With over 5 generations of farming experience, the Cossins family know a thing or two about the countryside. They hand rear Aberdeen Angus, Hereford and Rawstar cows on their family farm in Tarrant Rawston, Dorset which prides itself on lush, mineral-rich grass leading to incredibly tender and flavoursome beef.
The farm is at the heart of all that they do. The meat is sold at the farm shop ensuring the absolute minimum of food miles as the family whole-heartedly believe that shopping local is key to agricultural sustainability.
“Keep your food miles low and your taste experience high” is their mantra. All the meat in the farm shop is fully traceable with the home-produced beef from the farm and chicken, pork and lamb travelling a few miles from local suppliers and seasonal specialities welcomed into the shop at the appropriate time from venison, game, veal and free-range turkeys for that special occasion!
James and Barbara also own the local pub, The Langton Arms, so the chef there uses the fabulous meats to create pies and dishes which are sold in the farm shop, encouraging the locals to treat themselves to a “ready meal” like no other… they might even find beef wellington available if they are really lucky.
Always available are take away coffee and cake, home-made sausage rolls, scotch eggs, bacon turnovers and pork pies as well as locally grown seasonal fruit and vegetables, local store cupboard ingredients, herbs and spices, fresh fish and eggs, honey and even flowers and plants.
Rawston’s is a fabulous one stop shop to create home-cooked meals from breakfast to dinner, safe in the knowledge that everything in your basket has been sourced from within 30 miles of the farm shop.
It was this premise that led Barbara to create a county-wide Love Local Trust Local food label scheme to help consumers understand the provenance of their food and encourage them to support local farmers and growers.
The “welly boot” logo was created in 2018 and is awarded to independent businesses including farmers, fishermen, growers and producers, whose main ingredients are sourced from within 30 miles of their Dorset location.
The Love Local Trust Local Food and Drink Awards was launched for the first time in 2020 and continues to thrive.
www.rawstonfarmbutchery.co.uk
www.lovelocaltrustlocalawards.co.uk
