Fancy some carbon negative ‘craft beef’?

by Startacus Admin

Pioneering meat wholesaler ‘Ethical Butcher’ are looking to revolutionise the UK meat market with a their new venture which aims to see carbon negative meat delivered to households across the UK.

Farshad Kazemian, the CEO of new venture ‘The Ethical Butcher’, is planning to launch the new service in the coming months, following a crowdfunding campaign which went live last week. The business will see the delivery of ethical meat boxes to homes nationwide via what has been dubbed an online ‘craft beef’ service.

The Ethical Butcher will work with the Pasture for Life Association and their certified farmers to help take a number of farmers a year through a specialised Holistic Management course, which will support them in better managing their grasslands in order to offset carbon emissions and work towards the production of carbon negative meat.

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports have found that the Holistic Management method could sequester substantial amounts of carbon in soils over time; potentially reversing historical soil carbon losses through increased productivity and the rehabilitation of degraded grasslands. Every new tonne of soil created through the Holistic Management system removes 3.67 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thereby offsetting the effects of climate change and sequestering more greenhouse gases than the animals produce.

Farmers trained in Holistic Management start with a full bio-diversity audit of their land; and to stay certified, its biodiversity has to increase year on year. Only when farms are achieving a set standard of sustainable practices will their meat be sourced for the Ethical Butcher supply chain, meaning purchasing meat from the Ethical Butcher will see consumers actively contribute to improving the biodiversity of the UK’s landscapes.

Farshad hopes that the values and practices sustained and promoted by the Ethical Butcher will satisfy the rapidly increasing demand for ethically produced, sustainably sourced, environmentally conscious meat products; and allay concerns about the environmental impact of meat production so that Britain’s meat industry can regain consumers’ trust and continue to thrive.

Farshad Kazemian, said:

"I know the meat industry can not only reduce its carbon emissions, but reverse them. The Holistic Management method of farming produces up to 1 inch of new soil per year - a process which would take 500 - 1000 years to occur naturally - and therefore has a decisively positive impact on the planet and the UK’s biodiversity. We’re also protecting farmers’ futures, as the demand for sustainable meat is only going to increase, and unsustainable farming methods will no longer be accepted."

Customers who purchase meat from The Ethical Butcher will also have their sustainably produced, carbon friendly meat delivered to their doorsteps packaged in biodegradable WoolCool: a compostable form of packaging that is a byproduct of rearing sheep.

Products will also arrive with tasting notes outlining how and where they were grown, with the Ethical Butcher’s limited supply of craft products from select farms and animals reflecting the company’s commitment to taste, quality and sustainability. The animals in the Ethical Butcher’s supply chain are 100% grass fed which also means their meats are better for consumers, as they contain higher levels of vitamins A and E and more Omega 3, less Omega 6 fatty acids, and no hormones or antibiotics.

If you like the sound of this startup, you might also want to read up on:

Meatable is revolutionising the meat industry one cell at a time

Vegan food business The Brook tastes crowdfunding success

 

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• #food
• #food tech
• #sustainability
• #environment
• #crowdfunding
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Published on: 16th November 2018