Introduction
Monday the 3rd of October is Buy British Day, which of course as a British manufacturer, is a day close to our hearts. The event is relatively young, started in 2014 by The Best of Britannia Showcase hosted a small market in central London for British businesses to display their products and services. We thought this would be a perfect opportunity to talk about the importance and benefits of buying British ingredients for your restaurant or personal use.
Carbon Footprint
There are numerous reasons to buy British, however, one of the factors that has become increasingly important to the modern consumer is the lower carbon footprint that British ingredients can offer compared to the same ingredient from across the sea. This is due to the fact road transport causes nearly 10 times fewer carbon emissions than plane travel. Therefore, your ingredients have already built up a sizeable carbon footprint before they have even arrived in the UK. However, it’s not just about buying meat or vegetables that are from the UK, if you want to minimize your footprint as much as possible you should look to buy from local butchers or farmers. Buying locally will dramatically decrease the food miles of your ingredients and therefore the effect your meals have on the environment.
Britain’s High-Quality Livestock
Britain’s farming heritage dates back as long as records go, and this is probably why we are so good at it. There is no meat that is more inherently British than beef. There are around 34 native breeds of cattle in the UK all bringing something different to the table. Beef has always been a British favourite, even in the 1700s the song the Roast Beef of Old England was a national anthem sung by people all over this great isle. In fact, it is believed the British were the first to begin breeding cattle specifically for meat instead of dairy. But what makes our beef such high quality?
Research suggests that the superior taste of British beef as opposed to American or Australian is due to the animal’s diet. 70% of British cows are grass-fed, which is the species’ natural diet. Grass-fed cattle are known for being far tastier and healthier, due to the animal getting all the nutrients and minerals it would naturally. Buying beef from your local butcher or farmer could also work out more cost-effective and offer greater variation to your meals as they will often be able to provide you with less expensive cuts that would not be available to you in supermarkets.
Britain’s tight farming regulations
Britain has some of the tightest farming regulations in the world, this is incredibly important when it comes to protecting both our environment and the health of people and animals. There are over 150 pieces of farming regulation in place in the UK, with around 60% of this legislation relating to the farming of animals. One of the most beneficial pieces of legislation to the end consumer is regulation that targets the traceability of your ingredients. For example, the Cattle Identification Regulations (2007) allow us to track a cow back to its mother and farm of heritage. One benefit of this is that if the disease is spread on a particular farm, we can ensure that any cow from that farm does not end up on the end consumer’s plate. It also allows anyone who handles meat for a living to be able to trace the meat all the way back to the farm it came. This means businesses can know exactly how the meat was farmed and market it as such, for example, whether the meat comes from a free-range farm.
Add Variation to Your Menu with Seasonal Fruit and Vegetables
Focusing dishes on your menu around seasonal fruit and vegetables is an excellent way of providing a fresh experience for your loyal customers. The flavour of in-season produce really cannot be beaten, using these ingredients means that they are fresher and perfectly ripe, which helps you to get a better taste out of them than you would other times of the year. Not only are fruit and vegetables tastier while in season they are also healthier. This is because when ingredients are stored for a long-time antioxidants and nutrients are lost which means you will not gain the full health benefits. Furthermore, fruits such as cherries and other stone fruits are in season in the summer and therefore contain carotenoids that protect against sun damage. Private chef and owner of Heat at Home food delivery business, Louisa Ellis states that “we work very closely when developing our menus to make sure we are using the highest quality seasonal ingredients”. Seasonal produce is also more cost-effective due to the supply of the product being at its highest at this time in the year.
Funding Farmers and Protecting our Countryside
Finally, perhaps the most important reason to buy British is to support the amazing work that farmers do to maintain our great isles’ beautiful countryside. Farmers help to maintain footpaths, protect habitats for native plants and animals to thrive and protect watercourses. Around 71% of land in the UK is managed by our devoted farmers. British farmers really are an invaluable resource to the hospitality industry and with the cost-of-living crisis that is set to see their bills rise dramatically, it has never been more important to support them.
Conclusion
We thought the best way to end this article would be an amazing quote from one of our customers Ellis Barrie who has perfectly summarized why buying British is so important. “Eating local is not only about top-quality produce, it’s also about supporting your local farming communities, putting money back into the hands of the smaller businesses but also putting the resources back into those who care more about the environmental impact their product has on the UK”.