You’ve very likely heard the word ‘hygge’. And you’ve probably experienced it – snuggled by the fire, enjoying a piping hot cocoa – without even realising it. Pronounced ‘hue-gah’, hygge is a Danish word that defines a feeling of cosy contentment. It doesn’t have a direct translation into English but it’s all about a sense of wellbeing that comes from enjoying the small, simple things in life.
The Danes experience many cold, dark days that could dampen anyone's spirit. While they could get bored, instead they use hygge to bring light to chilly and gloomy months. It isn't a forced event to impose on your lifestyle, it’s rather about being conscious of enjoying good moments to the full.
At the heart of hygge lies simplicity – that means avoiding stress, spending time with friends and family and relaxing in your hyggebukser (comfy sweatpants) by the fireplace. Invite hygge into your life with the warm, gentle glow of firelight and candles in the evening. And find a hyggekrog (cosy nook), where you can relax after a long day at work or lounge with a good book on Sundays. Be it a comfy armchair or sofa, make it super-hygge with squishy cushions, snuggly blankets and relaxing fragrances.
The philosophy behind hygge is something we’ve incorporated into our work here at The Organic Butchery. We take time to be mindful of the environment and welfare of the livestock that we source. Working as a team, we do the best we can to thoughtfully provide the best service, always considering the impact we have. That means we reuse the ice and wool from your meat boxes if you return it to us and we recycle our cardboard boxes.
Another way we’ve found to be more mindful here at The Organic Butchery is in finding the perfect portion size for each of product, meaning waste is minimized and servings are neither too big nor too small, but just right. To make all of our meat both responsible and wonderful to eat, our cattle and lamb are fed only grass, our pigs and poultry eat organic grain and the deer who produce our venison graze freely in ancient parkland, enjoying a natural diet supplemented with the husks from organic spelt.
As part of our commitment to organic food that’s produced cleanly, we never use chemical fertilizers or pesticides on our fruit and veg. We constantly consider how we could reduce our impact and how could benefit the livestock, crops or the environment and how it could give customers 100% trust in our produce.
It’s by doing all these things that we get the warm, glowing feeling of contentment that’s our kind of hygge.
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