Food Security from an expert...what shortage?

Having read a degree, you would think that I should have met a few professors in my time....if I am honest to my knowledge I think I have only ever spoken to two. The first was pretty uninspiring and the second, Professor David Hughes was quite the opposite. So driving out of Melbourne, Victoria, on my way to meet Professor Albert Mcgill, I was not sure what I was going to ask, whether it would be relevant or more importantly whether it would get an answer....

Professor Albert McGill is a Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST), operates a consultancy and advisory service, Future for Food, is a Visiting Professor at Fuzhou University, PR China, and has been a Visiting and is an Associate Fellow at the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization at Oxford University.

So how did it go then...? Well I can honestly say one of the most interesting people I have ever met. You do not meet many people that you can listen to all day, but Albert is certainly one of them. Not only has he lived a interesting life of travel and adventure but he can challenge you and leave you thinking hard about how you have thought about things before.

As Nuffield scholars we spent a few days in London where we first met each other. We had some great meetings with Defra, NFU, Natural England and the then shadow minister for agriculture in the House of Lords. It is only now almost a year down the line am I starting to feel able to question what they said to us. 

When I asked Albert what he thought about the whole growing global population and what we as food people could do to solve this problem..(big question I know, but I thought I would go in there all guns blazing!!) He looked at me and said why is that people think farming and food are the same thing.....We all think that to solve the problem the answer is in growing more food but if you look at food security, which by definition is to make sure in good time not after natural disasters there is no hunger, in a global sense we have food surplasses at the moment. If you add to this the fact that at the moment there is a global food wastage rate of 12% then surely there is plenty of food to go around. 


As I sit in Hong Kong writing this blog, (doing a bit of catch up...) I see a panic article in the Telegraph from the CEO of Unilever stating the case for the need of increased food production...quite relevant to this blog....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/davos/8261856/Unilever-chief-warns-over-global-crisis-in-food-output.html

Albert at this point was looking frustrated....why is it that no government or professional body of which there are plenty have actually looked at this topic from the corner of the consumer. His view is that half of the problem is getting people to buy what they actually need and not what they think might be useful in the future. Getting supermarkets / retailers to buy all food that is grown and not just the straight veg as opposed to the beans that have a slight kink in them....

The next issue is to look at what blockers there are that are stopping this surplus from getting to the parts of the world that are hungry...are they economic, political or logistical??

Albert is a man that is a straight talker, and in my view talks a lot sense. Everybody is focussed on mass production when the biggest issue at the moment is mass waste. When talking about food shortages they are thinking about farming yet you can not walk into a field of wheat and pick up a loaf of bread. Food and farming are very different beasts and the challenge is surely getting the raw material from the farm into food in the most efficient fashion.....the problem is that this is not happening at all successfully at the moment.

Here is a recent paper written by Albert to wet your appetites further. Albert many thanks for a thought inspiring lunch, I will definitely be bugging you for further thoughts in the coming months and years!!

http://www.worldfoodscience.org/cms/?pid=1004536

My First Taste of Wagyu!

Having heard so much about this product it was time to take the plunge into my funds and get eating. Having found a great butchers shop in Albury Victoria, called Yalandra Fine Foods, here is how I got on.

So to answer a few of your questions:

What makes Wahyu beef so good?
Wagyu is a breed of beef cattle known worldwide for its marbling characteristics, delicious flavour, tenderness and juiciness, and thus has a high market value.

Well as you can see from the below marbling is what is key about this meat. I would love to test try this on a few of our butchers at home as I am sure a few would be sent straight back....

Price wise I was presently surprised in the butchers, having heard some ridiculous prices being quoted in restaurants at over £100 / kg. So heading home with my sirloins at £40 / kg I was ready for the experience. What ever you say about Wagyu it is certainly a huge achievement in marketing at launching a new product at a price totally unrelated to any previous meat product.

Normally I would cook a steak in a very hot pan, but as they say "when in Rome" you have to go with the locals. So stubbie in hand and sporting a brand new Akubra, the BBQ was the only cooking tool to be used!!

Not the best bbq skills with the flames, but a very smart new Akubra!!

So what did I think....Well if I am honest I was not blown away with Wow factor, but there is no disputing that it is a great steak, with a punch of flavour. Eating this with an experience Wagyu eater, I was told that these were not the best so I will no give complete judgement just yet and we will retry this experience in Asia. But to quote an Aussie....a bloody good steak!!

Lawsons Angus - Am I brave enough to stand in a field of bulls??

