Heather Isle Meats

Image via John Maclean Photography

 

The islands geographical characteristics ensures the methods of agricultural production, shaped and inspired through centuries of community use, leave it far removed from intensive farming systems found in many mainland areas. Much of the island is covered in a coat of purple heather and moorland, with patches of green, sandy soil found adjacent to the sea, known by their Gaelic name of Machair. Fewer numbers of stock mean they are often left to roam large expanses, giving you a final meat product shaped by a combination of heather, open environment and fresh, sea air.

Heather Isles Meats is the trading company for Lewis and Harris Sheep Producers Association. The scheme involves consumers ordering either a lamb or a whole sheep online from the team of crofters who have banded together under the name Heather Isle Meats. The animal is then delivered in ready-to-cook pieces which can either go straight into the oven or grill or be stored in the fridge or freezer. The crofters aim to have the animal delivered anywhere in the UK in 48 hours. Heather Isle Meats Ltd state they will only source products from local crofters who have signed up to the Quality Meat Scotland farm assurance scheme. A QMS certificate is well known in the industry, and means that farmers / crofters are duty-bound to adhere to the highest standards of animal husbandry and production. You can therefore be rest assured that Heather Isles Meats products only come from the best of backgrounds. All their animals are processed locally in Stornoway at a small, fully approved, EU-licensed facility. All individual cuts will be vacuum-packed on the premises and packaged ready for despatch to your doorstep.

It’s a far cry from boil-in-the-bag.

Over the past century, the population of the Outer Hebrides has halved as young people looked for work elsewhere. Margins between the prices which farmers and crofters receive for their produce and the prices charged in shops are a major source of frustration. A typical lamb may fetch just £25 a head and the Office of Fair Trading is investigating claims that major supermarkets are using their buying power to force producers into accepting rock bottom prices for their wares.

More info via links above or contact George Graham at seoras-him@hotmail.co.uk or phone 07786-020-241 for more details.

About these ads