SUSTAINABILITY AT BLOCK & BOTTLE
This week Katie & Steven have been up to Edinburgh for the annual MacDuff carcass showcase. They have spent the last two days in the company of some of the top butchers, farmers and restauranteurs from the UK and even a few from Stockholm, Sweden. Yesterday they had a mini tour of the Southern Uplands and visited Andrew Adamson’s farm, followed by a trip to MacDuff’s abattoir and processing facility to judge some beef, and finally a delicious meal at Hawksmoor Edinburgh. The spread of food at Hawksmoor was incredible and included Sirloin steaks from three different breeds of beef, raised by three of the farmers at the dinner.
The day was incredibly informative and gave us plenty of food for thought. We heard about Andrew’s passion for every element of farming - from raising the sheep and cattle, to maintaining soil quality and the land management involved in growing the grass which his animals graze on, and bringing the cattle inside in winter to protect the land and the health of the cows; there were many conversations with farmers and other butchers throughout the day about sustainability, and a very eloquent speech at dinner by Johan Jureskog about the importance of Low-Impact, grass-fed, pasture raised beef and dairy cows and their sustainability compared with High-Impact feed lot USDA, grain fed beef farming.
They saw some amazing landscapes and natural farms - where the farms have adapted to the landscape, rather than the farms changing the land to suit them. These are perfectly suited for cattle grazing; the land is uneven and unstable which makes it unsuitable for building on or growing crops and cannot sustain any use other than raising animals. The animals feed on grass or crops grown on site and so their carbon footprint is kept to an absolute minimum.
We have always been passionate about sustainability and encouraging people to eat less, but the highest-quality meat, and through all these conversations we realised we can take our business to the next level. All of this applies to both Block & Bottle and Meat Salt Smoke.
WHAT WE DO CURRENTLY:
We use grass fed, local beef from farms and suppliers we trust. We often get in conservation grazed animals and have always pushed retired dairy cow beef, which is not only the most environmentally friendly beef but also some of the tastiest beef we have.
A few months ago, we asked all our farms to provide us with information about their animal feed so we could make sure we are not buying any meat which has been fed on GMO Soy from overseas.
We have always wrapped all our meat in paper which can be recycled, our carrier bags are made from recycled paper and we encourage people to bring their own containers.
We carried out a plastic audit of our business earlier this year where we achieved the following:
We reduced the amount of single use food safe plastic to a minimum by replacing fino-plast meat separator sheets and burger discs with paper alternatives (we do still have few plastic ones left that we are gradually working our way through
we are in the process of switching to bio-degradable vacuum-pac bags
our draught beer is mainly in reusable steel kegs
we recycle all wine and beer boxes, cans and bottles that are used at the shop
we asked several local breweries to stop wrapping their cans in plastic covered trays (within a week the canning companies had stopped and no longer use plastic wrapped trays)
we return all our egg trays to the farm so they can be reused each week.
We are part of the Butcher’s Manifesto - who are leading the conversation on responsible meat consumption, and we have just joined the Institute of the Masters of Meat.
Our electricity for the shop and our production unit is from 96% renewable electricity sources, and when our contracts are up for renewal, we will look into finding a supplier that provides 100% renewable energy.
WHAT WE WILL DO NEXT:
We are going to ask the farms we use to do a carbon audit, to see if there are ways they can increase their efficiency.
Zero Waste - We currently have a company who collects any animal by-products that we’re unable to sell in the shop, due to either being fat, bones, sinew and gristle that we trim away to prepare all of our products and specially prepared cuts. This company is dedicated to the ultimate goal of eliminating food waste in landfill by turning it into clean energy products such as heat, electricity, transport fuel and bio-fertiliser in a safe, secure and environmentally friendly way. However, our aim is in the next few months is to work on a range of products and ways to utilise every single part of each animal that is sold in our shop.
In the new year we will be looking into changing our van to more environmentally friendly alternative(s).
WHAT WE NEED YOU TO DO:
Every time you buy meat, you’re making a choice. We don’t mind if it’s not from us, but please start asking questions about where it’s from and how it was raised. This is the only way the meat industry as a whole will change. We are doing everything we can, but we need everyone to do the same.
We have always wanted to be as transparent as possible with our approach to butchery and the meat industry and hope this clarifies our position further.
Block & Bottle x
P.S. We bought an amazing body of beef which won first place and Native Champion that was raised on the farm we visited by Andrew Adamson, which we will be hanging and using every part of it in the run up to Christmas!
