Denise Bell, Heritage Prime, Foxholes Farm, Dorset
Lusting for British lamb for Easter? Consider mail order meat from Heritage Prime. British food lover, Tom Parker Bowles, once claimed if he were a pig he'd dream of living at Foxholes Farm run by Denise Bell and her husband Ian.

Like all farmers, Denise and Ian Bell have enough energy to power a country. Unlike all farmers, their animals live in free-roaming conditions, are weaned later, live longer and are fed a special diet. They are never given pharmaceutical drugs. Instead, they are treated with homeopathic medicines. Think Rudolph Steiner for animals.

Denise was a designer before she and Ian turned to farming and set up Heritage Prime, which produces pork, beef, lamb and poultry.  Heritage Prime meat is sold directly from the farm in cuts and is not available in the supermarkets.  A quarter of a Tamworth pig, fully butchered, costs from £250 and will last the average family for six months.

• Why do you do what you do?
  To attempt to re-awaken people to the vast potential - for good or for ill - that their food and the ways in which we grow it, holds for them and for all of the natural world. To encourage others to learn about the provenance of what they buy.
   
• What achievement are you most proud of?
  Bringing biodynamic farming from the periphery to pole position in the marketplace and invoking the interest of many notable people, including HRH The Prince of Wales in this truly sustainable farming method.
   
• What is your most memorable moment?
  Seeing - and feeling - the extraordinary results of using the biodynamic preparations, as indicated by Rudolf Steiner, across the whole farm.
   
• If you were Prime Minister, what one thing would you do to encourage more people to eat British food?
  I'd explain how the political conglomeration of food production issues, as with the EU, for example, leads inexorably to unhealthy corporate control of farmers and farming. I'd monitor advertising for shopping in supermarkets for food items and promote buying directly from a British producer. There's something eternally human about the relationship between a farmer and those who eat his or her produce.
   
• What is your favourite food and why?
  Our own 24 hour roasted shoulder of biodynamic Tamworth pork, served with garlic creamy potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Sharing this with friends or family represents the very heights of conviviality and is a fitting and respectful tribute to the pig who made it possible.
   
• What are your predictions for the future of British food?
  As a prediction combined with earnest hope, I'd say there'll be a concerted move away from supermarket shopping, signalling an end to 'Tesco-braining'. Every Little Hurts.  There will also be a politically driven effort to reverse the trend of recent years and reduce farm size. Only then, shall we be able to achieve real sustainability and more fitting standards of animal husbandry.
   
• If you were an advertising executive, what slogan would you use to promote British food?
  A heritage of great food: Make Britain your local and eat better!
   
• Beat the recession tip?
  Simple; get your priorities right. Forget about all the latest gadgetry, gimmicks and trinkets. Spend the savings on better quality and healthier food, produced in a more wholesome manner, sustainably and for a price that enables the farmer to continue to grow or cultivate it.
   
• What's on the menu this evening?
  It's cold wet and windy, conditions that call for the heartiest of meals. A perfect opportunity for eating our own biodynamic minced beef and onions, cooked at a gentle, rolling simmer for 3 hours and served over a mountain of buttery mashed spuds and steamed dark green cabbage with lashings of coarse ground black pepper.
   
• How can people get hold of your produce?
  Our produce is seasonal.  All our animals are slaughtered and butchered by us, to guarantee our farming ethics. We provide mail order meat and produce boxes, containing only the finest bio-dynamic meats and products.
  Website: heritageprime.co.uk
  Telephone: 01308 482 688
  E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
  Address: Foxholes Farm, Littlebredy, Dorchester, Dorset, England, DT2 9HJ