago, which is why I only buy from that stall, in extremis. . Most of the (beef-selling-)farms I buy from state that they feed the animals grass except during winter when they provide "hay and sileage" -  which I'd presumed to be OK. Mind you, I've always gone in for wild meats in particular so as to make up for any mistakes when buying meat from domesticated animals -  one often can't trust the farmers.

  (The stall where one can order  wild-hare carcasses is the one selling turkey breast-fillets and ducks, the stall just before the fishmonger's on the left).

  Re Ginger Pig:- I didn't know they had a shop in Moxon St - I'll definitely check it out in the near future. So they definitely have genuine pasture-fed pork, not almost wholly grain-fed?  I've tried in the past getting hold of pasture-fed pork, but all the farmers I spoke to were inordinately proud of the fact that they fed their pigs on a primarily  grain-based diet. I'm also looking into  Sheepdrove Farm as I've heard good things about it. 

  Geoff 

   "Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognised. In the first it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed, and in the third it is regarded as self-evident." Arthur Schopenhauer.   

  ----------------------------------------
  > Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:40:53 +0100 > From: [log in to unmask] > To: [log in to unmask]
  > 
  > Thanks Geoff for your thorough reply... 
  > 
  > I am familiar with Marylebone market and do go there often... have only seen one stall selling wild meat... it's a farmer who raises sheep and chickens... his chickens are very good and the cheapest around... I did buy their mixed wild game casserole meats... not bad... 
  > 
  > The water buffalo farm [Broughton Water Buffalo] is biodynamic but they do feed biodynamic soya to their animals!!! I've had a long chat with Patricia, the farmer about this a few years ago... got into similar conversations with several other organic meat farmers re grass-feeding... most seem to think that grass alone is not enough... sigh... same thing with the Queen's Park farmers market [the nearest to me]... no grass-fed meat there...
  > 
  > OTOH... The Ginger Pig with a shop just next to Marylebone market [Moxon st. + Borough Market] DO sell grass-only fed meat from their herd of British Longhorn cattle and 'ginger' pigs... their animals only eat what grows on the Yorkshire moors... they don't even use artificial insemination on the farm!.. their calf liver however is mostly sourced from France, the Limousin area and is usually snapped up by 'The River Café'...
  > 
  > Borough may be overcrowded and a touch touristy but the 'Wild Beef' farm sell meat from their herd of Welsh Blacks cattle... those animals ARE exclusively fed on whatever grows wild on Dartmoor... I don't get to go to Borough much nowadays... another sigh...
  > 
  > BTW... the Seeds of Health website was set up by Denise after the two of us formed the 'breakaway' NTUK list :-)
  > 
  > Dedy

  > 
  >   http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/resources/meat/index.shtml
  > 
  >    
  >   Geoff
  > 
  > 

  _________________________________________________________________
  The John Lewis Clearance - save up to 50% with FREE delivery
  http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/101719806/direct/01/=