Michelle Partington, Real Food Market
'It's good to enjoy great meat once every two weeks rather than eating average or poor meat every day'
Date Published: 22/10/2009 Updated: 18/06/2010
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Michelle Partington, of Kendal-based Savin Hill Farm Produce, has been selling her range of meat and barbequed products at Manchester’s Real and Fine Food Markets for seven years “We farm traditional breed cattle and pigs, and we produce a range of meat products from those animals. We’ve got British White Cattle, Middle White pigs, and Saddleback pigs. “We came to Manchester so we could be in an urban space, selling to a greater population than what was available to us locally on the farm. A lot of people were setting up farm shops at that time, and that was something that I didn’t really want to do. I was quite interested in getting further out of our local area. “It’s been really good. We’ve got a really loyal customer base here in Manchester. We’ve met some wonderful people and made friends as well. “These breeds have declined in numbers since the 1970s, when the European breeds came in. They gave higher beef, pork and milk yields, and so it became less viable for farmers to farm these traditional native breeds. They began to decline in numbers, because of the pressure for farmers to produce more per acre of land. “They are slower grown which takes them more time to lay some fat down. A lot of people say that’s not good for you, but if you are cooking a product with a lot of fat on it, it tastes better. You don’t have to eat it with the fat on. “It’s similar to the organic ethos that by eating organic you are actually helping the environment. With us, it’s about helping these breeds to continue to exist. We are giving ourselves, and others, a viable market to sell these animals. We like to think we’ve done our bit to preserve these breeds. “We sell sausages, burgers, pies, and cuts of beef, and pork. We also sell lamb and mutton from my brother. We do cured dried bacon from the loin, and we also produce a range of sausages. There is no MSG in them, no colourings - they just use a little bit of preservative. “It is good to enjoy great meat once every two weeks rather than eating average or poor meat every day. In reality, there isn’t enough of this type of meat produced nationally for the whole population to eat it everyday.” www.savin-hill.co.uk |
