Guest Post : Laura Hockenhull, Brighton and Hove Food Partnership.
Restaurants Brighton have been extremely supportive of our Sussex Grazed meat box scheme. The initiative is run by the Food Partnership but it’s part of a wider conservation project called Changing Chalk .
Led by the National Trust, this Heritage Lottery Funded project is all about the chalky Sussex Downs and the precious grasslands which support an array of wildlife, some rare and rapidly in decline.
Through various partners from Adur to Eastbourne, Changing Chalk builds dew ponds, counts invertebrates, sows wildflower seeds, surveys archeology, supports farmers, engages dog walkers, educates children and sells meat boxes…
Conservation Grazing
Over the past two years we have worked with five different farmers to supply thirteen meat box shares. These farmers are conservation grazing their animals to manage Sussex Downland for biodiversity and wildlife. Using goats, sheep or cattle they graze the land responsibly for the National Trust, Brighton and Hove City Council, Sussex Wildlife Trust, South Downs National Park Authority and Plumpton College.
We are blessed to have this quality of meat available to us but, as a restaurant or cafe, we have been wondering how easy is it for you to get hold of local produce like this?
Our model is direct to consumer and it has been tricky to find local farmers who are willing to sell to us rather than into the national market as they are, more often than not, selling via big abattoirs in Guildford or Essex or through the Hailsham Cattle Mart.
The thing is, we have a very distinctly Sussex produce here.
The Sussex Red cattle are the most obvious, perhaps, followed by the South Downs Sheep (bred by John Ellman in the late 1700s). Other sheep breeds like the Herdwick, Romney, Lleyn prove themselves hardy and adaptable to Downland conditions and they aren’t too fussy about scruby brambles and hawthorn which encroach on the ‘good grass’.
The most significant factors here are not breed but ‘terroir’ and sustainability.
This rare grassland landscape which rolls behind Brighton supports so much wildlife, and grazing animals have a fundamental role in shaping this habitat and regenerating it.
So, if you are looking to put local meat on the menu, why not find yourself a local farmer or wholesaler and ask if the animals have been ‘conservation grazing’.
As sustainable meat goes, wild venison is up at the top of the list.
It has recently been brought to our attention that we have some serious deer issues here in Sussex and across the country. Unlike the previously mentioned ruminant animals, deer cause damage and destruction to the countryside and compromise their own wellbeing through over production and competition for vital resources.
This Virtuous Venison film explains why Venison is a sustainable meat choice and an environmentally important issue.
We have now teamed up with a local deer stalker to test out the quarter lamb box model as a venison ‘browsing box’.
It is clear that the stalkers have more meat than they know what to do with but again, we ask the question, how would you source it, for your menu? Answers on a postcard?
How about clicking onto this Local Food Systems Survey asking for YOUR experience of and interest in sourcing local produce. We’d love to hear from you.
Alternatively, you can email sussexgrazed@bhfood.org.uk
You can pre-order a Sussex Grazed Beef or Venison Box for collection on 13th December from the Food Partnership Club House, Saddlescombe Road, Brighton BN1 8AX
Credit: Sussex Wildlife Trust