Look at it this way – if the science was right, feeding meat and bone meal to vegetarians (cattle) caused a disaster; should we now be depriving natural omnivores of the small amount of flesh they would naturally eat in the wild?
When is British bacon not British?
In theory a side of Danish- or Dutch-reared pork could be cured, sliced and packed in Britain and then be labelled British (the country of origin on the pack will read ‘UK’). Beware of packaging dressed up to look ‘olde’ – the bacon may be nothing of the sort. It must be said that supermarkets often differentiate between British and, say, Danish because consumers enjoy the taste and size of the Danish rashers. Well and good, but for me welfare remains a big issue. It is a perfect example of how uneven the playing field can be among the European member states when it comes to food production.
What’s in a bacon sandwich?
It’s hard to tell, but 85 per cent of bacon sold through catering outlets – such as restaurants, takeaways, cafés, motorway service stations, schools, hospitals and office canteens – is imported. No need for a label makes it easy to hide.
What the supermarkets say
None of the ‘Big Four’ supermarkets would reveal what percentage of British bacon they sell. Waitrose says 82 per cent of its bacon is British and Budgens’ own label is 100 per cent British. Some supermarkets sell speciality bacon (including organic – look for Soil Association for ultra-high welfare standards for the pigs), which is cured in the traditional manner (seek out British bacon made from British-reared pork).
Artisan-made bacon by post
Traditionally made bacon stores well, so it makes sense to buy in large quantities to justify the price of home delivery. All the producers listed below offer a mail-order service.
Blackface.co.uk, Weatherall Foods Ltd, Crochmore House,Irongray, Dumfries DG2 9SFTel: 01387 730326www.blackface.co.uk
Pork from ‘Iron Age’ pigs (a cross between Tamworth and wild boar), with a darker, fuller-flavoured meat.
Bleiker’s Smoke House Ltd, Glasshouses Mill, Glasshouses,Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG3 5QHTel: 01423 71141 Iwww.bleikers.co.uk
Smoked food experts, Jurg and Jane Bleiker, dry cure and smoke backs of 100 per cent British free-range pork, deep in the Yorkshire Dales.
Brampton Wild Boar, Blue Tile Farm, Lock’s Road, Brampton,Beccles, Suffolk NR34 8DXTel: 01502 575246
Deep-flavoured bacon from fourth-generation purebred boar.
Denhay Farms Ltd, Broadoak, Bridport, Dorset DT6 5NPTel: 01308 422717www.denhay.co.uk
Bacon from free-range pigs fed a natural diet. Denhay also make the excellent organic Duchy Originals bacon, which is widely available in supermarkets. Denhay bacon is available through mail order.
Heal Farm Meats, Heal Farm, Kings Nympton, Devon EX37 9TBTel: 01769 574341www.healfarm.co.uk
Organic bacon made using traditional breeds, reared in exceptional conditions: British Lop, Tamworth, Welsh and more.
Maynards Farm Bacon, Weston-under-Redcastle, Shrewsbury,Shropshire SY4 5LRTel: 01948 840252www.maynardsfarm.co.uk
Various traditionally cured styles of bacon, made with the interesting addition of spices in the cure such as ginger and caraway.
Richard Woodall Ltd, Lane End, Waberthwaite, Nr Millom,Cumbria LA 19 5YJTel: 01229 717237www.richardwoodall.com
Award-winning bacon from a closed herd of Landrace and Large White pigs.
Sillfield Farm, Endmoor, Kendal, Cumbria LA8 0HZTel: 015395 67609www.sillfield.co.uk
Peter Gott’s skilfully made bacon is produced from beautifully cared-for pigs that roam almost wild.
Slacks, Newlands Farm, Raisbeck, Orton, Penrith,Cumbria CA10 3SGTel: 01539 624667www.edirectory.co.uk/slacks
Air-dried bacon from locally sourced, free-range, dairy-fed pigs.
A banana is all the more enjoyable when you are sure the growers received a fair sum, so it is well worth paying the extra 40 pence or so per kilo for Fairtrade fruit – it is a low price for a highly nutritious food. However, as the Fairtrade phenomenon gathers pace and our supermarkets commit themselves to selling some fairly traded food, concern about the production methods for conventional bananas grows. Meanwhile, a trade war is brewing that could change the banana map forever, narrowing consumer choice.
What’s behind the incredible popularity of bananas?
In the first place, bananas are a ‘superfood’, like papaya and broccoli. They have high levels of fibre (good for the gut), vitamin C (to protect against disease) and potassium, which, apart from slashing the risk of heart disease, is an excellent hangover cure. We love them, too, as we do eggs, for their naturally built-in hygienic wrapping.
Why are bananas such an important fruit to the UK?
They’ve long been part of our culture, tied in with our loyalty to the once-colonised countries who supply us with them. The same countries used to be chiefly sugarcane growers, but that market began to collapse in the 1930s and 1940s, when northern European farmers started growing sugar beet (later sustained by some tasty subsidies). In other words, we wiped out the sugar business in the Caribbean, causing social unrest. To compensate, we set up Geest, a company whose name became synonymous with exporting bananas.
Do long, straight bananas come from a different plant
from the small, curvy ones?
Almost every banana on sale, indeed 98 per cent of world export, is the Cavendish variety. Cavendish is high yielding and travels well, lasting up to four weeks after picking. But growing one type of banana creates a monoculture, reducing biodiversity and attracting disease even to the reasonably disease-resistant Cavendish. Banana ‘shape’ comes down to the farming method; small, curvy bananas tend to be Caribbean, where they use less expensive fertilisers and pick early. A London market importer likened the Caribbean banana to ‘a small hungry hand’ – with good reason.
Why is there a banana trade war?
Because the US companies with huge banana business interests in South America protested that under WTO (World Trade Organisation) law the Europeans can no longer offer