WE have all become so detached from the meat we consume that a shockingly high amount of children have no idea where a chicken breast comes from.

How in this day and age is this possible, you might ask?

Well, the answer is simple. People do not want to feel uncomfortable, they do not want to see blood and they most certainly do not want to know about the abattoir process.

But the thing is, if people just stopped to think about quality instead of cost then they would go for a sustainably produced product every time.

This month I took part in the Sustainability course at Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage and it was a real eye opener.

The inspirational course is one of their many cooking courses held in their newly built barn. The course focused on learning the full circle of sustainability from soil to plate.

The walk around the grounds was great to see all the produce produced at River Cottage and their innovative ways of giving back to the environment.

Hearing about how their animals go to the local abattoir was uncomfortable to hear for me, which both surprised and made me feel a little ashamed.

But then the shock factor came when we watched a horrific video about mass produced meat and the killing processes in other countries.

The animals, which are bred worldwide in captivity, caged and then slaughtered is a hard watch. But then compare that to the lambs which we could see happily grazing outside the window and it dawns on you why eating sustainably is so important.

It is not just a buzz word, a fashion, but a way people can change their lives using small steps to eat locally and source food wisely.

To illustrate how we can make a change in our lives, chef Stephen Lamb brought in a hogget lamb for us to butcher.

It was killed the week before and costs about £60 for half a carcass. But if you were to buy this in the shops it would cost you more than £100 for the cuts.

Now this I thought would be the scary part. But actually I found that because I knew this lamb had lived a good life, grazing on the grass at River Cottage and died in the most humane way possible I felt easier about it.

We later cooked the lamb in a cook off using just four ingredients and it tasted lovely and I had a sense of pride that I’d handled this meat through the process. Running the course Stefani Smith said people should start by looking at the seasons and only buying what is fresh. This cuts down on food miles and preservatives.

“People need to look at the food mileage and animal welfare and take this into consideration when buying food,” she said.

“I have a slow food ethos – so create it slowly and enjoyed slowly.”

Stefani feels so passionate about educating people on sustainability after working for years as a chef in various places where she disagreed with the ethical choices made to buy meats and other products.

I left the course feeling truly inspired.

I’m not saying that I will chuck everything in and start my own smallholding, but I do believe that we all have a part to play in eating sustainably.

And I can honestly say that looking at the cheapest cuts of meat in the supermarket is not something I’ll ever do again.