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GREEN PAGE - Moors the merrier
A GROUP of like-minded individuals are clubbing together to help local moorland farmers and at the same time reducing their food's carbon cost.
Subscribers to the Scarborough Shearling Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Partnership are due to start taking regular delivery of a neglected local delicacy at the end of the month.
Supporters of such schemes say that, because the animals are slow grown, the meat tastes noticeably better and, because it is local, the transport costs – as well as carbon emissions – are reduced.
Organisers hope that by committing to buying a whole season's meat, members will benefit from a good price and also help to provide a secure income for sheep farmers on the moors.
Madeleine Parkyn, of the Scarborough Local Food Group, said that she had been impressed by the depth of flavour of shearling meat when she first tasted it, but was disappointed when she found out that she could only buy the whole animal.
She said: "I don't have a freezer big enough to take one. That's when I came up with the idea of setting up the Scarborough Shearling Community Supported Agriculture Partnership."
A shearling is a male sheep, aged between 17 and 24 months, which is neither lamb nor mutton and the animals will be reared at Hill Top Farm, Spaunton.
Nelly Trevelyan, from the farm, said that eating locally reared slow-grown meat was very good for the environment. She said: "Shearling is a low-carbon food because no fertilizers are added to the moors and because our sheep are not fed any concentrates.
"Instead, they graze on the heather to produce nutritious food from land which is unsuitable for growing any other crops. Food miles are kept to a minimum because the sheep are born and slaughtered on the moors."
The sheep graze on the varied plantlife found on the moorland – including bog myrtle, bilberries, heather and moorland grasses – which gives the meat a very distinctive flavour, very different to that of ordinary grass-fed animals.
One of the scheme's subscribers, Martin Haggerty, said he had joined because it was an ethically responsible way of getting great-tasting meat.
He said: "It carries obvious benefits for the special landscape and ecology of the North York Moors and the traditional upland farmers who make their living there.
"The sheep from which the shearling meat is obtained enjoy the highest possible standard of welfare.
''Finally, there is a positive correlation between our gain as consumers in Scarborough and the prosperity of our nearby rural communities."
Members of the scheme get a monthly supply of meat between October and May and during that time they will receive a full range of cuts of meat that make up a complete shearling, including a leg of lamb, mince and chops.
They will also have an opportunity to learn about new cuts of meat and new ways of cooking them every month when they collect their supply from Le Chat Noir cafe in Eastborough.
People who are interested in joining the scheme are advised to email shearling@topfield.org.uk, visit www.scarborough-local-food.org.uk or call (01723) 375533.
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Weather for Scarborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North east
