Normally I take care of the social media and blogging side of Manor Farm
Beef but Chris has messed his back up cleaning out our shed so he has time to write...


.....As the horsemeat scandal rumbles on I would be interested in any opinions on who is to blame. The boss of iceland is today blaming councils, nhs trusts and any other public sector body for demanding cheap catering. The same can be said of consumers. Previously the retailers (bristish retaill consortium) have put all the blame on the processors. But are they really innocent victims in all this? One thing that was clear from the milk price protests is that supermarkets know exactly how much it costs to produce the food they stock. So if it costs £2 to produce a beef lasagne (wholesale) for example and some supplier will sell to a supermarket for £1.50 they must know it is dodgy - but have wilfully ignored this. Consumers are not at fault for choosing the cheapest product when the labelled ingredients are the same - how can they be. I am also going to stick up for government on this, yes they have previously tested for horsemeat in processed beef products but where to stop? Do we test every carcass, every batch of mince, every ready meal and burger to ensure we know every step? To take a slightly absurd example should we DNA test every jar of strawberry jam for adulteration with raspberries?

We should be able to trust our food supply chains and some degree of random testing for lots of different possible problems would have to be part of this. It goes without saying (and yes I have a vested interest in this) but I hope people consider a number of options:

1: Make use of your local butcher, farmers market, farm shop... get to know them and ask the question "Where is this produce from?"
2: Buy British, preferably local
3: Burgers are, in their purest form, minced or chopped meat with seasoning squashed into a patty - almost the easiest food in the world - make them yourself then you know all the ingredients

 Here is a link to an article he wrote regarding meat consumption in 2011 
http://www.driffieldtoday.co.uk/news/business/meat-s-special-status-1-3195343

We look forward to reading any comments and thoughts :)

Belted Galloways

We hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year, and have not been too cold in all this snow!

We have had a good start to 2013 as we welcomed 17 new pedigree Belted Galloway cattle onto land situated in the depths of the Yorkshire Wold. Although all of our beef comes from our family farm in Thornholme we wanted to, alongside our existing beef breeding plan, nurture a breed of native pedigree cattle. We have always loved Belted Galloway and find them to be incredibly hardy and a fantastic breed to make the most grazing the historic Wolds. All the cattle are heifers and will be put in calf this spring using Artificial Insemination (AI) as we have chosen not to run a bull with our herd. After much deliberation over a name for our herd (thank you to all those who came up with suggestions), we have decided to go along the traditional route of using place names and chosen the 'Thornholme Belted Galloway' herd or 'Thornholme Belties' for short! We look forward to updating you on their progress in the coming months

Thornholme Belties heading towards their new home near Humanby.

 .

  **Coming soon**

we have a number of new beefy projects in the pipeline this year including:-

*Pop Up farm Shop*

From March, our little 'pop up' farm shop will be opening on the Friday before Driffield farmers market. Come along and see a selection of our award winning beef on sale at 'Haruna', Thornholme, YO254NN

(we are next to the RIX garage in Thornholme)

and our Manor Farm Biltong made from our own slow grown, grass fed, 21 day dry age Yorkshire beef

 

You can order one of our advertised boxes or you can order individual roasting joints or cuts of beef etc

 (just let us know how many you are cooking for and what sort of beef you are after):-

Winter warmer box £25
Braising steak
Stewing steak
Shin beef
Beef mince
total approx 3.5kg

Winter roasting box £50
Topside
Silverside
Tick rib
Chine (rolled back rib)
total approx 5kg

Steak Lovers box £55
(what better way to celebrate valentines day

then by giving the gift of fine Yorkshire beef!)
Fillet
Sirloin
Rump
total approx 2.5kg

The £55 mixed beef box contains
slow roast joint (brisket or flank or chine)
fast roast joint (topside or silverside)
steaks (rump or sirloin)
mince
shin or braising steak
Meatballs
Burgers
total approx. 6 kg

The £75 box contained
slow roast (brisket and chine)
fast roast (topside and silverside)
steaks (rump and sirloin and fillet)
mince & stewing steak & shin
braising steak
Meatballs
Burgers
total approx. 9 kg

Dates for your diary

Thursday 14th Feb

If you are cooking for valentines we have fillet, sirloin and rump 

all packed in pairs ready to cook up for your loved one!

Friday March 1st

Manor Farm 'pop up' farm shop 10am-3pm

www.manorfarmbeef.co.uk 

Saturday March 2nd

Driffield farmers market 9am - 1pm

http://www.driffieldshow.co.uk/farmers_market.php 

Hovingham farmers market 10.30am - 2pm

http://www.hovingham.org.uk/ 

Thanks for reading, Chris, Charlotte, Bethan, Sophie & Maisie

Well we started this blog in 2012 and it has been somewhat neglected! My aim for 2013 is to keep a weekly diary of all things Manor Farm and to share with you some of the highs and lows that go hand in hand with farming. I will shortly post an 'update' of everything that has happened over the past 6 or so months and then hopefully become a committed blogger!