Fair Deal For Farmers: Food and farm links are 'key' to success

Provenance is key when it comes to great food – and that's the message from both sides of the farm gate.

Top county chefs and specialist farmers say good relationships between farmers and chefs mean customers get better value for money – and better meals.

Wayne Smith, at the award-winning Mortimers restaurant, in Ludlow's Corve Street, deals directly with a number of farmers. That means he knows exactly when animals are being sent to slaughter, so he can change his menus accordingly.

"It's vitally important that chefs have good relationships with suppliers," he says. "We are all about putting great flavours on the plate and so we need to know what's coming in.

"It also gives us the chance to develop dishes that our customers might like. I have one great supplier, for instance, who provides me with hogget. Hogget is a meat that is deliciously flavoursome but it's not readily available as most farmers just trade in lamb.

"Hogget has a deeper flavour and by working with the farmer we can bring high quality to the table."

When it comes to using local produce the Navigation Inn certainly backs our farmers.

Not only does the Navigation, at Maesbury Marsh, near Oswestry, buy local ingredients for menus in its restaurant, it ensures local produce is available for sale to customers.

And, with the historic pub on the side of the Montgomery Canal it means that not only local people but visitors to the area are getting the chance to try the very best of what it produced on both sides of the Shropshire/Wales border.

The pub is run by Brent Ellis and Mark Baggett, who gave up their marketing and media jobs in the south of England 12 years ago to buy and run their new venture.

Brent said: "Our food is home-made and we take great pride in sourcing local produce and ensuring that all of our meat and poultry conforms to the highest welfare standards – wherever possible free range, outdoors and local. Menus change throughout the year to reflect the seasons and the majority of dishes are prepared from scratch."

"We source and serve local produce wherever possible from local specialist farms and butchers and we make every effort to serve ethically-produced British meat and poultry including free range chicken, eggs, pork and pork products. We are keen to encourage and support the local farming industry. "

Brent said that free range pork, bacon, gammon, black pudding, sausages and eggs were all supplied by Home Farm in Overton near Ellesmere.

Mr Smith said it was also important for chefs to understand the processes of farming. He added: "We have a lot of respect for our farmers because they're out in all weathers at all times of the year. We know the effort that goes into their food and that gives us even more respect. We make sure we don't waste food and make the most of it." Michelin-starred chef Stephane Borie, at The Checkers, in Montgomery, also works closely with his producers. He buys pigs from a local farmer at Neuadd Fach Farm and Baconry, which is the home of award-winners Lynda and Ithyl Brown and their herd of 35 sows. They have been rearing pigs for more than 20 years.

Mr Borie said: "The work that farmers do ought to be celebrated. We work with Lynda and Ithyl because we know that we can trust them. The quality of their meat is consistently good and we know that customers can look forward to great dishes time after time.

"When you have close relationships, it means you can make better use of animals. So, for instance, we can work with Neuadd Farm to use their blood in black puddings. That means that we use everything from the nose to the tail is used. It means we are respecting the animal and not letting anything go to waste."

Chef Chris Burt, in Shrewsbury, runs three busy restaurants serving tens of thousands of customers each year. He has close partnerships with farmers and other artisan producers, which ensures his customers get great food.

He said: "It's all about trust, consistency, respecting the produce and making sure our customers get the best food available."

What began as a meat box scheme to sell to farmers and friends has grown into a hugely successful farm diversification business.

The Timmis family sell and use not just local produce, but produce from their own fields at Moor Farm, Baschurch, which has Hereford cattle and Gloucester old spot pigs.

Mike and Hazel Timmis' three daughters are behind the venture, which saw a farm shop open in the farmhouse garage 10 years ago. Elaine and Melissa run the shop and cafe with Emma helping out when she can.

"In 2011 we made the step to build a brand new farm shop at Moor Farm," Elaine said.

"It was a good decision that has enabled us to expand what we do and see more customers. It was not just more shop space that we needed but room to hang and prepare meat and space for a kitchen to cook our own food for the shop."

That food includes one of the newest ranges – ready-made meals – more usually associated with supermarkets.

"They are incredibly popular," Elaine said. "People know that the food going into the ready meals is what they would prepare at home and using local produce."

As well as selling their own produce they source produce from other local suppliers from Shropshire and Wales.

"I think diversification is a must know for farmers, said Elaine. "It was a difficult decision to take but it was the best thing we could have done. We now employ 13 members of staff, all of whom we ensure know as much as possible about farming and local produce.

Mr Burt runs The Peach Tree, Momo No Ki and Havanna Republic and works with Shrewsbury farms like Great Berwick Organics, which produces rare breed beef. He also works with Middle Farm, at Church Stretton, which produces rare breed lamb and pork.

Farmer Sam Gray, from Middle Farm, at Church Stretton, has worked with several Shropshire farmers in recent years. She is keen that her meat is used by chefs who make the best use of her pork and lamb.

She said: "Working with chefs is vitally important. Running a farm or a smallholding isn't easy because there are so many variables. So having good relationships with chefs who will take our meat and pay a fair price is essential."

Join our campaign – and highlight how you place the produce of Shropshire and Mid Wales in the shop window.

We have launched a directory of businesses that support our region's farmers - see it at shropshirestar.com/farmers

You might be a butcher, baker, deli or even a florist. You may run a restaurant, pub or cafe. Or you may sell your wares at fairs or farmers markets.

As long as you use produce made by farmers in our region, you can be included.

The Shropshire Star will create an online directory of businesses that support our farmers.

And we will send you a Fair Deal for Farmers window sticker that you can display to your customers.

It is easy to get involved:

Send an email to us at: newsroom@shropshirestar.co.uk

Write to: Fair Deal, Shropshire Star, Ketley, Telford TF1 5HU

We need to know your name, the name of your business and its address and how you support farmers – please also name farms you support and the produce you either sell or serve up.