Eastbourne Rocks! likes to keep the community strong and rebuild the local structures that make the town a pleasure to be in.
Nowadays, with the superstores selling everything under one roof and internet shopping and delivery, it’s so much easier to get your shopping stress free and fuss free with our fast pace of living.
However, with the demands we make on these services, it makes the stores need to feed our buying habits. With these demands, the stores have had to change the way in which they provide these to us.
We’re talking about meat. The stuff that makes our chicken curries, steak and kidney puddings, toad in the holes and all the sumptious British foods we’ve come to expect and enjoy.
It’s true that more cattle and fowl have to be reared to meet our demands. But not only that, changes have been made to plump up the meat, to make it look fresher, last longer and seem more plump and juicy.
So what have they done to make this happen?
Eastbourne Rocks! was horrified whilst watching a programme a few weeks ago which showed how meat was prepared to make it look more appetising to the customer.
To start with they inject saline into the flesh of meats. This only makes the meat look plumper, it serves no other purpose. Have you ever wondered why, when cooking your chicken breasts or bacon rashers, there has been so much water? That’s because during the cooking process this water is expelled, leaving what was the original piece of meat. It’s only cosmetic.
And here’s the outcry that nobody has noticed just yet:
That water (saline) that’s injected into the meat to make it look more appealing and plumper (along with preservatives that make it last longer on the shelves and in our fridges) also adds weight to the meat at the checkout. You pick up two chicken breasts. Normally they will weigh, say, 300g and cost about £2.00. They have been already been injected with saline (and preservatives) and now weigh 315g. This extra weight will be added to the price as well, making you pay more for nothing. You think you’ve got a bigger piece of chicken and so you pay for a bigger piece of chicken. It’s only until you get home and see the water that’s expelled from this piece of chicken and realise (or not, as the case may’ve been – until now) that you’ve paid more money for absolutely nothing.
So, even if you weren’t supporting your butcher because it’s too far out or your local one has closed down due to poor sales, please start now. Butchers are proud to offer you local cuts of meat, they’ll cut them to your desired specification and you will get none of the unwanted additives, the only unwanted bits are what you’ll find naturaaly in the meat – fat and bones, which we all know, make fantastic stock. And above all, you’ll get that personalised service that we have become so used to living without, a bit of conversation and – well, we may actually learn something in the meantime!
So please, get supporting your local produce, local farms and local shops now, before it’s too late. One day they might be gone for good – just because it was a little too easy to go to the supermarket.
J. HEATH & SON
7 Albert Parade, Green Street, Eastbourne. BN21 2SD
Tel: 01323 722110
DEAN BUTCHERS
Nick Dean, Enterprise Shopping Centre, Station Parade, Eastbourne, BN21 1BD
Tel: 01323 736267
ASHMORE FARM MEATS
Ashmore Farm, Grove Hill, Hellingly, Hailsham, BN27 4HH
Tel: 01435 812108
K D CATERING BUTCHERS
Baytree Farm, Bay Tree Lane, Sayerland, Polegate, BN26 6QN
Tel: 01323 488996
THE SUSSEX LARDER LTD
7 Saint Marys Walk, Hailsham, BN27 1AF
Tel: 01323 442031
COURT LODGE FARM
Wartling, Hailsham, BN27 1RY
Tel: 01323 832150
WILTSHIRE FARM FOODS
Unit 8 Chaucher Ind Est., Dittons Road, Polegate, BN26 6JF
Tel: 01323 488338
Email: eastbourne (at) wiltshirefarmfoods.co.uk
GILBERT ESTATE/EAST DEAN MARKET
The Gilbert Estate Office, Upper Street , East Dean, East Sussex, BN20 0BY
Tel: 01323 423906
Email: info (at) beachyhead.org.uk
MIDDLE FARM
Firle, Lewes, BN8 6LJ
Tel: 01323 815046
Email: info (at) middlefarm.com
TAQWA HALAL BUTCHERS
28 Pevensey Road, Eastbourne, BN21 3HP
Tel: 01323 738265
THE MEADS FAMILY BUTCHERS
52 Meads Street, Eastbourne, BN20 7RH
Tel: 01323 732 591
HEATHFIELD MEATS (UK) LTD
Harvington Business Park, Unit 10, Brampton Road, Eastbourne, BN22 9BN
Tel: 01323 511191
DOWNVIEW BUTCHERS
8 Freshwater Square, Eastbourne, BN22 0PR
Tel: 01323 505009
BRAINS BUTCHERS LTD
Orchard Parade, Eastbourne, BN20 9PL
Tel: 01323 483151
SOVEREIGN MEATS
176 Seaside, Eastbourne, BN22 7QR
Tel: 01323 416499
SHARNFOLD FARM
Hailsham Road, Stone Cross, Pevensey, BN24 5BU
Tel: 01323 768490
ANGLO-DUTCH MEATS
Market Street, Hailsham, BN27
Tel: 01323 844874
DOWNLANDS
10-12 Downlands Way, East Dean, Eastbourne, BN20 0HR
Tel: 01323 422379
SOVERIGN MEATS
1 Vicarage Field, Hailsham, BN27 1BD
Tel: 01323 840451
W J CROUCH
Gardner Street, Herstmonceux, Hailsham, BN27
Tel: 01580 891229
ASHMORE FARM MEATS SUPPLIES LTD
Grove Hill, Hellingly, Hailsham, BN27 4HH
Tel: 01435 810108
SMITHERS BUTCHERS
67 High Street, Polegate, BN26 6AH
Tel: 01323 483009
HAILSHAM MEAT PACKERS
Baytree Farm, Bay Tree Lane, Sayerland, Polegate, BN26 6QN
Tel: 01323 482759
FARMERS MARKET
Farmers markets details are advertised on East Sussex County Council’s website.
The nearest market to Eastbourne is in Hailsham. This is held on the 2nd Saturday every month throughout the year between the hours of 9am and 12.30pm.
COMMUNITY WISE MARKET
The farmers market at Community Wise in Ocklynge Road, 10am to 2pm, occurs on the last Saturday each month, starting 25 April.
Local produce and crafts on offer include meat, vegetables, milk, cakes, jams and locally made crafts. Delicious home made soup on sale plus fair-trade teas and coffees available.
