Consumers need a leg up with farming knowledge, survey suggests

Results from a new survey [1] reveal that the vast majority (93 per cent) of people in Great Britain don’t know the best time of year to enjoy eating British lamb.

Only seven per cent of respondents correctly identified Autumn as the time for tucking into one of Britain’s favourites, with half (49 per cent) choosing Spring as the best time to serve lamb – the time of year when most lambs are born.

The research marks six months of the National Trust’s mass on-line MyFarm [2] http://www.my-farm.org.uk experiment at its 1,200 acre organic farm at Wimpole [3] in Cambridgeshire.

The innovative project aims to involve people in farming and where their food comes from by enabling them to make decisions on a real working farm.

An online straw poll of the MyFarm community revealed that 19 per cent knew the best time of year to enjoy lamb – more than double the outcome of the wider non-subscriber survey – suggesting the experiment is making useful progress.

Richard Morris, the National Trust’s Farm Manager at Wimpole, said: “Eating lamb when it’s in season ensures consumers can enjoy the meat at its best.

“Lambs born in the spring feed outside on grass throughout the summer resulting in really flavoursome and tender meat.

“The lamb we see on our supermarket shelves in the Spring is either shipped in from abroad, or has been barn-reared out of season without the benefit of maturing and developing naturally on grass.”

Other results highlighted consumer confusion over hogget (a mature lamb between one and two years old) with only 16 per cent of respondents aware that hogget is meat from sheep.

It also revealed only 40 per cent of Britons buy British lamb with 21 per cent buying its New Zealand relation and 16 per cent just indiscriminately selecting whatever is on the supermarket shelves.

By contrast, 51 per cent of MyFarm subscribers could identify hogget – three times as many as the wider survey – and 63 per cent brought British lamb.

Richard Morris added: “These results demonstrate how the MyFarm experiment is already proving beneficial in raising farming knowledge among members. It embraces technology to make learning fun, so people enjoy themselves, with improved knowledge the handy by-product.

“By engaging them in a real, live working farm we are presenting everyday problems and decisions that British farmers have to make and giving them the power to decide what happens.

“MyFarm is a case of ‘real decisions – real consequences’ as the farm needs to operate profitably.

“The National Trust is the country’s biggest farmer – more than 80 per cent of the 250,000 hectares of land under our care is farmed in some way and we see it as our role to re-connect people with farming and to encourage them to care more about where their food comes from.

“We can do this via experiments such as MyFarm which lift the lid on the realities of farming in the 21st Century.”

Brian Turner, the National Trust’s National Food Specialist, is passionate about British lamb, hogget and mutton. Commenting on the results for the lamb cuts people buy most he said: “Unsurprisingly the leg and the lamb chop are still the most popular (both at 22 per cent), followed by the shoulder (12 per cent) and shank (5 per cent).

“Lamb in all its guises is such a versatile meat and there is so much you can do with it including stews, meatballs, soups and pies. Consumers should feel confident about trying out different things.” [4]

For more information and to become a MyFarm Farmer, visit http://www.my-farm.org.uk

Farm Manager, Richard Morris is available for interviews on Thursday 17 or Friday 18 November. If you would like to speak to him, contact Jeannette Heard on 01793 817706 / 07884 473396 or email jeannette.heard@nationaltrust.org.uk

[1] The survey was carried out by TNS Omnibus in November 2011. Total sample size was 1270 meat eating adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 3-10 November. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 16-64).

Other key results:

– 57 per cent of respondents living in the South East and Northern Ireland incorrectly identified spring as the best time to eat lamb. 10 per cent of respondents living in the South East and South West correctly identified autumn as the best time to enjoy lamb.

– The most knowledgeable group about hogget were those aged 55-64 – with 26 per cent identifying it correctly. However, even then 65 per cent of this age group admitted they didn’t know what hogget was, and were equally stuck when it came to the best time to enjoy eating lamb.

– 21 per cent of respondents in Wales and 21 per cent of respondents in Northern Ireland correctly identified hogget as being meat from sheep, compared to just 12 per cent from the North East and North West

– 51 per cent of respondents living in Greater London purchase British lamb, compared to 22 per cent in Wales.

– Only one per cent of meat eaters purchased any rare breeds lamb in the last 12 months. Those living in Greater London buy the most rare breed meat (four per cent).

[2] The MyFarm experiment launched on 4 May 2011. Based at the National Trust’s own working farm, Wimpole Home Farm in Cambridgeshire, Farm Manager Richard Morris poses regular questions on major issues to subscribers to debate and vote upon each month. Subjects include crops, livestock and wider environmental impacts.

