Wholesale butcher John Penny and Sons has launched a campaign to put quality British meat back on the table by encouraging consumers to make informed choices about the meat they buy.

The Meat Crusade is aiming to inform the British public about the processes involved in the farming and butchery trades, to give them a better understanding of what goes on in the industry.

The campaign hopes to encourage consumers to visit their local butchers by making them aware that their butcher can provide them with advice as well as top quality and responsibly sourced meat.

A number of butchers have be profiled by the campaign, including Q Guild members Elite Meat in Harrogate; Corry’s in Bramhall and C & G Starkey’s in Sherburn-in-Elmet.

To join the Meat Crusade, fill in the form on the Meat Crusade website

Why not also watch the Meat Crusade video here

Jon Thorner’s scooped a gold award at the 2012 Taste of the West awards.

Somerset butcher Jon Thorner’s received the top gold award for their Minted Lamb and Vegetable Pie, which uses quality diced West Country lamb in a rich minted gravy. Their premier range of pies were also recognised, with Silver awarded for their Beef, Potato and Butcombe Pie, which uses locally brewed bitter from the Bristol brewery and a Bronze award for their Pork, Cider and Apple Pie.

Jon Thorner’s launched a new range of pork pies last year, which are encased in a traditional, hand made hot water pastry; these also starred on the awards list, along with their cupcakes and brand new Beef, Garlic and Cheese Truffles. In total they received 10 awards from Taste of the West.

Founder Jon Thorner said, “Receiving awards such as these for our products is fantastic recognition for us and showcases the top quality meat which is produced in the South West. But don’t just take our word for it; people should definitely try it for themselves.”

Jon Thorner’s is a butchery business with 7 counters across the South and also offers a catering and wholesale service. Two years ago the business expanded to include a café, the Coffee Den, on the same site as their farm shop in Pylle.

The Q Guild of Butchers has raised over £3,000 for national children’s charity ChildLine after donating money from sales of a celebratory sausage.

The Bucks Fizz sausage was created to mark 25 years of both the Q Guild and ChildLine and was on sale for a fortnight at butchers across the country.

The Guild’s 120 members donated 10 pence from every pound of the champagne-based banger to the charity, with the final amount totalling £3084.80.

Brindon Addy, Chairman of the Q Guild said: “The anniversary celebrations have helped our members celebrate with us, increase footfall to their shops, and raise some really great money for charity.

“It’s been brilliant to see such a positive response to this activity and such a high demand for the sausages, people have been requesting that they’re sold all year round!”

Tess O’Callaghan, corporate fundraising executive at Childline, said: “We are hugely grateful for this donation. A call to Childline costs £4, so the money raised by the Q Guild will cover the cost of 771 calls from children in need of support. This money really will make a difference.”

Since ChildLine launched 25 years ago, over 2.6 million children and young people have been counselled by the free, 24 hour service.  Set up by Esther Rantzen in 1986, ChildLine now offers counselling by phone and online.

Established in 1986, The Q Guild promotes traditional craft skills and award winning meat products. Its members in the UK from Shetland to Cornwall, serve £3 million worth of meat and related products to over a quarter of a million UK consumers every week.

Leeds butcher Andrew Green is the new president of the Confederation of Yorkshire Butchers Councils.

Andrew, of Wilsons Butchers in Crossgates, takes over from outgoing president, Ilkley butcher David Lishman.

One of his key roles during his year in office is to host the confederation president’s annual dinner dance of the eve of the 24^rd annual Great Yorkshire Pork Pie, Sausage & Products Competition, at Cedar Court Hotel, Bradford, which this year takes place on Sunday, November 4.

Andrew and his brother John established the Austhorpe Road shop in 1985 and have since opened new pie shops in both Morley and Armley, along with a production bakery in Garforth.

Wilsons Butchers remains one of the best-known pie makers in the country, regularly producing and selling over 10,000 pork pies a week, as well as running a thriving online mail order business at www.wilsonsbutchers.co.uk

Wilsons has won numerous accolades in the meat industry awards arena, being named the best butchers shop in England in 2005, also being crowned National Barbecue Champion. It regularly enters the Great Yorkshire competition, winning prizes for its pork pies virtually on an annual basis and lifting the small pork pie championship three times between 1999 and 2007.

Wilsons is a long-standing member of the national Butchers Q Guild, which represents some of the country’s leading independent meat retailers – the Q stands for quality.

Andrew said: “The Great Yorkshire is the UK’s biggest and best-known regional contest for meat men and women, attracting hundreds of entries from all over the county. All winners, supreme and reserve champions in particular, receive a major boost to both their profiles and sales.”

Farm shops and bakers who make products on their own premises are also eligible to enter. There are three pork pie classes for traditional, stand and speciality cold eating pies, and three sausage classes – thin, thick and speciality, plus standalone championship classes for black puddings and beef burgers.

A ‘New Kid on the Block’ class for the best newcomer to the competition is designed to encourage new blood to enter and gain valuable experience in the meat trades competition arena. Full details are at www.greatyorkscomp.co.uk