Free range was becoming a bit of a lost concept as farming turned large-scale and more industrial. Small, independent producers still struggle to compete with the massive factory farms but happily, as we have seen with organic foods, free range meats and diary produce have firmly established themselves in the market.

Consumers are more wary about where their food comes from and what impact it has on the environment and animal welfare. When we vote with our feet and choose to pay a bit extra for free range eggs or meats, we support our local producers, ensure better quality of life for the animals and of course we get far better, taster food!

Recent lobbying and advocacy by celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have given the issue a new edge, but for many the decision to endorse free range methods was made long ago.

The strong farming heritage in South West England has been able to retain many traditional methods and we are lucky to have some really exciting local companies who are dedicated to free range production.

The Model Farm Organisation is a co-operative society of organic and traditional farmers committed to traditional methods of animal husbandry. They are regulated by the Organic Farmer & Growers and the Soil Associations, so also have a commitment to farming as naturally as possible.

The animals are reared ethically, sustainably and organically. Livestock is reared on a genuinely free range basis - outside on the fields grazing on unsprayed pastureland.

The meat is absolutely delicious. Portions are generous; it is fresh, well prepared and much cheaper than buying the equivalent in a supermarket. Nothing can beat a cooked breakfast of their massive rashers of smoked bacon and a couple of pork and apple sausages. My family now insist I bring one of their turkeys home at Christmas. You only have to try their produce once to be uttely converted!

Delivery areas are Bristol, Weston-Super-Mare, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Birmingham and the West Midlands. You can order online or on the phone from their helpful and friendly staff and they will deliver straight to your door. When you make your first order, take advantage of their trial pack: a kilo pork joint, 500g beef mince, 500g sausages, 2 lamb chops, 2 large chicken thighs and 4 beef burgers for £10.

To help offset the carbon foot print incurred by door to door delivery, they plant more than 200 trees and shrubs every year. Packaging is minimal. As the meat is local and they insist that animals travel no longer than 30 mins to abattoir, food miles are no more than 5 per customer. They have also planted 250 acres of wild flower meadows to encourage diversity and protect wildlife. They keep rare, heritage breeds. The pictured cow is one of just a hundred left worldwide. And of course they help to defend one of the most endangered species in our country, the traditional British farmer!

The cooperative nature of the organisation supports the small, independent farmers in the South West and Wales who have got fed up with supermarkets controlling profits and forcing farmers to make less ethical decisions. With the Model Farm Organisation there is no middle-man, and the farmers are free to produce great quality meat ethically.

I was also very excited to discover the Severn & Wye Smokery in Gloucestershire. With so much attention placed on eggs and meat, people would be forgiven for over-looking fish as a free range food.

Severn & Wye specialise in wild, local and line-caught fish, buying directly from fishermen. They smoke the fish on site, by the river using traditional methods. The fish is hand prepared; hand salted and smoked over oak chips and old whiskey barrels.

As part of their commitment to sustainable fishing, they have decided to also sell some farmed fish. This is necessary because wild sea stocks are under pressure and need maintaining, so the responsible use of farmed fish can protect the balance of wild stocks. Severn and Wye ensure their suppliers of farmed fish are dedicated to animal welfare and the environment. Suppliers must also be local, ensuring the shortest chain of supply possible, reducing carbon miles and supporting local suppliers.

The Smokery has expanded in recent years to include a food store and restaurant offering local foods alongside such dishes as smoked duck or Scandinavian gravadlax, and of course their own delicious smoked local fish.

Model Farm and the Severn and Wye Smokery are two excellent examples of how choosing to buy free range not only supports more ethical treatment of animals, but also the traditional farming methods which respect the environment, protecting British wildlife. You can really make your consumer power work by buying local as well as free range.

If you can’t source local produce, try to keep an eye on how far your meat has travelled to get to the supermarket shelf. Your good decision to choose a free range steak could be undone if it has been flown in from the other side of the planet.
Making ecologically sound decisions can often require sacrifice and compromise, but free range meat is a far, far better choice than those soggy little joints sitting at the bottom of plastic boxes on the supermarket shelf. By buying free range you really can taste the difference.

Model Farm: www.modelfarm.org
Severn & Wye Smokery Ltd: www.severnandwye.co.uk