How much meat should you be eating?

Our philosophy on meat has always been "eat less, but better", but how much meat should we actually be consuming on a weekly basis? We’ve done some research and asked the experts what their thoughts are on this much-debated topic.

How much meat?
The UK Department of Health recommends that a balanced diet should include no more than 70g of red meat per day: ‘meat is a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals in your diet. However, if you currently eat more than 90g (cooked weight) of red and processed meat a day, the Department of Health advises that you cut down to 70g, which is the average daily consumption in the UK.’ According to their research, 90g is equivalent to around three thinly-cut slices of beef, lamb or pork, with each slice being roughly half the size of a slice of bread.

While red meat does contain a range of vitamins and nutrients, including vitamins B3, B12 and B6, Iron, Zinc and Selenium, it is to be enjoyed in moderation. It’s important to note that the nutritional value of any meat is strongly influenced by the way the animal has been reared. As an example, grass fed beef has been proven to hold far more nutrients than grain fed alternatives, such as heart healthy Omega-3s, the fatty acid CLA, along with Vitamins A and E.

The NHS recommends introducing other plant-based forms of protein into your diet, such as beans and pulses. That’s why we always look to include as many vegetables, beans, pulses and seeds in our recipes as possible. Our recipe for roasted chicken with butternut squash and wild rice salad is a great place to start as it’s full of protein rich seeds and veg.

How often?
We recently teamed up with personal trainer and online health coach, Max Lowery. He shares our views on farming and animal welfare. We caught up for a chat and to show him around Home Farm, you can watch what happened on the farm.

We quizzed Max on how much meat he consumes in an average week and why. He had this to say, "I aim to have at least three meatless days per week. I believe everyone should eat less meat, but choose to source that meat from top quality from producers like Field & Flower." You can read more about Max’s philosophy on food.

What type of meat?
As previously mentioned, the nutritional value of meat is affected by the way in which the animal has been reared. Compassion in World Farming elaborate on this in their recent study on the "Nutritional benefits of higher welfare animal products". Their research has shown that "higher-welfare animal products were shown to have a number of nutritional benefits over intensively-reared animal products. [These] animal products are often significantly lower in fat than equivalent products from intensively-reared animals. This is true of pasture-reared beef, free-range and organic chicken."

Compassion in World Farming concluded that choosing to consume food that has been produced to the highest standards of animal welfare (e.g. grass fed, free range) was likely to reduce your intake of fat, balance and improve your intake of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids and contribute to healthy levels of vitamin E and iron.

Eat the Field & Flower way
At Field & Flower we believe that choosing the right ingredients, especially when it comes to meat, is the most important thing about maintaining a healthy diet. Numerous studies, such as the example above, have demonstrated the benefits of choosing meat that has been reared slowly and naturally. We believe that grass fed and proper free range really is best. We ourselves choose to eat quality cuts of meat, roughly three times a week. We love creating dishes with sustainably sourced fish, vegetables, beans, deeds and pulses to see us through the rest of the week.