For the 30 subscription fee, MyFarm farmers get a daily behind-the-scenes insight into how the 1,200 acre organic farm operates, the right to make decisions on the farm by voting regularly and a family ticket to visit the farm for a day.

The MyFarm website also includes video updates, webcams, live webchats, debates and comment and opinion from both well known farming experts and National Trust tenant farmers.

[3] Wimpole Home Farm is part of the Wimpole Estate. It is one of the National Trust’s three farms that is managed directly by the charity. The other two are at Hafod-y-Llan in Snowdonia and Llanerchaeron in mid-Wales. Wimpole Home Farm has just been certified organic and is a centre for rare breeds. Animals farmed at Wimpole include rare breed cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks and turkeys.

[4] A selection of recipes – including a mutton recipe for Christmas is available from the press office. Some tips for buying and cooking lamb, follow below.

Buying Lamb and Hogget

– Lamb should be brownish-pink, but not bloody. The colour of the meat varies with the age and breed of the lamb.

– Lamb will be pinker than hogget, which will be redder in colour.

– The meat should be fine grained and not hard.

– The fat should be creamy white and not oily.

– Look for joints that are meaty and short rather than long and thin.

– Avoid lamb that looks slimy, grey or has blood spots.

– The pink membrane on the outside of the fat, called the bark or fell, should be pliable, not hard and wrinkled.

– The bones should be white and moist-looking.

Buying Mutton

– Mutton will be dark in colour, similar to beef, but with a brownish tinge.

– The fat and bones should be white.

– The meat should not be bloody.

– It will have a ‘sheepy’ odour.

Recommended Cooking Methods

Chops/Chump: Grilling, frying, braising.

Cutlets/Noisettes: Frying, grilling, barbecuing.

Shanks/Knuckles: Braising, stewing.

Leg: Roasting, braising, stewing.

Loin/Loin chops: Roasting, grilling, frying.

Rack: Roasting.

Saddle: Roasting.

Scrag end: Stewing.

Middle neck: Stewing.

Shoulder: Roasting, braising, stewing.

Roast Leg of Lamb

Timings

Slightly pink – allow 20 minutes per 450g/lb at 190c/375f/G5. For ‘cooked through’, add a further 20 minutes.

Cooking tips

– Take the meat out of the fridge three hours beforehand to bring it up to room temperature.

– Pre-heat the oven properly; give it time to reach the required temperature.

– Do all the peeing vegetable peeling and chopping well in advance.

– Once the meat is cooked to taste, remove from the oven, cover it with foil to retain the heat and set aside to rest. Resting the meat is very important as this makes it more juicy, tender and succulent.

– Whilst your meat is resting, use the time to make the gravy and increase the oven temperature to roast the vegetables.

– Finally cook the last minute vegetables like peas, beans and broccoli.

– Remember to heat the plates.

– If confident enough, carve the meat at the table.

Food and Farming at the National Trust

1 The National Trust believes in using quality, local, seasonal and sustainable food. It matters that we know where our food comes from, how the crops were grown and that animals are properly cared for.

2 The National Trust helps and encourages farmers to manage their farms to high environmental, animal welfare and food safety standards. We work with our farmers to help them add value to the food they produce and to get a better return.

3 The National Trust is the largest non-governmental landowner in Britain, owning approximately 250,000 hectares of land across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. More than 80 per cent of the Trust’s land is farmed or is dependent upon farming for its management.

4 Seven per cent of farms on National Trust land are registered as organic, including the award winning Coleshill Organics in Oxfordshire (3 awards in the 2004 Organic Food Awards) and Low Sizergh Farm in Cumbria (Best Dairy Farm in the 2006 Organic Food Awards). This compares to a national average of four per cent.

5 The National Trust has a team of Farming & Countryside Advisers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who provide support and information for tenant farmers on Trust land – for example, working on Whole Farm Plans which focus on a sustainable future for the farm.

6 The Trust’s cooks and catering teams look first to their property or estate for produce, and then to their county, their region and from around the UK.

The National Trust

The National Trust is one of the most important nature conservation charities in Europe. The Trust is involved in the whole food chain, with 200,000 hectares of food producing land, over 150 restaurants and tearooms, and historic kitchen gardens, orchards and mills. The charity has community growing spaces – from allotments to kitchen gardens – at over 50 locations around the country and is increasing these annually. These spaces inspire the Trust’s 4 million members, 62,000 volunteers and visitors to think and learn about food. The National Trust has created 1,000 new allotment plots on its land in the next three years to give local communities the space to grow their own fruit and vegetables. Find out more at: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/food.