Is it really possible to put delicious meat on your table, put animal welfare before cost-cutting and support British pig farmers without breaking the bank?

As part of the Great British Food Fight, in Jamie Saves Our Bacon, Jamie Oliver investigates why Britain's pig farmers are going out of business. Jamie once again aims to help consumers make better-informed choices about the food they eat by showing exactly how pigs live and die in order to put pork, ham and bacon on our plates.

During the programme Jamie looked at the different ways pork products are labelled. Since there is no legal definition for ‘free-range’ or ‘outdoor bred’ pork, it can be difficult to know exactly how the pork on the shelves has been reared. Even though food may have green fields on the packet, sometimes the reality can be very different. According to the RSPCA, only 4% of pigs spend their whole lives outdoors. Pigs in intensive farming systems may have been born outside, but often they are moved indoors and spend the remainder of their short lives in ‘finishing barns’. This industrial environment and lack of space can worsen problem behaviours such as tail biting and aggression. Another by-product of this system is lameness which is caused by joint disorders, infection and foot injuries.

So who is in a position to tell us the truth about the pork we buy? We can’t take Jamie with us every time we go shopping, so the best way to be sure about how your meat has been produced is to buy it directly from the person who produced it.

Jane Barber at Lovaton Farm is just the sort of person you want to buy meat from. All the pigs at Lovaton are genuinely free-range and are reared slowly to maturity. The pigs spend their whole lives roaming freely in open paddocks during the spring, summer and autumn with cosy straw-bedded sheds in winter. This stress-free rearing results in delicious, succulent and mouth-watering pork with proper 'crackling'.

Since Jane is involved in the whole farming process, she is able to answer all your questions about animal welfare and will take a personal interest in you as a customer. Jane also has an NVQ in butchery, so you can be sure that the same care and attention which is lavished on the animals during their lives, continues through to the cutting and packing of the pork, bacon and sausages.

If you want to take things even further and see the animals for yourself then Jane would be delighted to take you on a tour of the farm and the in-house butchery.

When you buy pork from Lovaton Farm you are not just putting great quality meat on your table, you are also putting animal welfare before cost-cutting and showing your support for a small family-run farm. By cutting out all the middle-men you are also able to make great savings, so that food with a conscience doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Lovaton Farm pork is available in great value meat boxes, which all come with free U.K. delivery. You can also make up a box from individual cuts of pork, beef and lamb.

STANDARD PORK BOXES
with free next-day delivery*

An introductory selection of our succulent Gloucester Old Spot pork. All the meat is suitable for home freezing, but you won’t want to wait to eat it.

A selection of joints and cuts of our succulent Gloucester Old Spot pork. With roasting joints with real crackling, chops and steaks for family meals, sausages and burgers for the children, and bacon for a special breakfast, this box offers amazing value and has something for all the family. All the meat is suitable for home freezing.

Buying half an animal is a great way to try new cuts of meat, while saving pounds on the cuts you already enjoy. Except for the bacon, all the meat in this box is cut from a single side of Lovaton free-range Gloucester Old Spot pork and if you are feeling really adventurous we can throw in the trotters and tail as well. All the meat is vacuum-packed and ready to freeze, so the 20-25kg of meat will last you up to six months.

Have you ever wanted to impress your friends with a recipe like Nigella’s Slow Roasted Aromatic Shoulder of Pork, but didn’t know where to get such a large piece of meat? This box is exactly what you are looking for, a whole shoulder (6-7kg, bone-in) of succulent Gloucester Old Spot pork, vacuum packed and delivered to your door. No fuss, no mess, just delicious meat ready for roasting – as long as your oven is big enough!

Because we allow our rare-breed pigs to reach a full adult weight, this joint is almost four times bigger than the joint Jamie Oliver was cooking with in 'Jamie saves our bacon'. If you want a more modest family joint then our boned and bone-in shoulder joints can be cut to order to suit every table.