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 :)