Latest news from Big Barn and our producers.
There has been a great deal of media coverage about lab grown meat. Is this because it will save the planet by reducing carbon emissions and the calories fed to animals, or because big business has invested huge amounts of money and want to see a return on investment.
To us lab grown meat is dangerous and simply not needed when we have plenty of food in the world and millions of recipes for delicious, healthy meat-free meals.
We also have millions of acres of grassland that cannot grow crops and need to be grazed by meat producing animals to regenerate soils. More with videos here.
Lab meat is dangerous because scientist are being paid to produce a product that is as similar to real meat as possible. This entails some very clever, and lengthy, processes that will need to be mechanised to produce enough quantity to supply the huge world market.
The products and systems will be inspected and monitored by scientists and regulators mostly paid by the big businesses that produce the products.To me this is a disaster waiting to happen. How can we guarantee that the scientist test for every single thing possible? And how can they be sure? We also know that big businesses will try to cut costs once production is global, just like horse meat in beef lasagne. The big worry with lab meat is that any tiny, change in any small part of the lengthy lab meat production process could be catastrophic.
This whole story typifies the modern food industry dominated by big business. These vast amounts of money invested in building lab meat brands are such a waste.
What we need is a more enlightened society that makes better food buying and cooking choices. We need people to reject marketeer’s messages, dangerous products like lab grown meat and genetically engineered foods and opt to cook and eat natural, real, foods, like sustainable meat with fresh, seasonal fruit and veg.
The really annoying thing is that doing the right thing buying sustainable meat and veg will probably cost more because the price of intensively farmed foods are subsidised, and there is nor tax on the carbon and pollution emissions or duty on cheap low grade imports. More here.Please do your bit by shopping locally and chat to your local producers wherever possible. Your local spend will help boost your local economy and encourage more local food production. You could even grow your own and Crop for the Shop.
Or please help the next generation discover real food by helping your local school get foodie. The kids love it and most schools want to do it and simply need a bit of help. We have been helping a school with a weekly program and videos here as well as breaking down the barriers of becoming to becoming a foodie school here.
If anyone would like to get involved please email here or call 01480 890 970