At the beginning of October the National Trust announced its Fine Farm Produce Awards for 2008. Five products have received the award in Devon and Cornwall, four from a tenanted farm in the Tamar Valley and one from the Killerton Estate near Exeter.
Now in its third year, the awards aim to promote the best quality food and drink products from National Trust farms, orchards and gardens and recognise high environmental and animal welfare standards, high quality production methods and great tasting food and drink. In all 19 products have won the award in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Kate and Andy Maciver-Redwood from Haye Farm on the Cotehele Estate in the Tamar Valley have scooped four awards in their first year of applying. Their winning organic produce includes minced beef, leg of lamb, Claudia Broad Beans and Charlotte Potatoes. This award is a direct result of years of hard work by Kate and Andy. The produce is available through the Riverford Organics Box schemes, Riverford Farm Shops and enjoyed in the Trust’s Cotehele Barn Restaurant and the Field Kitchen restaurant at Riverford.
Kate Maciver-Redwood says:
'Andy and I are members of a pioneering organic growers / farmers co-operative, South Devon Organic Producers. We give one another moral support, share crucial information and skills about how to grow this delicious food,and also essential machinery and work force to help with hand planting, weeding and harvesting. The group provides truly scrumptious and healthy food for the Riverford Box Schemes and hopefully these awards will help promote our real, organic food even more. The ethos of the National Trust award shares similar values to those held by us here at Haye Farm on the River Tamar, the SDOP co-operative and those at Riverford.'
This is the third year that Cider from the Killerton Estate has won a Fine Farm Produce Award. Cider making was revived on the Killerton Estate in the early 1990s and is made from apples collected by Trust Wardens and Volunteers in the five orchards. The orchards are managed in a traditional way, which benefits wildlife and they contain 58 different apple varieties. Many of these are local varieties, two of which originate on the estate. The apples are crushed in a traditional press and bottled on the estate and the cider is available in the restaurant at Killerton and at local Trust shops.
The winning products were benchmarked against a quality supermarket standard, deliberately chosen to be better than average. The taste panel examined and scored all products as delivered, with attention given to appearance, standards of preparation, presentation, and packaging and labelling where appropriate. Products were then prepared for sampling and all cooked items were subjected to identical cooking conditions.
Rob Macklin, Head of Agriculture at the National Trust, says:
'Every year the standard gets higher and it’s great to know that so many of our producers really care about what they produce. For me, it’s still fascinating how simple things such as the breeding, maturation or even the finishing diet can influence the flavour of what arrives on a plate.'
This year the tasting panel included Richard McGeown, a restaurant owner who trained under Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsey and Raymond Blanc, Henrietta Green founder of Food Lovers’ Britain and Sara Buenfeld from BBC Good Food Magazine.
Richard provided a keen eye for butchery:
'What really caught my attention was the meat. Not just how it tasted, but how it looked on the chopping board. All the meats in all the kitchens I've worked in, including my own, have been prepared in house, that way it can be ensured they have been lovingly prepared by a chef and not 'butchered' by the meat man. People underestimate that the cutting and tying of meats can be as essential as the sourcing and cooking. It was refreshing to see some amazing meats prepared as lovingly and with as much attention to detail as they were reared upon National Trust land'
All the producers who received an award will be able to use the Fine Farm Produce Award branding to market and distribute their products.
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