The Start of the new year is an exciting time for setting new goals, a chance to break bad habits and start as you mean to go on and what better way to start your day than with a healthy breakfast?

Farmhouse Breakfast Week, 25th - 31st January is an annual campaign that emphasises the importance of eating a healthy breakfast every day.  ‘Think Breakfast’ is the theme of this year’s celebration to encourage everyone to wake up to breakfast as part of a healthy balanced diet and active lifestyle.

Breakfast, it has been said many times, is the most important meal of the day.  So why exactly is this?

Think brain power - a healthy breakfast can boost concentration and mental performance as well as reduce stress levels.

Think nutrition - breakfast  an be an important source of vitamins, minerals and fibre.

Think weight management - breakfast kick-starts the metabolism and helps with weight control as it reduces cravings for mid-morning snacks.

Think variety - such is the choice of healthy breakfast foods from around the regions, that there is always a breakfast dish to suit everyone.

And on the subject of variety, here at Gonaslton Farm Shop we have a whole host of delicious breakfast favourites including gorgeous Spoff porridge oats and cereals, our own award-winning sausages and farm fresh meat, our own delicious home cured bacon, hand crafted breads and pastries, with locally produced marmalades and jams.

To support Farmhouse Breakfast week and to celebrate the wealth of high quality regional produce available across the UK, GFS will have tastings all week from the 25th - 31st January and as a special treat there will be double loyalty card points on selected breakfast favourites.

So remember, start your new year with the most important meal of the day, make it your new goal.

Gonalston Farm Shop in Nottinghamshire, UK, offers a wide selection of locally produced food. Visit our website to view our farmhouse cheese or our delicatessen at www.gonalstonfarmshop.co.uk
By Georgina Mason

In November, Gonalston Farm Shop (GFS) in Gonalston, Nottinghamshire were voted national UK finalists in two prestigious butchery awards namely, the categories of “Best On-Farm Butchery 2009″ announced by the National Farmers’ Retail & Markets Association (FARMA) and “Butcher’s Plus 2009″, announced by the Meat Trade Journal (MTD).

At GFS the pride of the farm shop is the full over-the-counter butchery service, which features the farm’s own beef, cherry picked from the herd, plus quality meat from other local farms. This is complimented by a grocery section, fresh fruit and veg area, delicatessen and fresh fish counter.

The team of trained butchers offer expert advice on everything from cuts to cooking tips and also produce an impressive array of award-winning sausages, burgers, kebabs and stuffed and rolled joints, incorporating local ingredients such as Southwell grown Bramley apples.

Georgina Mason, farm shop joint owner, commented, “We are incredibly proud to have been placed national finalists in these national awards. We are delighted that the team’s efforts have been recognised.”

The FARMA panel of judges commended GFS for their impressive butchery display, featuring some excellent meat from GFS’s own farm and the surrounding area. They also felt the friendly and professional service offered by the team of expert butchers and other staff was truly top class, making shopping there an enjoyable and rewarding experience. While the editor of the MTD, Ed Bedington commented: “GFS impressed our judges with its superb high class operation. Judges described the shop as oozing quality and choice, and were particularly impressed with its meat, fish and cheese counters.”

Gonalston Farm Shop offers the finest quality local and British farmhouse cheese and farm fresh meat plus a selection of delicacies from further afield in our delicatessen in Nottingham, UK. Visit our webiste for more details at www.gonalstonfarmshop.co.uk.

We’ll be posting all our latest news and events information on these pages, so keep on checking back here for the lastest developments at Gonalston Farm Shop.

And we’d love to hear from you too. Each diary entry allows comments to be posted so if you have something to say, we’d love to hear it.