‘Happy pigs make good bacon’ – Michel Roux Jr. meets the Grierson’s in episode 2 of The Craftsmen’s Dinner
The second stop on Michel Roux Jr’s culinary journey across the country for our latest series with The Balvenie ‘The Craftsmen’s Dinner’, was a trip to one of the UK’s most celebrated life-stock farms – NewMiln farm in Perth, Scotland.Run by husband-and-wife duo Hugh and Sascha Grierson, Grierson Organic uses increasingly rare traditional farming techniques, having achieved organic status in 2002. They adopt organic principles to produce meat that tastes exemplary but also to support a sustainable, eco-conscious farming model – As Michel comments in the film, ‘Happy pigs make good bacon’.
Whilst organic farming is a highly labour intensive process, taking 4 times more manpower than intensive farming, the Grierson’s take on the extra work out of respect for the land. Hugh Grierson commented ‘The business is about linking our lifestyle with a healthy future. We exist the way we do because there is a rapidly growing number of people who share our views and want to engage with our product, it’s a cycle that connects ecology, people and a sustainable way of living.’
We asked Sascha Grierson about the organic farming principles they adopt on NewMiln farm and how her involvement in The Craftsmen’s Dinner has impacted her own craft
