IN this week of all weeks, tell your supermarket you want to see British beef on the shelves, says Rosie McGowan.

For Great British Beef Week is time to take stock of the quality and benefits of the meat produced on your doorstop.

The development manager for the National Beef Association, which has its head office at Hexham Mart, quotes the example of Tesco failing to stock British beef in the run-up to Christmas. Consumers had lodged their complaints with the NBA.

Customers need to make their feelings clear on that score, she says. “Tell your supermarket you want British beef! In Britain, we pretty much have the highest welfare standards possible and one of the roles of the NBA is promoting awareness of that.

“We think it’s really important people know where their meat comes from, that they know what they are eating.”

Rosie is nothing if not passionate about her subject, hailing, as she does, from Gunnerton and the smallholding set up by her parents, Dee and Charles.

It has just 40 head of cattle, the bijou Dexters that produce the finest of rare breed beef. The McGowans sell it through their own little farm shop and beef boxes, and supply a local pub.

They started the herd 13 years ago, beginning with their first heifer, Celtic, who has just turned 15.

“It’s a suckler herd, so the calves are allowed to stay with their mothers, and they are very good mothers,” said Rosie.

“They are also grass-fed, so the fat in the beef is yellower than you usually see in a supermarket, because it contains more vitamin E and omega 3 fatty acids than usual.”

The slow-maturing Dexters produce a well-marbled beef renowned for its very fine grain and strong flavour, and Rosie has no doubts that beef, as part of a balanced diet, is nutritious and good for you.

The NBA is working closely with AHDB to promote different cuts of beef that better appeal to the modern consumer, particular when it comes to cooking evening meals in the middle of the busy working week.

Smaller joints and thinner cuts are the answer, said Rosie. “Beef is one of the most flexible of products when you consider mince, burgers, minute steaks and stir-fries.”

Cattle farming was often given a bad press in relation to CO2 emissions, but intensive beef systems were becoming increasingly efficient and there was value in a mixed farming system.

Livestock contributed to a healthy soil structure, because manure came into its own as a natural fertiliser.

“Beef gets a hard time over its carbon footprint,” she said, “but there is a large percentage of the countryside you can’t grow crops on and at least if you have suckler cows on it, you are producing a high quality product off land that couldn’t produce anything else.”