On a family break to mid wales this week, we selected a traditional Inn, reputedly the best food pub in town, for a leisurely lunch. Sitting in the attractive oak-beamed dining room, perusing a grubby red-jacketed menu, which listed such delights as gammon steak, pineapple ring and chips and a sandwich special “2 fillings and your choice of flavoured crisps with a side salad garnish”, I was struck by the fact that it is only on trips away from home that I come across eateries that think this is still an acceptable offering. As our party of eleven’s food began to arrive it was clear that the standard was indeed as poor as our impressions of the menu suggested – a dire interpretation of spaghetti bolognaise, served in a cereal bowl; mashed potato so sticky and bizarre tasting, it may well have come from a tub labelled “smash” and prawn marie rose so vibrant pink you could practically smell the E numbers. One has to seriously question the source of the ingredients when the bill for 2 adults and a child comes to just £16! This was not some dwindling business, gasping its last breath – on a rainy Friday afternoon a good number of tables were occupied.
The tale around the rest of town was little better. A ‘bistro’ serving cheap steaks, lasagne and duck a l’orange with an evening set menu at £10 for 2 courses or £13 for 3! A further restaurant, open for lunch and dinner served jacket potatoes, omelettes, battered fish and things on toast, with the highest priced menu item a prawn salad at £6.50. In the High Street, a single old fashioned bakery, stocked the cream horns and marshmallow filled ice-cream cones of my childhood – no artisan loaves or seasonal bakes here. A few tasty morsels for the BBQ were acquired in the butcher’s shop, including sausages, made in house. The lamb was labelled Welsh but there was no indication of where the other meats were sourced. Despite being just 30 miles from one of Wales busiest fishing ports, the fishmonger stocked a meagre selection of ready-portioned salmon and cod, alongside some standard ‘to go’ options- rollmops, crayfish and prawns. A single tray containing three whole rainbow trout was the scope of the whole fish offering. The greengrocers sold an uninspiring selection of ‘golden delicious’ apples and everyday vegetables – not a summery pea, gooseberry or trendy yellow courgette in sight.
The only indication that we were not in fact still in 1995 was an a-board marked ‘Wholefood Café’, surrounded by an array of blackboards proudly announcing ‘locally grown broad beans’, ‘new season strawberries’, ‘organic salad leaves’. Inside fresh mint walls and bleached pine panelling set the scene for an appetising vegetarian menu, vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free bakes and a range of delicatessen ingredients. It’s a community run shop which aims to create a market for locally grown organic produce. The volunteers admit though, that even here, just 20% of what is on sale is from local smallholders and farmers. Why? Do the producers simply not exist? The statistics suggest the contrary – 11% of the workforce here are employed in agriculture or fishing, compared to 1% of the UK as a whole. Or have they not yet cottoned on to the commercial desirability of linking directly with the consumer. The shop has been here in the town centre for 13 years, surely by now people must be aware of its presence and potential benefits to them?
I am purposefully evasive about the precise location of my travels. I do not mean a personal slur upon it or the businesses described. I highlight it only as an example of numerous areas, up and down the British Isles where the food revolution has yet to reach.
This is an area i’ve been visiting for 10 years, my husband for 40. The food scene has barely moved on in that time. We’ve yet to enjoy a meal in the area of the standard we’d hope for. Though in the supermarkets and shops prices seem on a par with elsewhere in the UK, food prices in pubs and restaurants seem astonishingly low, a sign perhaps of a struggling local economy. In fact according the Office for National Statistics, less money is generated in the county for every hour that is worked than in any other part of Britain – 30% lower than the UK average.
While there will always be a place for affordable food for families, I genuinely believe that there are very few, if any, places locally where the standards are quite as low as this. We would not accept it. We vote with our feet and move on elsewhere, we vocalise our thoughts through social media and online review platforms such as trip advisor. Establishments must keep up or risk extermination.
A wander down my local Bridport high street offers a different story entirely. There are three thriving butchers; Balsons proudly promotes the origin of its meats- beef and lamb from Axminster, pork from Childhay Manor, Devon chicken and duck and veal, venison and game birds all locally sourced; the staff at Framptons too talk passionately of the provenance of their fare. There are two greengrocers- Bridget’s market, under new ownership, increasingly offers the finest of seasonal fruit and vegetables. There is a delicatessen, two independent wholefood stores and a third which also sells organic vegetables. Pubs, cafes and restaurants such as The George Hotel, Soulshine, Lula, The Green Yard Café, The Red Brick Café and The Bull, to name but a few, pride themselves on their commitment to sourcing the finest local produce and win awards for the standards they set. And that’s just in the town centre. In the immediate area surrounding the town are several flourishing farm shops, offering a chance for real farm to fork eating. An array of the freshest South Coast fish is available at fishmongers Samways and Davy’s Locker, as well as from several mobile fish vans. West Bay offers more excellent dining establishments as do the outlying villages.
Although the two areas are not directly comparable, there are many likenesses that can be drawn. Both towns serve a rural population, though the Welsh population is significantly more dispersed. Both have an element of tourism to the economy, though Dorset much more so. But the most obvious similarity is in the landscape, both unspoilt, predominantly pasture land, with a rich agricultural heritage. The area of which we are talking, primarily concerned with sheep farming, alongside some beef and dairy, interwoven with trout streams and lakes. There are still several regular livestock markets. Why then so little evidence of this produce in the shops, cafes and restaurants?
No doubt the reasons for the faltering local food scene are many and complex, issues which cannot be uncovered over a snapshot visit of a few days.
My personal lesson is of gratitude and a realisation of just how special our local food landscape is. Our culinary future seems safeguarded with bodies such as Dorset Food and Drink, Taste of The West and Slow Food Dorset all working to drive the sector forward. While our most famous cafes and restaurants draw tourism to the area, bringing vital money into the local economy, our local food businesses will have a good source of seasonal income. We must however, not become complacent. Without the support of us, the local residents, putting money into their tills, many businesses will survive but never thrive. During those quiet winter months when the tourists have returned home, it is you and I booking that Tuesday night meal in our local pub, stocking up on seasonal veggies from the local farm shop or buying our Sunday roast joint in the butchers that keeps the heart of our county beating strong all year long.
Alison Smith @chefalismith
