Rose veal calves in Devon for The New Meat Project
The New Meat Project launches monthly ‘pop-up’ boxes of harder-to-source meat from small production farmers
The New Meat Project is launching a new series of ‘pop-up’ meat boxes. Starting on 1 April with British rose veal, each box will focus on meat that might be hard to source in supermarkets, or the farmer may have difficulties getting their product to market. Each month, The New Meat Project specialist box will include a selection of cuts and five recipes and information about the meat, breed and farmer. The box will go on sale at the beginning of each month and be sent out to customers the first week of the following month.
There are similarities between the fate of billy goats in the goat dairy industry and bull calves born in the cow dairy industry, so it’s fitting that the first meat box for The New Meat Project, whose sister company is Cabrito Goat Meat, should be veal. And, just like goat meat, veal is delicious and deserves to be celebrated.
The New Meat Project veal box costs £70 (including p&p) and includes steak (either rump or sirloin), 500g dice, 500g mince, four burgers, four escalopes, 400g medallions and either rolled brisket or shin.
Sushila Moles at The New Meat Project, comments, “During my ten years at River Cottage and my ten years of being one half of Cabrito, our award-winning goat meat business, I have met and got to know many exceptional British producers and farmers. Champions of sustainability, they are hard-working and dedicated people, who have endless enthusiasm for their work. Knowing how hard they work and wanting to support them, was part of the reason I set up The New Meat Project: to give the public access to them and them access to customers.
She continues, “In some cases, selling these farmers’ products can be tricky because they are quite specialised and they may only have animals at certain times of the year, meaning we can't get a consistent supply. The good news is we have come up with a solution with our ‘pop up’ meat boxes, starting with veal. Veal is still trying to lose its image of cruelty and we will not change the minds of the British public overnight. However, we founded The New Meat Project to strengthen the connection between the UK farmer and the UK consumer, to celebrate and support British farming and to encourage the British consumer to eat ethical, well reared meat. Veal fits those ideals perfectly.”
Veal meat boxes launching on 1 April
Rearing bull calves for meat and selling it as ‘rose veal’, when it is at its best, is something UK farming does really well. However, the awful images of calves in crates being exported to Europe in the mid-1990s and its reputation of cruelty has burned into the imaginations of the British public. That kind of barbaric veal production and transportation was banned across the EU in 2006.
Veal’s reputation has struggled to recover and many consumers still consider veal to be cruel. The perverse outcome of a justified campaign to end a cruel rearing and export system was the euthanizing of healthy animals, which has in turn, done tremendous damage to this part of the food system. The majority of veal now reared for meat is minced for highstreet burger chains, but this does a disservice to the farmer and cheapens a high-quality British product.
Small herd in Devon
The veal sold through The New Meat Project comes from a small dairy herd of Jersey cows on a farm in mid-Devon, which has won awards from Compassion in World farming for its rearing operation, and whose welfare standards are far higher than those required by law.
The calves are kept in a free-range system in groups of 24, only coming into sheds when the ground is too wet for grazing. Once inside, they are in groups of 12 with plenty of space and bedded on straw. Aside from natural grazing and milk, the animals are fed a mix of silage and a processed feed, milled on the farm, made from home-grown barley and UK rape seed. There is no soya in their diet and it is a low-impact farming system.
The calves are reared to around six months old, the same as lambs and kid goats, and then hung for two weeks to allow the flavour to develop. It is a truly exceptional product and deserves its place on the table.
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About The New Meat Project
From field to fork, ordering fresh meat online from independent farmers reared in the traditional way, has never been simpler. The New Meat Project is an online butchery service delivering native breed, free-range and grass-fed meat from small farms, predominantly in the South West, which have been slow-grown to the highest welfare standard. Delivery is convenient and environmentally conscious from farm to doorstep and is fairly priced for both the customer and the farmer. All animals travel no more than an hour from the farm to a local, small and family-run slaughter house.
Founder Sushilia Moles says, “Our mission is to encourage people to change the way they buy meat, to no longer accept the disappointing industrialised food from supermarkets and instead make the choice to support small-scale, family-run farms. Buying meat online, which is farmed using traditional and high welfare, sustainable practices is often too expensive, which is why we focus on offering a fair price to our customers and the farmers we work with, without ever compromising on the provenance of the meat or our environmental policy. I believe good food should be for everyone and we promise the best quality meat at fair prices for both the customer and farmer, which is better for the health of your family and the health of the planet.”
About Sushila Moles
The New Meat Project is founded by Sushila Moles. Having gained a Masters in Food Anthropology and worked in food related businesses all of her life, Sushila has first-hand experience that farming is a force for good in society. Her working life has taken her from Michelin-starred restaurant, Rhodes 24 as head waiter to La Fromagerie in Marylebone, where she could indulge her love of cheese and to River Cottage, where she played a lead role in promoting one of the country’s best known sustainable and ethics driven businesses. Sushila is also co-owner of Cabrito, the multi award-winning goat meat business, run by her partner James Whetlor, that has been at the forefront of changing the UK goat dairy practice of euthanizing unwanted male kids and rearing them for meat instead. These experiences combined have convinced her of the importance of high welfare, low impact meat in our food system, both for our own health, the health of our communities and for the health of the planet.
Notes to editors
The New Meat Project was founded in November 2020 by Sushila Moles
Sushila is co-owner of award-winning ethical goat meat company, Cabrito Goat Meat
Website: www.thenewmeatproject.com
Instagram: @thenewmeatproject
For more information about The New Meat Project or founder Sushila Moles, please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on 07730 039361 or hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk