Our meat vs the supermarket

At Field & Flower our philosophy has always been "eat better meat, less often". We pride ourselves on delivering ethical meat of the highest quality, sourced from trusted farmers and suppliers. When James and James first started up it was their ambition to reconnect the customer with the farm and support British farmers like the Flower family. With so much speculation about the quality of meat available in supermarkets, how can you really know where your meat has come from? Here are 5 reasons why you should buy from real farmers, not supermarkets.

1. Our meat is traceable and ethical
Every single cut we deliver to our customers is completely traceable. We work with a selection of trusted farmers and producers, so we know exactly where our meat comes from and how it has been reared. We use traditional, free range farming methods on Home Farm, the Flower family’s beef farm, and go to great lengths to ensure the farmers we work with use those same methods. This guarantees high standards of animal welfare as the animals are reared slowly and naturally, living much as they would do in the wild. We regularly visit our suppliers to confirm that the welfare of the livestock meets our expectations. This is not always the case with meat sourced by supermarkets. For example our chicken farmer Stuart rears his birds in flocks of 200, whereas a typical ‘free range’ supermarket bird might be kept in a flock of up to 10,000. Our strong, sustainable supply chain is more important than ever, as a recent report conducted by the NFU mutual suggests that consumer confidence in the food industry is in decline after high profile cases of food fraud, such as the 2013 horse meat scandal.

2. We support British farmers
The low cost of meat in supermarkets can often mean the farmers producing the cuts are getting a poor deal. This in turn can lower the standards of animal welfare as the farmers then can’t afford to maintain high standards. We support our farmers by paying them fairly for a premium product. Claire Flower, James’ sister, manages the day to day running of Home Farm and has recently celebrating receiving a first class degree in Agricultural management. You can read more about our farmers here.

3. Our meat is extremely nutritious
An animal’s diet is directly linked to the leanness and nutrition density of its meat. Studies have shown that grass fed beef is 3x higher in Omega-3 than grain fed alternatives, contains 4x more vitamin E and is packed with vitamin A. Read more on the nutritional benefits of our meat here.

4. It tastes delicious
We dry age our prime beef cuts which have a total maturation period of 28 days. This intensifies the flavour, reduces the water content and tenderises the meat. This practise is much less frequent with supermarket cuts as it takes much longer to produce and at a greater cost. We have won several awards for our produce, including Taste of the West Gold awards for our grass fed Rump Steaks and Beef Topside Joint.

5. We price our products fairly
While we pay our farmers fairly, we price our meat fairly too. We invest a lot into making sure our meat is ethical and delicious, but that doesn’t mean it has to cost the earth. We always offer competitive prices and run lots of seasonal deals.

Watch our video to see Home Farm for yourself and learn more about our farming methods.