Well after an 800km drive, a speeding ticket and a half hour chat with the said police officer about his 40 Angus steers I finally arrived in Seymour at the beautiful setting of Harry and Ruth Lawson's house.

On arrival my knowledge of beef genetics was practically zero. Having said that from my previous visits to OZ I have always been aware that the UK is light years behind Australia on this area and that Medium Rare could potentially create a competitive advantage through the use of genetics.

After a very warm welcome and seriously good curry we set about educating me on the world of genetics. Lawsons Angus was set up 40 years ago by Harry's father and having been put in contact with them through my brother in law's recommendation that they are world class at animal breeding I was blown away by the detail they go into to ensure that their breeding bulls are out performing the Angus breed average by 10 years. Regular data is recorded through the use of ultra sound to collate fat scores, eye muscle size, scrotum size, marbling score and growth over 100, 200 & 600 day period. Through working in partnership with the US they bring over the best Sires and serve their own hand selected Dams through AI. This data is then centralised and indexed taking into account the pedigree of the parents and the farming system the bulls are being used in.

Harry Lawson with his young bulls ready for auction.

Lawsons Angus support their customers with breeding farms in WA, Queensland and Victoria. Breeding is sold in three ways; through the sale of bulls at their bi annual auctions, seamen used for AI or through the sale of embryos.

Australia have firmly backed the Angus as their breed of choice and as a result there are very strict rules if you are to sell your Angus beef under the certified Angus label. Harry is very passionate about research having spent a lot of time in the US who are undoubtedly the leaders in this field. Continually Harry asked why is it that when the US have proved the best eating quality comes from the Angus (and many more of the British breeds - Hereford / Dexter / South Devon etc.) the British continue to be obsessed with Euro continental breeds that often result in lean tasteless beef.

A young Angus suckling on its mother

What has impressed me is the integrated system there is for beef production. Whether you agree with feed lots or not it is very apparent that most Australian producers are thinking about beef production with the consumer in mind. Many companies like Lawson Angus are working with purely one objective - to improve eating quality rather than yield, wastage and other prominent factors that British producers focus on. If you combine their genetic work and requirements to be registered as certified, along with the MSA standards for slaughter and hanging then you can fully understand why they have managed to master consistency.

So the question is, if all this info is available why are we not in the UK doing it. Putting my Medium Rare hat on, the one product that we have not had success in is beef. We have struggled to have a story that is different to any other producer and have also struggled to find consistent product and producers who can supply this to us. With this discussion Harry suddenly got very excited. Having already exported his bulls to Turkey, Russia and China this year could this be the start of a relationship with Medium Rare.

I am convinced now from meeting Harry and Ruth that for Medium Rare to have a successful beef product we need to produce beef our selves. We must focus on purely on British breeds and convince butchers that taste and flavour are more important than yield. A strong competitive advantage could be gained by bringing in embryo's of the best genetics globally and having a small herd ourselves to use for the shop window, yet using contract farmers with our genetics to grow the numbers. You may ask what is wrong with the Angus beef on sale in Waitrose. The requirements for Waitrose, which I know as I have visited one of the contact finishers for Dovecot Park, is that the animals only need 51% Angus and can be sourced from anywhere as long as they are on a Waitrose approved farm for 21 days. Compare this with certified Angus label in Oz is that they need to be pure Angus and meet the requirements of the MSA. Certianly food for thought to head home with!!

December 2010 Angus GROUP BREEDPLAN

Calving Ease Dir (%)

Calving Ease Dtrs (%)

Gestation Length (days)

Birth Wt. (kg)

200 Day Wt. (kg)

400 Day Wt. (kg)

600 Day Wt. (kg)

Mat. Cow Wt. (kg)

Milk (kg)

Scrotal Size (cm)

Days to Calving (days)

Carcase Wt. (kg)

Eye Muscle Area (sq.cm)

Rib Fat (mm)

Rump Fat (mm)

Retail Beef Yield (%)

IMF (%)

EBV

-0.4

+1.9

-2.7

+2.9

+37

+78

+104

+89

+10

+0.2

-3.6

+66

+7.0

+0.6

+0.9

0.0

+2.9

Acc

53%

46%

64%

80%

72%

74%

74%

67%

57%

74%

41%

67%

62%

65%

66%

59%

58%

Breed Avg. EBVs for 2008 Born Calves Click for Percentiles

EBV

+0.0

+0.3

-2.4

+4.6

+36

+67

+86

+80

+12

+1.2

-2.5

+48

+2.9

-0.2

+0.0

+0.2

+0.9

Ashes wrapped up so Work begins with a tour of Prime Quality Meats!!

