As a butcher by trade, you'd probably think I'm a total carnivore - eating meat for every meal, starting each day with a big fry up and ending with a giant tomahawk steak for dinner.
And whilst that does sound delicious, my customers are often shocked to learn that I don't eat meat everyday. And I don't think they should either.
You see my philosophy is to eat better meat, less often.
Why is that? Well, let me explain.
1. Eating good quality meat everyday can be expensive
Think about it - high quality meat should be expensive. It takes time and resources to rear an animal properly, to ensure it has a nutrient-rich diet, to allow it the space to roam free and the time to grow and develop at its own pace.
At G.J. Honour we work with our long-standing suppliers who meet these high standards. That means the meat that we sell to our customers is of super high quality and is on the more expensive side.
So it makes more sense to me to eat high quality, delicious meat a few times a week, rather than trying to stretch my budget to eat much lesser quality meat every day.
2. It's better for the environment
Listen, I don't want to get into a huge debate about climate change and whether we should all be vegan. However there's enough studies out there for us to know that the meat industry does contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions with red meat having the biggest impact.
It has been suggested that if everybody adopted a more "flexitarian" approach to their diet, this would undoubtedly have a positive impact on climate change.
What does "flexitarian" mean? Well it simply means reducing your consumption of animal products to a level that you're comfortable with. I always recommend our customers dip their toe in the water by giving Meat-Free Mondays a go, and plan the rest of your meals around high quality meat or fish.
3. It's healthier for you and your family
I'm not saying that meat isn't good for you, because it is. Meat is a fantastic source of protein, vitamins and minerals - particularly B12, iron and zinc.
However eating a lot of low quality, processed meat isn't a particularly good idea for your health and can contain a lot of saturated fat, which isn't good news for our cholesterol levels.
Eating better quality meat, less often, is a smart move for the health of you and your family. And your local butcher is here to help. We can help guide you in the direction of lean, nutritious cuts and even advise on how best to cook them.
So there you have it - my two pence worth on why we should all be eating better meat, less often. I'm always up for a discussion on this topic so if you see me in the shop, I'd love to know your thoughts.