As a family, we have purchased our prepared roast joints from M&S and Tesco’s, but our Sunday Dinner always seemed like a lottery. Would the joint be tender?
Or would their creative presentation, cleverly disquise a clump of grizzle in the middle of the beef joint ruining an eagerly anticipated meal. After much careful cooking this would instantly turn a roast dinner into a vegetarian meal and force
an unplanned and inconvenient visit to customer services. Packaging also had to
be carefully extracted from the bin with labelling often torn in two and buried under various peelings.
 
Spending more money on joints, and more careful selection and examination followed. In the process I discovered how little attention I had previously paid  and how little I knew about the meats origin, how long it was hung, and suitability to achieve my desired quest to produce quality cooked joints

The final straw for me was watching the well documented investigation by the BBC on supermarkets, run for a week at 9.15am, into various aspects of their business practices, which in turn reminded me of a trip to a supermarket I made one  lunchtime. I  had sought out the fresh fruit  aisles with a very large expanse of a variety of oranges on display, but noticed one small section claiming ‘this season’s produce.’ I purchased different oranges, keeping the each bag separate that contained each type. The taste texture juicyness and the whiteness of the pith was so superior that I can only assume that the others had been in storage for months.and then brought out.. I was determined not to give them anymore of my hard earned cash.

A timely visit to take photographs of the ‘Goose Lady,’ Karol Bailey, at Holly Tree Farm, whose passion for quality local produce and advice on how best to cook it, led me to challenge my habits of  purchasing meat and vegetables from supermarkets. I took home the recommended cut and found to my delight that not only did I manage to serve up a tender and succulent roast that I knew its origin, but adhered to the advice that good local vegetable produce that is in season provides the perfect accompaniament to the dish.

In my quest to find quality local produce I wanted to discover what else I had been missing in and around Knutsford. A visit to Woods the Butchers in Princess Street only reinforced what I was beginning to realise. That for far too long I had no idea what I was eating or what I was giving my children, and how far had it travelled and how long had it been stored.

The presentation, variety and cuts
of meat on display, all from local producers, home made pies and sausages with an array of prepared dishes for dinner parties and barbecues persuaded me that there really is an alternative to shopping at the supermarkets.
The quality and service that had for too long been missing from my shopping expeditions was right on my doorstep.
I purchased a  prepared boned minted lamb joint and then walked to Oliver's for their local Cheshire potatoes and English asparagus. One and a half hours later, I was carving the joint which turned out to be so superior to any lamb that I had purchased from a supermarket before. Not only was it tender and succulent, it also compared with the best lamb I had eaten in a restaurant.

With the future of our shops like Woods the Butchers, Oliver's the Greengrocers, Hampsons the Bakers and Easyfish the Fishmongers in and  around Canute Square, and the The Market Hall within a stones throw - the livelihood of the surrounding producers like Holly Tree Farm  dependent on the community – shopping locally can prove to be so much more rewarding and satisfying.

Try today to make the effort to SHOP LOCALLY in and around Knutsford

Enjoy the 'fruits of your labour' brought from your local shops and ensure their future.

"Having just watched 'Whistleblower' on BBC 1 last night 22/05/07 exposing both Sainsbury's and Tesco's practices of selling meat and fish which clearly puts customers health at risk - Stop and think about why should you trust them because clearly they care more about profit than what they supply to their customers." Hit them where it hurts! Vote with your wallet and let them know that they can't treat their customers with such contempt.