Jeremy Clarkson has vowed to support British farmers with his new pub in Oxfordshire, but has acknowledged it might be easy to make a profit doing so.
The Farmer’s Dog, near Burford, opened on Friday August 23, drawing queues of people waiting to sample its delights, on the back of the phenomenal success of Amazon’s Clarkson’s Farm.
“I have tried my absolute hardest to make sure that every single thing you consume in The Farmer’s Dog was grown or reared by British farmers.
“Yes, the pork, the beef, the lamb and the venison are all British. And so is pretty much everything else. The milk, the butter, the eggs, the vegetables and the fruit. We even cook in British oils,” said Mr Clarkson, who has been named a finalist in the National Pig Awards Innovation of the Year category.
The pub will sell Diddly Squat’s own Hawkstone beers and ciders, British wine, fizzy drinks made with British-grown fruit and British-grown tea, although he admitted there were some limits to British sourcing, for example, tonic water for gin and tonic.
“We’re delighted to be doing all we possibly can to support British farming and we’re delighted that you’re here to help us,” he said.
Mr Clarkson revealed earlier this year he had paid ‘less than £1m’ for the pub, previously known as The Windmill, the BBC reported.
However, he acknowledged that it was going to be challenging to make a profit. “If I take one of our pigs and we slaughter it and butcher it and we turn it into sausages and we sell it here, it costs us 74p. If I buy imported pig meat it is 18p. So, something is wrong with the food system in this country,” he said.
Hawkstone support
Hawkstone has teamed up with mental health service Shout, which runs a 24/7 messaging service to support people struggling to cope.
“They’ve been a lifeline for people feeling sad, lonely, or suicidal, so we’ve teamed up to show our support for farmers. Don’t suffer alone – farming is a bloody tough trade, but help is out there,” Hawkstone said.
- Farmers can text HAWKSTONEto 85258 for free to start up a text conversation and get the support you need.