Hi Smiffy,
I have just got back from Castlewellan show just outside Belfast.
I was there hoping to find some Rare Breed Sheep!.
Anyway I thought you would like to know that in Ireland (I don't know the rules in other countries) you can add up to 40% water into Pork and Bacon so when people are shopping if they don't look at the water content they could actually be paying more for their meat that if they Bought a more expensive piece from a farmer etc.
Consider a piece at 1kg priced at £10 per kg they pay £10
Now add 40% water but reduce the price to £7.50 per kg.
1.4kg or 1400 grams @ £7.50 per kg = £10.50.
So they would be paying £0.50p more even though its £2.50 per kg cheaper and then when they cook the piece of meat it would Shrink right back down to its normal size where the one that was not pumped will stay more or less the same.
I have a saying.
"The sweet taste of low price is soon forgotten with the bitter taste of low quality".
I know that I have used the Pound sign instead of Euro but I know a lot of people reading this will be in the UK and it would be exactly the same in Euro.
I have to say also that Most of my customers are people with young family's that want their Children to eat healthy and want to know where their food comes from with me they can visit the farm when ever they want.(They could nearly pick out the leg of pork they want!)
I would also like to add that I eat meat every day, But I have always even before we had our own made sure I knew where it came from, I don't keep cattle but I would always use a good Butcher for buying beef.
One that can tell you exactly where the animal comes from, I am lucky my local Butcher only kills his own Beef and I do Lamb and Pork.
But Please tell everyone to go to there local supplier and talk to them about their product and I am sure if you let them know what you want they will be only too glad to help you.
The other thing to remember is unlike the Supermarkets you can always try to knock the price down a bit with your local Butcher.(I always offer discount, it's funny even the smallest discount makes the difference to the customer).
Kind regards
Joe
