The decline of small abattoirs

A few months ago, when I went to collect bones from the butchers, they were saying how quiet they were.  It suddenly dauned on me that if the butchers are quiet, if people reduce their meat intake or if the only abbatoir we have in Sussex shuts down, then Asthi is pretty screwed (unless you all have wild venison!).  Running a bone broth business relies on the consumption of meat.  Unless the bones are turned into a highly nutritional bone broth they are seen as a waste product and will primarily be turned into glue or dog food.    

If I were to put my nutrtiotional therapist hat on I would say that we are, as a nation, under eating one of the most nutritient dense foods on the planet.  Meat.  Scapegoating cattle is turning more people to a plant based lifestyle (although, I do think this is changing) and the methodology used to scaremonger is utterly flawed.  If you want a good read to dive deeper on this I highly suggest getting Diana Rodgers book Sacred Cow where she puts forward the case for meat and how well-raised meat is good for you and the planet.  By the time I had finished the book a few years ago, I was no longer vegan.  

We have a crisis on our hands.

We often talk about ‘eat local’ but what does that actually mean?  And if the only abbatoir in Sussex which is now serving thousands of ‘local’ farms closes due to demand overload and government red tape what does that actually mean for you as a consumer and for the food and agricultural sector?

Recently, I sat down with Sophie Robinson and Georgina Cockett from the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership to record my first episode of News from the Kitchen.  More on this to come.  Sophie has written an article diving into the delcine of small abbatoirs and provided information on how you can write to your local MP.  Please take a look and voice your opinion before it’s too late.