Who needs cows? Why goats are now in huge demand
What a furore we’ve had in the press these last few weeks over what Downing Street called ‘The Horsemeat summit’. It’s been headline news in all the newspapers and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs called an emergency meeting with the Food Standards Agency along with retailers and suppliers amid fears of a ‘criminal conspiracy’ as the scandal of horsemeat (masquerading as pure beef) is found in several products in UK supermarkets and fast food outlets.
What a tangled web we weave when we move away from knowing the source of our food and give in to the demand for low quality processed consumables (which some might argue can’t even be called ‘food’). The problem lies in centralisation and globalisation of the food supply chain. My mantra when buying for my carnivore kids is ‘know your cow’, or your chicken – whatever, it may not be possible to get to know them personally but buy from a source where they actually do.
Last summer we enjoyed a great family holiday at Treveague Farm near Newquay in Cornwall. This is a family-run organic farm and the owners explained to me exactly how happy and healthy their cows were, (they didn’t need to, we could see it) until literally the day they died. They revelled in telling how their ideal Sunday lunch comprised of every single item being home grown, their own organic grass-fed beef (they knew the name of the animal they were eating), home-grown vegetables and herbs, home-made Sauces, chutneys et al. Milk puddings and ice cream from their dairy cows.
But this debate shouldn’t only be about meat, we should be shining the spotlight on all the supply chains and asking how we have managed to come so very far from eating locally sourced – or better still home-grown foods that are recognisable, and not so highly processed that it becomes impossible to detect their ingredients.
Recently I wanted try some raw goat’s milk (given that its practically impossible to source raw cow’s milk in the UK due to red tape) and came across the wonderful ‘Chuckling Goat’, The Jones Family and their goats are becoming overwhelmed by the recent demand for their products which include Goat’s milk soap (feels and smells amazing) as well as Kefir.
Goat’s milk is thought to have many benefits, being closer to human milk in composition, and so is more easily tolerated by many people with allergies. I gained a whole host of info from the passionate owners of Chuckling Goat and I found myself quite envious of these producers living and working on their own farms.
Of course we can’t all head back to ‘the good life’ but we can at least find a way of knowing the sour ce of our food. Grow your own, do a deal with a friend who has an allotment, buyfrom your local suppliers and suppor t your local Farmers’ market, sounds way too obvious but if you ar e what you eat – know what you are eating!