As I am writing this the Ashes has been firmly wrapped up and by now the boys are probably enjoying a few ales at Barmy HQ...so without any further delay it is probably time to get on and do some work. So here we go, to kick things off a day spent with the finest butchers chain in NSW...Craig Cooks Prime Quality Meats.

“Meat should be an unreserved pleasure.” This has been Craig Cook’s maxim since 1980. When you raise contented animals without hormone growth stimulants or antibiotics, they absorb more nutrients and minerals. Lovingly produced meat is the carnivore’s super food.

 The Prime Quality Meat story begins with the passion of Craig Cook. His determination is simple - to provide nothing less than the most naturally farm raised, hormone promotant free meats of the highest quality possible. This intent has led him to become Australian Meat Industry Council National Secretary and Meat & Livestock Ambassador for Red Meat retailing in Australia.

But that is only a small part of a very large undertaking. From a lush green paddock to your dining table, Craig ensures that the meat that bears his name is superb. “It’s all about that glow you get when the meat dish you serve is truly spectacular. It might just be a T-bone, but it’s a T-bone with wow factor.” 

The above is cut straight from Prime Quality Meat's website, and when I first read this I was firstly impressed with the enormous passion that it exudes but also how he shares the same passion that we have at my own business Medium Rare.

Prime Quality meats is the smartest butchers chain across NSW. With 15 stores across Sydney and the suburbs, they are pitching at the top end of the market with concessions also in the largest David Jones (Oz's John Lewis equivalent) food halls.

My first impressions of the counters were very smart presentation and a business that is eager to get their message across. Initial differences with the UK were the below signs, my fear with the UK is that with their Meat Free Monday's butchers may have to sell veg just to make a living. It is without doubt that Australians are definite meat lovers and passionate about their butchers.

It is fair to say that product wise OZ tends to favour beef. The big debate seems to be whether you eat grain fed, where the options are 100 day/ 250 day etc or grass fed beef. This is quite a bone of contention with the MSA (Meat Standards Australia) only supporting grain fed, as with their Meat Standards system, through H-bone hanging, PH testing and various other processes can guarantee eating quality. Craig on the other hand was adamant that the grass fed beef from his farms had far superior eating quality and he would not serve grain fed on his counter. A subject I am sure I will revisit on this trip as there are many arguments both for and against and environmental. The understanding I have is that although you would think that the grass fed would have a far lower carbon foot print the counter argument is that a grain fed animal takes a lot less time to grow to finishing and thus spends a lot less time excreting methane. I am seeing a lecturer from Melbourne Uni on Monday so will see what he has to say on this....

Wagyu beef is fast becoming big business in Oz, although in my humble opinion it does not look any great shakes on the counter it certainly blow's your mind away both in price and flavour. This is produced in Oz as embryo's were sent over from the Kobi region a while ago and there are now plenty Wagyu across the country. Could this be a successful product in the UK.....? That I am not sure about at the moment. I have a feeling it would be met with resistance from UK butchers due to its price and appearance and possibly the healthy eating British might have reservations about the fat content. Having said that it has to be viewed as a completely different product to beef and there are no arguments with tenderness and taste. Could that be my first possible new market for British Meat....not sure.

It is without doubt that Craig is at the forefront of the Australian Meat Industry and through his chain of shops is pushing forward with the idea of branded meat to the Australian consumers. One query was their free range pork, which when I rang the farm at Ottawandi Pork they informed me that they only produce barn range pork....please not another term to confuse consumers!!

My thanks has to go to Craig and his managers for making me so welcome and showing me how they do business. I left with a slightly empty feeling of why can't British butchers be as well supported as Australian butchers. When I asked him how he felt about his Northbridge shop being next to a major supermarket, his response was a firm repost that they could not compete with the quality. This is exactly the attitude UK butchers must take and continue to seek out the best producers (hopefully Medium Rare) to keep one step ahead of the multiples.

One new idea I will be going home with is the idea of stock as a new product. In all their shops they had pouches of stock (chicken/beef & lamb) available which were very good sellers. I have never seen this in a UK butchers so watch this space....

For those interested here is their website...impressive so worth a look!

http://www.primequalitymeat.com.au/

Next stop is an 800km drive to Seymour in Victoria to look at a Aberdeen Angus bull breeding company....