Anthony from Big Barn says...

Anthony is a 5th generation farmer with a mission to help consumers buy fresh local food direct from their local producers.  His website BigBarn displays over 7,500 local producers as icons on maps, accessed by typing in a postcode.  Many have now been set up online shops in the BigBarn MarketPlace where consumers can buy all kinds of local and artisan foods.  Read my column below on what's good to buy right now.

Whether eating meat tonight or for your family Christmas dinner, you should have the best. The good news is great food and meat is closer and cheaper than you think.

At BigBarn we help you find and buy direct, cutting out middle men and supermarket margins.  We help you find the right meat and save you money.  Here is a quick checklist on buying the best meat and tips on how to save money:  

• Don’t be afraid to ask questions.  The person selling you meat should be proud of what they sell or have produced and be enthusiastic to tell you all about it.
• When buying beef, lamb and your Christmas turkey find out how long the meat has been hung to improve tenderness and flavour.  A 2 week hung minute steak could taste better and be more tender than a fresh killed fillet steak at 3 times the price.  Chickens and turkeys should be hung but are not as most are factory farmed and the machines used to dress the birds can contribute to salmonella.
• Make sure you buy the right cut of meat to suit your recipe. Shin of beef, for instance, is cheap and fantastic for a stew or pie.
• Check how the meat has been farmed. Free range and naturally fed will improve texture and flavour and ease your conscience.
• When you have cooked your meat always allow it to rest.  Heat takes time to get through to the centre of meat and the rule for beef is, allow the meat to rest for the same amount of time as it took to cook.

So where do you find the best meat; find your local Christmas turkey or beef and buy online now. Or if you would like to type in your postcode and see a map of your area with icons representing local producers click here.

The celebrations have begun for sausage week. We British love our sausages and should be proud of the great quality and variety throughout the UK.

The last 20 years has seen a real renaissance in sausage making. I am sure when I was young sausages were suffering the same fate as beer, with tasteless Watneys Red Barrel and fatty 'Walls hot Sausages', dominating the market. We now have a huge variety with regional brands like Cumberland, Lincolnshire, made by many butchers as well as hundreds of special recipe mixes passionately guarded by their makers.

The best of course are those made locally by your butcher or farmer. Your local sausages will be fresh, and by meeting the producer, you to find out how they are made and what is in them. You may even be able to ask for something special, like a batch of gluten free. You can also avoid the misleading supermarket packaging, like the bacon my girlfriend bought recently that had a union jack on the packet but no mention anywhere that the pork was British. Obviously imported then cured and sliced in the UK.

We have hundreds of great sausage producers on BigBarn, including 110 in or Market Place where you can search and buy online.

To try online shopping in our Market Place click here and type in your postcode. The site will display your nearest sausage makers, or, if you fancy something a bit unusual, like wild boar or venison sausages, type it in the search box.

And if your favourite sausage producer is not in the Market Place tell them to give us a call, you could then order online and save a shopping trip, or collect to avoid the weekend queue and delivery charge.