In the early seventies, at a time when few people had thought of such current buzz-words as 'provenance','animal husbandry' or 'food miles' several things coincided that were to map out the future shape of my business.

Stories of intensive farming methods and industrial food processing appalled us so we became determined to produce as much of our own food on our small North Devon farm as possible to feed to our growing family. Hard to appreciate now how bad it was then, there was an advertisement in a trade paper promoting a machine for processing meat products that read "Why sell meat when you can sell water?"!

Genetic Conservation.

In 1974 we became aware of the acute need to conserve the unique genetic material carried by our fast disappearing and characterful breeds of traditional domestic livestock and we joined in with the work of the then newly-formed Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

I had already been keeping pigs - a joke present of a live piglet from a farming friend when I was sixteen started it all - so it seemed logical that we could do most good in this the least glamorous livestock group.

The pigs became rather an obsession so that soon we had collected bloodlines from all seven rare breeds and, a bonus, I discovered to my delight that my five times great grandfather Sir Robert Peel created the Tamworth breed!

We travelled the country exhibiting our pigs at agricultural shows, winning lots of prizes and selling young stock for other people to breed from.

Pioneering the return to traditional meat production.

It became obvious that the only way to secure the future of our breeds was to develop a sustainable market for their progeny. Rather than the old breeds simply becoming exhibits at Farm Park I should take them back to what they had been developed for, meat production.

The idea had a great deal going for it: old fashioned breeds reared in a traditional farming system produces the best tasting pork. Unlike with the typical commercial breeds reared more widely, our philosophy is not to use any prophylactic drugs or growth promoters, we will use a modern medicine in the rare event that an animal is ill, then treble the withdrawal period if it is a meat animal.

Our common sense farming methods avoid the situations where such treatment may be necessary by good management and low stocking densities. Our animals usually experience one very short journey only, thereby minimising stress and exposure to disease.

Animal welfare has always been somewhat of an obsession of mine: our farming system takes into account the natural behavioural instincts of the animals. High levels of stockman-ship being paramount. We have had our animal feed specially mixed to my own recipe right from the start, using high quality, uncomplicated ingredients. Recent food scares have proved this principle right time and again!

The result is succulent meat with excellent texture and full flavour.

The Start of Mail Order

We began by offering half pigs for freezers and were sufficiently convinced by the response that in 1979 we took the plunge and converted a dairy building on our farm into a butchery and started researching sausage, bacon and ham recipes from old farmhouse recipe books, Mrs Beaton and her celebrated early nineteenth century forerunner Eliza Acton. We created a range of Pork products to the most stringent quality standards.Our customers seemed to love it!

As requests for other non-pork meats were received, it made sense to look at producing beef & lamb in the same way and we worked closely with other local farming friends who shared our philosophy and were experts with their own species, so that we could now produce beef - from pedigree Red Ruby North Devon cattle - and lambs, also from old-fashioned British breeds.

We are located deep in the North Devon countryside so mail order was the obvious choice. At the time the only food available through the post was kippers and clotted cream.

Early in 1981 from one write-up in the national press we received 15,000 enquiries during the following ten days.

Now almost 30 years later, where we have led others have followed. Rare breeds are now, thankfully, no longer as endangered. Gradual but fundamental changes are taking place in farming and the food industry to improve animal welfare and reduce agricultural and food chemicals. We are proud to have been influential in shaping attitudes towards responsible meat eating.

Heal Farm Sensational Food today

Ours still remains a truly family affair, with my husband Richard staying up through the night to tend our smoker, my daughter Rachel and daughter in law Jane still being involved in the business - their four children growing up healthily with an appreciation of real food.

Innovation has always been a feature of our activity and our range has developed and moved on. We have added many kitchen-ready savoury recipes, both meat and non-meat, and, more recently, puddings and cakes, plus bought-in locally reared smoked fish and great traditional cheeses: all wholesome food that can be trusted, made slowly in small batches with the best, most natural ingredients.

We continue to provide a truly bespoke butchery service, such that if you can describe it, our highly skilled butchers can cut it!

Our premises are now state-of-the-art, operating from a bespoke new production facility built on the site of the old winter housing for my pigs. Inside, the building adheres to every EC regulation going, while the outside has been designed to be in sympathy with our fantastic rural environment.

Most recently, thanks to inspiring techniques from rural southern Poland taught to us by our Polish Production manager John Myrda, we have created a hot-smoking facility that allows us to smoke our rare & traditional breed meats in a style not typical in Britain, giving them a moistness with an aromatic, slightly sweet smoky flavour.

Our basic philosophies are as strong today as they were thirty years ago and while I no longer tend the animals myself - a splendid chap called Jonathan has them in his care. I spend much of my time now developing new recipes and keeping up with the regulatory paperwork. During the Summer it is my joy, as a Senior Pig Judge, to make forays out to Agricultural Shows all over the country to take up livestock judging appointments and have been honoured to serve the Berkshire Breeders Club as its President.

We are more passionate than ever about the creation of good food and the satisfaction we derive from producing to the highest standards still gives as much pleasure today as it did when I started the business over thirty years ago. The large number of Gold Medals awarded to us over the years marking the excellence of our products, the extravagant things the food press and, importantly, our Customers say about us & the special recognition from Environmental Health in their gleaming reports on our facilities are all a bonus.

We hope you enjoy our food.