To fulfil her quest she needed top quality stock - which she obtained through George Styles, from his Josephine line. With only 500 Gloucester Old Spot sows in the country (of which Princess Anne has 10) quality pigs with the right confirmation for the Butcher are very important.
Kate is supplied with eight week old weaners to finish, and to increase the breeding stock, some of his sows will also come over to Forty Farm.
Kate knew that she also needed the best feed for the pigs: a specialist feed that was all vegetable matter. When she rang around a few feed suppliers, she was very impressed with the interest that Simon Stoney of Dalgety Hereford gave, he could supply exactly what she wanted to supplement the on farm feeds. She had confidence in the Dalgety name, : "The feeds are from a reliable source, I am pleased that there is a specific feed to suit my pigs." says Kate.
"The Optima range has a feed to suit all pig producers from indoor to outdoor pigs - high performance hybrids to the specialist rare breed producer," said Simon, "There are no secrets about the feed ingredients, which suits Kate's desire for complete traceability."
The final key to the quest was the right outlet which Kate again carefully selected, choosing top local butchers, Heggies in Hereford, simply walking into the shop one day to talk to James Heggie, who comments: "I am very excited about this meat, it's flavour is brilliant - I have had a lot of positive feedback - which is so refreshing "This Gloucester Old Spot meat can be identified; it has full traceability, and people can even visit the farm to see the pigs running around in the orchard - Kate has an open invitation, and for those a little unsure, she is supplying recipe leaflets too! I have managed to source an old seasoning for Gloucester Old Spot sausages, which will be great for barbecuing. We will also sell bacon, cooked meat and sandwiches. This type of meat bursting with flavour does not need all the costly extras to give it interest, and it is so tender - even the fussiest of children will eat it. There is a little fat, but that is essential for the cooking and can be removed for eating."
"As traditional Butchers we take pride in supplying quality to the housewife - for example, to enhance the eating quality we hang our meats: beef for 21 days, pork 5 days, and lamb for 7 days, this gives 5% loss and will increase our costs, especially compared to many outlets who sell meat without hanging, but it does improve flavour and reduce the waste on the plate. Good meat is cheaper, more nutritious and more convenient than many alternatives that we eat nowadays - you don't need to add flavour to it either!" James emphasised.
Kate is pleased that what she believed in is proving to be what people want, "Traditional cooking is back on the menu." she said, "Real food is simple, and can give more pleasure. It is becoming increasingly important to people that the meat they eat is from stock that has had a good quality of life." On a small-scale these pigs can be 'cuddled', to the extreme that a poorly pig was in the dog basket in her utility and wrapped in her dressing gown for a few days until it recovered.
Kate intends to diversify further, something necessary with farming getting such poor returns. Johnathan works off the farm at present, but to be able to keep Gilberts farming at Forty Farm, as they have for many generations, Kate, with the obvious attraction of seeing the pigs playing in the orchard, is planning a tea rooms, and bed and breakfast where she will be able to offer good quality, unprocessed fare - (and that is apart from looking after one year old daughter Georgie!)
Kate is pleased to have got the support of George with his quality stock, Simon for quality feed and James as the quality outlet. All contributing ideas to ensure that the Gloucester Old Spots provide quality from the moment they are born to the moment they are on the counter. They are fulfilling the adage that 'a breed will die out unless it is eaten'. "Our domestic rare breeds are just as important asrain forests species and may offer so much to us in the future." says Kate, who also plans to show the stock.
Anybody lucky enough to try Forty farmhouse cooking, where the proof of the pudding is definitely in the eating, will realise that Kate has achieved her quest.
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Kate appreciates how lucky she is to be of the right age, and to have the right experience to be able to diversify at Forty Farm. Farming is at such a low ebb that despite the prices of meat in the supermarkets, farmers are not getting the prices necessary for them to be able to carry on caring for their stock. Lamb has been selling at 1973 prices!
Sadly, she says many small farms will not be able to make more of their enterprise, and will be lost into bigger units. We could end up with a country more akin to Australia, or parts of America, with large ranch style farms, not the countryside we are used too.
Forty Farm had a pig herd in the past. The land has been well farmed over the years and is in good heart. The farm has traditionally supplied quality food' over the bridge' to Hereford, with the sale of eggs, milk etc. at the market. The Gilberts themselves, as with most farmers, did not have the first pick but would eat whatever came back over the bridge at the end of the day.