QuestionHi Geoff. I remember reading somewhere, maybe on Yahoo's live-food group, that you live in England and that you have given advice to people on accessing raw meat, especially organs. I am Australian who has been eating raw for about one year, mixing fuitarianism with raw meats and cheeses. I am living in Japan but I am currently on a short stay in England. I was wandering if you could let me know of some ways I could get access to raw meat and organs during my time here. I'm currently in Cambridge by heading to London for a few days from the 25th of August. Also, if you are near one of these areas, what would be the chances of meeting to discuss in person some of your experiences.
Cheers,
Colin Thompson
AnswerHere's part of an old e-mail I sent someone else a while back re raw-meat sources in the UK:-
"Here's a standard UK website which gives contact details of various farms which sell grass-fed meat - some will feed their animals grain during the winter, but most will just feed them hay during that time, which is fine(I presume you are aware already of the fact that grain-fed meat is unhealthy?):-
http://seedsofhealth.co.uk/resources/meat/index.shtml
Contact each of these farms by phone to ask about how they feed their animals etc.- DO NOT use e-mail or letters - phoning is the best way to get their attention - otherwise there's a good chance they'll just ignore you. You'll find that many farms which sell online don't sell organ-meats, which is bizarre, but can't be helped - ignore the info on the websites which rarely, if ever, give details re organ-meats, just ask re availability by phone. I've also had occasional problems with long-distance delivery - for example, on some occasions, although I always order solely raw meat or offal, I've sometimes had smoked tongue sent to me which had had the various preservatives mostly leached out, in order to give the false impression that it was 100% raw - unfortunately, for the farm , I found it easy to detect the after-taste of chemicals in the meat. Also, long-distance delivery can be very unreliable with sudden changes being made so that deliveries come several days late or are incomplete. Shipping prices can be very cheap if you're prepared to order in bulk(usually ? pounds per delivery , regardless of weight/size of order).
Another good idea is to check every single farmer's market within easy driving distance. Many farmer's markets can be pretty dodgy as regards standards/quality, but there are quite a number of exceptions. The best example is the London Farmers' Market Association(www.lfm.org.uk) which insists on every stall having the actual farmer or a member of his family present at the stall, and which ensures that most stalls sell either organic or, at the very least, naturally-reared meat(this happens to be my main, preferred source of organic, grass-fed meats, but is not useful to you, given your location). Other farmer's markets don't have such stringent rules so you may find stalls in those selling nonorganic, intensively-farmed meat, at times.
Here's a website which gives details on where farmer's markets are located across the UK(just click on the relevant county and you'll get a list):-
http://www.farmersmarkets.net/
Getting in direct contact with farmers via farmer's markets or direct from the farm itself is absolutely essential if you want to cut down on costs. The farmers like the idea of selling their meats to people at higher prices than they would get from the unscrupulous supermarkets, while the customer gets meat at a cheaper rate than the standard retail-prices because no store has to be constantly maintained for the purpose(that's especially if you order organ-meats - I, for example, am usually able to get raw bone-marrow at ?.50 a kilo(with weight of bone included), at times - whereas a kilo of organic-beef fillet steak can fetch up to ?8 a kilo. Organic butchers and organic supermarkets like Planet Organic are an option but, IMO, are far too expensive, by contrast.
Here's a couple of other useful websites/directories for organic meat sources, such as organic butcher's or whatever:-
http://www.alotoforganics.co.uk/cats/organic-meat.php
http://www.whyorganic.org/involved_organicdirectory.asp
Some farms sell game-meat such as venison, wild hare or even bison. I highly recommend wild meats as being the healthiest source of meats there is. Wild game-meat isn't too expensive as long as you avoid the game-butchers and buy direct from the farm, instead. For example, I usually pay anywhere from 7 pounds to 12.50 pounds for a wild-hare at my local farmer's market, depending on the stall and the availability.
Obviously, the various websites I've cited only cover a tiny proportion of the actual number of grass-fed meat-producers in the UK. The best resource for finding out details is the Soil Association as it's the only reliable organic certification body in the UK. Here's a couple of links suggested by that site, which might be helpful:-
http://www.farmshopping.net/
http://www.soilassociation.org/farmvisits
You could try contacting the Soil Association with a general enquiry about organic-meat-selling farms in the East-Midlands area. The SA website also suggests checking with your local county-council for lists of organic producers, as well."
____________________________________________________________
Given that you're in the UK on such sort notice, your best bet is to use the www.farmersmarkets.net website mentioned above to find farmers' markets around the Cambridge area. www.lfm.org.uk is perfect for finding food in London, as, unlike the farmersmarkets.net website, the markets it covers provide organic or, at the very least, naturally-reared meats - the www.lfm.org.uk website has details on how to reach each farmer's market by underground etc. along with the times and days they are held(mostly at weekends), and (for the older markets) also gives a list of the producers/farmers who usally attend these markets, along with the food they usually sell - click on the "Market Producer's List" link at the bottom right of each individual market homepage within the www.lfm.org.uk website. You won't be able to get hold of organ-meats at such short notice(one needs to phone in advance for that), but you can at least get hold of grass-fed muscle-meats, in most of those markets.
Marylebone Farmer's Market(held on Sundays at 10am-2pm) is the biggest one of these markets(it almost always has raw cheeses or raw milk etc., at one or more of the stalls, as well as raw, grass-fed meat, raw oysters etc.):-
http://www.lfm.org.uk/mary.asp
You could also try Borough Market(near London Bridge Underground Station on the (Bank branch of the Northern Line) - it's hideously expensive, meant to rip off the tourists but they do sometimes have some useful food-stalls on Saturdays, which might be worth checking.
Neal's Yard Dairy is a good place for finding quality cheeses - unfortunately, many cheeses are pasteurised, and some raw cheeses are salted, but it can't be helped. I think this is the exact address:-
114 Druid St
Bermondsey
London
SE1 2HH
(it's relatively close to Leicester Square Underground Station on the Picadilly/Northern Lines).
London has a number of msall-time fishmongers where you can get hold of raw seafood, in the meantime, at short notice.
Unfortunately, most of my own suppliers are ones who require a couple of weeks' advance notice before they can deliver organ-meats and the like - so they're not much use at such short notice. However, the www.lfm.org.uk websites, along with the other options, should keep you going in the meantime.
(I'm actually in the middle of looking for a new place to rent, so I'm not in a position to meet up, right now).
RPG
- Prev:What is an average weight of an 18 year old?
- Next:Is Fiber Needed on Raw Paleo Diet?