How We Reduce Food Waste

April 2026

The central ethos of Tablehurst Farm is to produce high-quality food in a way that does not harm the greater environment. From planting seeds to harvesting, calving and farrowing to herding the animals, everything we produce is our farmers’ labour of love and dedication. Naturally we do not wish to see any of our food, which we believe is both delicious and full of nutrients, go to waste. This is why it is important for us to firstly sell and consume as much of our produce as possible, and the rest are returned into the farming process. 

Fresh farm produce 

The best food we produce, which are fresh seasonal vegetables and butchered meat, are sold to our customers in our farm shop. The same fresh meat and vegetables also go to our onsite pie kitchen, where our team of chefs work their magic to turn them into our famous “farm to fork” sausage rolls, pies and quiches.

As well as the prime cuts displayed in our traditional butchery counter, many of our customers regularly buy our offal, carcasses, chickens feet, pigs trotters and other “nose to tail” culinary delights. We are thrilled so many in this community appreciate the nutritional value and depth of flavour coming from bones and organs. In fact our ancestral burger, which is comprised of a finely-balanced mix of minced beef brisket, heart and liver, is one of our most popular products!

We also prepare our own chicken stock and animal fat, which we sell in our farm shop. And to ensure our four-legged family members don’t miss out on biodynamic and organic meat, our butchers create pet food using a blend of meat, lungs, bones and other parts that do not make it to our butchery counter.

What happens to food that is surplus, slightly damaged or getting near to expiry? 

Recently, our farm shop introduced a 20% discount basket for fruit and vegetables, both Tablehurst-grown and bought -in, which are still fresh but fall slightly short of “shelf” standard, in the hope that they can still be enjoyed by our customers.

Otherwise, a farm shop’s surplus is a hungry crew’s treasure (well, lunch)! On Monday to Saturday mornings, one of our in-house farm chefs will see what is available from the butchery, shop, vegetable garden and dairy, and design a balanced, nutritious 2-course lunch for 20+ staff members. These lunches not only enable our staff to regularly enjoy our farm produce, they also prevent food from going to waste, connect people with the land on which they work and provide a daily opportunity for team members from different enterprises to come together and share a meal. 

Back to Where It Began 

Fortunately, our produce are hugely appreciated by customers and staff alike, so we sell and eat the vast majority of it. And it’s not just humans who find our vegetables delicious! After a bountiful harvest last autumn, our pigs feasted happily on our biodynamic squashes, and in turn provided us with meat and manure.

As a biodynamic farm and garden, our goal is to be as self-sustaining as possible. That means all soil fertility is produced on the farm and not externally sourced. Where we do have vegetables that are no longer fresh enough for consumption, we place them in our compost pile so they can be returned to their origin to enrich the soil and help our vegetable garden thrive. In other words, the cycle begins again!