A few years ago I visited the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia, USA,  ‘Pigs. If you ever need to be self sufficient, Pigs are what you need.  Eat anything, and the whole animal can be used’.  That was the message of one of the colonial actresses as she made up another batch of lard scones on an open fire.

Despite my best efforts to reduce my meat consumption I confess that I’m partial to a bit of bacon.  I may never get over the addiction, but I’ll still pursue my belief in a significantly skewed vegetarian diet for environmental reasons.  I can substitute meat with fish and veg, but I needed to deal with the meat ghosts in my diet.

Covered in plastic, mechanised, sanitised and ill-treated – that pretty much sums up most meat you find in supermarkets.  I’m keen to get away from that industrial consumption.

So I find myself at River Cottage HQ just past the Dorset border under the skilful guidance of their now world renowned in-house butcher Ray “The Meat Guru” Smith for a day of meat curing and smoking.  With half a pig on the wooden table in front of us, the ‘classroom’ looking like a scene out of the Sopranos was prepped, and people had come from all over the world to experience his training.  Hong Kong, Australia and Mexico. Ray had built quite a following and it was obvious from the start this was going to be a rewarding day.

Over the next 8 hours 26 people were shown how to cut up half a pig into useable cuts, make bacon, salami, chorizo, proscuttio, gammon, roasting joints, how to cure meat, how to smoke meat, how to build a smoker, make biltong and parma style hams.  Pig farmers, small holders and individuals alike, were entertained and amazed at the ease of many of these artisan ways and throughout the day the food kept coming.

There was an emphasis on welfare. Ray was keen to make sure people understood how to treat pigs well.  River Cottage practices sustainability in everything it does and not just in the food it produces.  The toilets were serviced by a sustainable reed bed system, the power from a wind turbine, plant pots from old wellies and a recycled wine bottle lampshades.  I felt happy here, knowing full well this was a low carbon initiative.  Ray was like the favourite teacher you had as a kid, and Steve “The boy” (his accomplice) was equally as entertaining. I just can’t wait to get my own meat hanging up in a fashion that would make Tony Soprano (and the pigs) happy.

I found bacon nirvana in a small cottage on the outskirts of Axminster, and I don’t think there’s any going back.  (That said I’ll still be carrying out my vegetarian Green Festival Man campaign this year)

Links:

Ray “The Meat Guru” Smith – http://raythemeatguru.com/about.htm

River Cottage Courses – http://www.rivercottage.net/Category9/HQEventsCourses.aspx

Jamestown Settlement – http://www.historyisfun.org/

Green Festival Mans 4 day vegetarian stint – http://www.pledgebank.com/4DayVeggie