National Butchers Week 2020

When we look back at the start-up journey at Field & Flower there are two defining moments. Both are in complete contrast but equally as important, and occurred in spring 2010 and Autumn 2019. Having met at Agricultural college in our first lecture, James Flower and I found we had a common interest, the food industry and traditional farming.

This shared interest led us to ‘testing’ Field & Flower in Spring 2010 without a great deal of forward thinking or planning. Shortly after finishing our agricultural degrees we were stood in the parks field on James’ family farm studying a group of Hereford cattle. It was in that field on a crisp spring day that we committed to buying a cow from James’ dad and getting it from field to an (unknown) customers front door, 30 customers to be precise. The fact we had no idea how we would do this was not a consideration.

Observer Food Monthly Winners

9 years and a bit later and we received a phone call from the Observer to say we had won Observer Food Monthly Best Independent Retailer. On the day of the ceremony we closed the business for the afternoon and took our team out to celebrate before collecting our award from Nigella Lawson. This award in some ways had defined where we had got to since being in the parks field.

On founding Field & Flower we could not have ever dreamt that we’d win this top food industry award. We weren’t dreaming of awards, press articles and champagne receptions. We started the business because the traditional cattle being reared on Home Farm we going to market and being lost in the food chain. We were out to prove a theory that people wanted proper grass-fed, free- range, high-welfare beef that had British provenance.

Supporting a traditional industry

The benefit of the business surviving in the early days and moving from start-up to small business means we now support the farming and food industry on a bigger scale. Supporting British farmers, is very important to us, especially James as a farmer’s son. It’s even more important at the time of writing this as so many farmers don’t have a voice to be able to stand up to the people demonising traditional small scale, extensive pasture-based livestock systems.

It’s extraordinary to us that these farmers, those that have fed us for centuries (through wars no less) are the centre of a debate on carbon. The sooner the focus shifts to the benefits locally sourced grass-fed meat and the beneficial impact of carbon sequestering livestock have on pasture and the environment, the better.

Celebrating our Butchers

Of course at the heart of Field & Flower is traditional butchery. A vital and necessary step for us to be able to deliver our meat boxes each week. This week marks National Butchers Week and we’re using this opportunity to recognise the team of skill butchers that cut each product to order from 5am every day.

James and I spent the first four years learning to butcher in order to fulfil orders. We eventually decided that there were people better than butchery than us, even after our prolonged apprenticeship! So this week we’re celebrating National Butchers Week and the trade that has some of the most skilled, dedicated and intimidating people we’ve ever met. We tip our hats to every butcher fighting the cause for a skill we shouldn’t ever ignore or lose.