Sausages: the secret to sustainable eating

I’m Sam, Head of Buying and Supply Chain at Field & Flower. You may recognise me from the occasional social media appearance with Sam’s Simple Dinners (watch here to be in the know), but typically I’m more of a back-of-house operator. However, with our new plan to keep you more informed on why and how we do what we do, I’ll be regularly writing about all things food and butchery.

Starting off strong, I want to talk about balance. So much of the way we think at Field & Flower is built around balance. It seems obvious, but farms don’t just produce chicken breasts, sirloins and ribeye steaks, but full bodies of meat that need to be utilised to maintain a sustainable and viable food system. The production of animals for the food industry also fixes certain products against each other. For every popular pork belly you produce and sell, you’ve also got a loin, leg, shoulder, some trim and a fair bit of offal that needs to be sold and used. Our shop may be online, but we share the same challenges as a bricks and mortar butcher’s shop. We have a responsibility to innovate and make the most of these different cuts to sell them at a similar pace. Otherwise, food is wasted or downgraded, money is lost and the whole process falls apart.

For example, if we’ve got a surplus of pork legs, we’ll salt them and turn them into gammon. If we’ve got too much gammon, we’ll cook it into ham. Too much ham? We’ll slice it up and turn it into handy family packs. All of that work should mean that you’re selling as many legs as you are bellies, shoulders, trim and loins, meaning there’s no waste and it’s sustainable for us to go and buy more pigs. This way of thinking is the beating heart of the traditional butcher’s shop and the fundamental logic behind how we build our range.

It’s also no accident that we have one of the broadest and most enticing ranges of gluten-free sausages in the country. Sausages have been made the world over, in disparate cultures and communities, simply because they are the ultimate carcass balancer. Pork mince, that we use to make sausages, is produced from extra cuts and perfectly tasty offcuts trimmed off to maintain consistent product weights, making it practical, responsible and economical. Add some fresh herbs, seasoning and spices, a bit of wine or water, and this pork mince is elevated to the most tempting of snack-ettes.

Through buying sausages, and other value-added cuts that balance carcass like mince and chicken drumsticks, you are voting with your pound to allow us to maintain and build relationships with our farmers. Our commitment to buying in balance means we are trying as hard as we can to buy whole animals from farms rather than cuts out of abattoirs, maintaining a meaningful and real relationship with the farmer. That means we can go and visit Simon and his pigs, Tom and his lambs or Alec with his chickens, and physically witness what your money is supporting, and get into the nuts and bolts of how we can further support the livestock, the farmer and the farming community. It’s through these transparent relationships that we can connect farming communities to people that care (that’s you) and continue to support free-range farming.

If you want to start eating more in balance or this has simply made you hungry, feel free to browse our range of sausages online. My favourite for this weather has to be our classic Cumberlands- perfect in a brioche bun with lashings of Tracklements creamy mayo and fiery English mustard and enjoyed with a refreshing Guinness on a hot day. Spectacular.