The cause? Well I blame Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (see Humane Hugh wants you to give up cheap chicken ) and I also blame Jamie Olivers TV shows about improving our diet.
The effect on me? Well I couldn't buy my free range chicken or bacon from my local farm. For the past year I've had the bi-weekly pleasure of visiting Woodford Farm at Rochford Essex and get what is probably the best produced meats in my area - this week they were sold out.
OK so it is probably a good thing that people are looking to buy from local producers, who treat their animals humanely - well let's face it you drive past the pigs you will be eating in a few months time so you get to see them in a paddock wallowing in mud. But I can't help it if I feel a little hard done by as it has been my secret for almost a year.
By the way for those of you who decide to buy local from a farmer DON'T let your kids name the pigs. It can come as a bit of a shock to them when you tell them who's coming for Sunday lunch :-) , but why shouldn't they know where their food comes from.
