Brynhebog

I am a Jewish organic hill farmer.  Of course I would love to sell my fine meat to fellow Jews, but that is impossible.  The problem isn't with the method of Kosher slaughter, although that does seem to be an insurmountable barrier in Europe, because standards are common.  No amount of badgering the Soil Association, with whom I have been certified since 1991, will make any difference.  Besides, if the policy on stunning animals were to be changed, the Soil Association would never be the organisation to look for support from.  I certify with them because they believe in organic agriculture and their standards are more rigorous than others.

Frankly, the problem lies more in quality.  Meat with texture and flavour will be from animals that have lived a fine life.  These have usually lived to an age where the meat needs to hang for the fibres to relax and the meat to become edible.  That just isn't compatible with rules developed for food safety in a hot country with no refrigeration.  Kashrut is a wonderful system but it condemns you to eating immature animals, where the only quality is based on tenderness.  Yuk!

Two thousand years ago there were no captive bolt guns to stun and the razor sharp knife was the best that we could do.  Today the regulatory authorities push for all slaughtering to be done in licensed facilities.  This ensures a uniformity of cleanliness.  Unfortunately, the animals hate it.  They can smell death as they are held in a queue to enter.  They pump adrenaline into their bloodstream as they become agitated, ruining the meat for anyone who actually knows how to cook.  Fortunately, not many do.  So, as long as cholent is the height of your culinary ability, it hardly matters.  What a pity Kashrut prevents my observant Jewish friends from enjoying a flavoursome steak from my organic pedigree highland cattle who live at least four times as long as the animals whose meat masquerades as beef in our shops and supermarkets.  As I am fond of saying, Kosher meat is low quality meat sold at high prices to pay for all the restrictive practices.  It is about time our religion moved into the twenty first century and we enabled our communities to have food of real quality at fair prices.

However,  I can deliver a fine organic Highland bullock to your chosen facility.