Shopping

Real quality? It’s not as costly as you think! I’d rather be in Deeping does the maths...

One of the benefits of living in a rural area is that there is easy access to a number of farm shops where produce can be purchased directly from where it is grown. Very often the shopkeeper is also the farmer, as is the case of Judith Jacobs at Moor Farm. This gives the consumer confidence in the product and a real understanding of where produce comes from and how it is farmed.

It is often assumed that because of the freshness and the quality of the produce there must be a commensurate difference in price from the supermarket where goods are bulk purchased and sold on to the public. It was Jack Cohen, the founder of Tesco who coined the phrase ‘pile ’em high, sell ’em cheap’.

As the shopper, that is you and me, has become more conscious of the detrimental effect of flying foods into the country from the other side of the world to give us out-of-season tomatoes and strawberries, so we have become more discerning in where we shop. But the question still remains: does the quality and provenance of the goods from the farm shop result in higher prices?

Chef Laura Darrington of Big Bird Catering supplied the menus for a family of four for their main meals over a seven day period.

Saturday Brunch

Bacon & mushroom ciabatta 2 slices of ciabatta rubbed over with garlic and drizzled with rape seed oil and grilled in a pan Mushrooms fried with garlic finished with parsley and crisp bacon.

Sunday Lunch

Classic roast chicken, roast potatoes, creamed cabbage and bacon, glazed carrots, big fat yorkies (they’re not just for beef!) Whole chicken rub with salt & pepper, rapeseed oil. Pork fat roasties.

Monday Dinner

Using the chicken carcass make chicken stock, pulling all meat from the bones. Add Thai paste to make fragrant broth. Cut vegetables into sticks; small carrots, mange tout, red onion. Stick of fresh ginger, chilli, lime leaves and noodles.

Tuesday Dinner

Jacket potatoes cheese and bacon. Crispy bacon. Mash potatoes with butter and mustard pack it back in skin, add bacon and cheese on top and melt.

Wednesday Dinner

Homemade beef burger and cajun spiced oven roasted potato wedges.

Thursday Dinner

Pan fried pork chop, sage mash, green beans and fried onions. Creamy sage and apple sauce.

Friday Dinner

Haddock fishcakes, mashed peas, new potatoes with butter and fresh mint.

Agi Chapman and I then embarked on a shopping spree – some items, such as the noodles and Thai paste, salt & pepper and rapeseed oil (from the UK) we assumed were in the store cupboard – we plumped for Tesco Finest to maintain a consistency in terms of quality. Unlike Moor Farm at Tesco we did find that we were encouraged to buy a number of items as they were packaged together – causing unnecessary waste. Also we couldn’t put a price on the ambiance or the sheer joy of watching sheep graze in the fields and the wild flowers growing on the banks, and the opportunity to have a wholesome cooked meal in the café or even just a coffee and home baked cake. But for all the obvious benefits, we paid just £1.00 more for shopping at Moor Farm Shop!