Wealden Times | WT184 | June 2017 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

Jane Howard’s
Fables from the Farm
Jane discusses the potential impact of Brexit on the farm
Twelve months on and somehow
I’ve managed to keep Fables
from the Farm a Brexit free
zone, but we live in changing times
and what happens next could have
a huge impact on every aspect of
agriculture. And make a big difference
to what ends up on your plate.
One concern is for the future of
our wonderful native beef. With the
possible exception of New Zealand, the
UK grows the best grass on the planet
and as a consequence,
over the centuries we
have developed about 15
different regional breeds of
cattle, each evolved to thrive
on the local terroir. From
the Angus in Scotland, to
the Herefords in Wales, the
Lincolns in the East to the
Ruby Reds in Devon and
of course the Sussex here
in the South East we have a priceless
resource that needs to be recognized,
cherished and most importantly eaten.
And as everyone’s talking about
manifestos these days here’s mine
to try and make that happen!
First off, we must stop talking
about rare breeds, it makes them
sound exclusive, expensive and
above all endangered – not a great
starting point to encourage people
to eat more. Heritage, traditional or
regional beef sounds so much better.
Secondly all the breeds taste very
different so we should treat them as a
wonderful “smorgasbord” to explore
“Have you ever
wondered why
your steak, rib
or chop is so
much bigger
in Texas than
Twickenham?”
and understand. In much the same way
that the French encourage you to try
all their different wines by providing
tasting notes and guidelines on food
pairings we should do just the same
for our heritage beef. So whether it’s
the creamy mellow Shorthorn, buttery
gamey Welsh Black or the mineral, flinty
Lincoln Red there really is something
for everyone – and a lot of fun to be
had discovering which you like best.
The third point is trickier. If people
are going to pay a little
more for high welfare
heritage beef – and as it’s
grass fed, slow maturing
and properly hung it will
cost more – they will
want to be 100% sure
they’re eating the real
thing. At the moment a
restaurant can claim it’s
selling a certain breed of
beef – and most are honest – but how
can you be entirely sure it is what it says?
Hopefully technology will help with this.
In the US fishermen and chefs are
working together to curb the rampant
fraud in the seafood industry by allowing
people to track a fish from the moment
it’s caught until it lands on your plate.
Dock to Dish, is a tracking system that
through an online dashboard, displays
newly caught fish in barcoded bags,
which can then be traced from the boat
to the restaurant. There’s every reason
to suppose the technology to DNA
trace meat in a similar fashion will be
commonplace here in a few years.
So what’s all this got to do with
Brexit? Well, if we leave the EU and
wave goodbye to its stringent welfare
rules the world will apparently be
our oyster. And much has been
made of opening links with bigger
better markets like the US.
But have you ever wondered why your
steak, rib or chop is so much bigger in
Texas than Twickenham? That’s because
many of America’s farm animals are
fed synthetic hormones making them
grow a lot bigger and faster than they
naturally would. Because of this the
EU has banned the import of American
meat since 1993 but if we decide to
do all sorts of new deals with the rest
of the world then there’s every chance
this type of meat could end up in
the UK. In which case you might be
very glad to have one of those new
fangled apps on your phone to reassure
that the steak on your plate came
from a British cow-sized-cow – and
hopefully a heritage breed to boot.
Follow Jane Howard – and the farm
– on Instagram @coopersfarm
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