Veal

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saint-spoon
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Veal

Post by saint-spoon »

Ok so this might be a contentious subject but should we be eating more veal? It has been on country file this evening. Janet Street-Porter raised the subject in one of Gordon Ramsey’s programmes. According to Countryfile tonight compassion in world farming is pro British pink veal. I have long felt that the male calves from dairy herds should not just go to waste and have tried to get British pink veal but the supermarkets are reluctant to sell it because of the very effective anti-vealcrate campaigns of the 70s and 80s (I am not pro veal crates). Surely it is less ethical to just dispose of male calves because they are of no financial use than to fatten them up for human consumption.
As an afterthought I do truly believe that it is criminal to waste such a valuable source of protein because it is seen as being cruel, milk production will not go away anytime soon so the male calves will continue to go to waste unless we make British Pink Veal fashionable again. Veal is not cruel, not eating it is IMO.
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saint-spoon
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Re: Veal

Post by saint-spoon »

the RSPCA are also on board.
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Meredith
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Re: Veal

Post by Meredith »

I totally agree, it is a criminal waste not to make use of the male calves. Things have moved on from the veal crates and providing meat produced in this way doesn't creep back onto the market, I think it is a great idea.
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LittleBrownFrog
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Re: Veal

Post by LittleBrownFrog »

I'm with you on this one. I heard JSP talking about it on the radio a while back, but it wasn't something I'd thought about until then (other than the blanket 'veal is evil' stance that I remember as a child). That said, I don't think I've ever eaten veal of any kind ... I've never actively looked for it, but have never noticed it either.
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Lillia
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Re: Veal

Post by Lillia »

I agree with you, all the way~
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p.penn
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Re: Veal

Post by p.penn »

I think that the unnecessary disposal of male calves in the dairy industry just isn't publicised enough. It seems to me a wicked waste.

Mind you, lets be honest here. Mass food production is about profit. If animal welfare can be acommodated within given profit margins, then it may stand a chance. If not, it just isn't going to happen. :?
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LittleBrownFrog
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Re: Veal

Post by LittleBrownFrog »

True.
Veal also gets a bad rap because we're talking about ickle baby calves here.
The cynic in me can't help but notice that it is relatively easy for most people to take a 'moral' stance and give up veal, largely because it just isn't a regular feature of most people's diets. Ask them to give up chicken for the same reason, and it's a different matter.
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Re: Veal

Post by Totally Scrambled »

When I was young I lived on a farm which was a mixed arable farm. We ran a dairy herd which we bred from, some of the heffers being grown on as replacements and the rest for sale.
The bullocks were raised for meat and we also had an old style veal calf station, which looking back on it, was probably cruel but at the time just seemed normal.
The only animals we slaughtered other than for meat were ones that had birth defects that would have caused them suffering. The occasional one was raised to adulthood to either to replace our existing bull or to swap to keep the bloodlines fresh.
Nothing, except cockerels, were culled just because they were males as everything was used either for our own consumption or for sale.
I used to love a nice bit of veal but, as Spoony says, it is very hard to come by nowadays. There are of course those who see any animal being raised in anything but natural conditions as cruel. Each to their own but most of these animals wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for the fact we eat them and it is a fine balancing act between profitability and caring for them in a humane way and what is considered as humane, changes with time
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p.penn
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Re: Veal

Post by p.penn »

Totally Scrambled wrote: most of these animals wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for the fact we eat them and it is a fine balancing act between profitability and caring for them in a humane way and what is considered as humane, changes with time


I couldn't have said it better myself. )t'
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saint-spoon
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Re: Veal

Post by saint-spoon »

well said Dom
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Re: Veal

Post by Steve the Gas »

I have eaten it and it's lovely, british Rose Veal gets my vote to stop this evil waste of an animal.
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Mad Chick
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Re: Veal

Post by Mad Chick »

I've not tried Rose Veal as I've just never seen it anywhere. As a kid I used to eat the old style veal until I was old enough to understand how it was produced. I didn't realise that male calves were culled in this way and agree, it's a criminal waste. As long as they are raised ethically I'm all for it )t'
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HappyBob
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Re: Veal

Post by HappyBob »

I,ve never eaten Veal, and to be honest havent really thought about it. I watched the article on veal last night, and it did sound like a waste of a resource. If it does become fashionable to include veal on the weekly menu, how does it compares price wise with other cuts of meat?, as I think this could be a determining factor to encourage more people to eat it.
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Re: Veal

Post by Totally Scrambled »

As a rule it is a bit priceier as there isn't so much of it about but if it became popular I suppose the price would come down.
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