Sheepdrove Organic Farm

Elisabeth Winkler - 17 September 2011

I don’t eat much meat but when I do, I want to know the animal led a decent life. High animal welfare standards is one of the reasons I choose organic. Last week, rainy Tuesday: I visit Sheepdrove Organic Farm for Organic September. At the farm gate, signposts announce a GMO-free zone. The 2,000 acre farm is a patchwork of small fields on the Berkshire Downs, how farms used to look before monoculture took over.

Sheepdrove Organic Farm is owned and run by environmental campaigners, Peter and Juliet Kindersley. As part of Dorling Kindersley, they published The Complete Book of Self Sufficiency by John Seymour in 1976. It inspired them to go back to the land. Starting with a farmhouse in the late-seventies, they bought fields gradually, including from the then-disbanding Milk Marketing Board in 1994. In 1997, Sheepdrove farm was certified-organic.

Back to rainy Tuesday: I catch sight of small family groups of Aberdeen Angus huddling in a huge field, Downland sheep grazing and rams in an orchard. The chickens kept for eggs scurry under rain-dripping trees. Chickens are woodland creatures - it’s great to see them in their natural setting and not in a huge industrial shed.Allowing natural animal behaviour is a prime aim of organic standards. Unlike free range, which is not regulated, organic standards are enshrined in EU law.

As well as being a working farm, growing grain, and rearing beef and sheep, Sheepdrove runs a busy eco-conference centre (perfect for organic weddings), does mail-order organic meat and has two butcher’s shops, in London’s Maida Vale and Bristol.

I meet head butcher, Nick Rapps, at the Bristol shop to ask the burning question: can you eat organic meat on a budget? “Because we are traditional whole-body butchers, we can do a massive variety of cuts, including the cheaper ones you never normally see for organic meat, like blade steak, and skirting. Students and people living alone come into the shop saying ‘I’ve got a fiver, what can I buy?’. They are amazed at our prices," he says.

Organic standards cover every aspect of animal husbandry including what the animals eat. No junk food or GM for an organic animal, which means you get more for your money, too. “Research shows there is more protein and less saturated fat in natural grass-fed animals. A grass-fed diet helps keep the animal healthy - and us, too," Nick says. During the winter, Sheepdrove Organic Farm livestock are fed hay and silage from summer-grown grass. During the summer, they graze on nutrient-rich clover and self-medicate on pastures sown with healing herbs. High animal welfare standards equal better quality food equals better taste - all on a budget. What more can you ask for?

Elisabeth Winkler is a food writer and blogger. You can follow her on her blog or on twitter