Venison hits the headlines
Annette Woolcock
The utilisation of venison by NHS hospitals is a good news story all round, despite the protestations of animal rights activists, says Annette Woolcock.
They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity. With this in mind, what a joy to yesterday see the Daily Mail covering the NHS’ decision to serve patients venison from animals culled by Forestry England. This comes following an announcement from British Game Assurance back in February that it had been working since its inception to encourage the NHS to include game meat on its menus.
For those who have not seen the article (which you can read here), the paper features a spokesperson from PETA, who, not unexpectedly, is up in arms about the move.
PETA’s reaction says that the health service should ‘dump animal flesh’ in favour of ‘vegetables, pulses, and tofu’. Now, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but in this case they are fundamentally wrong, presenting a flawed argument.
Are we not all conservationists?
It is widely accepted that we have a deer problem in this country. My assumption would be that those who chose not to eat meat are surely still ardent conservationists in light of their ethics.
The damage caused by deer to new and maturing woodland has an effect on climate change, preventing the trees from reaching their full, carbon storing potential.
If our deer populations continue to grow, the problem will only increase. With no natural predators, the only solution is to effectively manage deer numbers to ensure they are able to live in harmony with their environment and not pose a risk to themselves through starvation and disease.
Then what? Do just we waste this healthy, delicious, wild meat? That surely is morally wrong? Instead, we should respect these beautiful creatures and make sure all of the meat is put to good use.
Swapping venison for tofu?
PETA’s argument that we should we be swapping venison for tofu is deeply questionable.
For a start, to get the same amount of protein from beef as you would from soya requires 32-times more land. And venison has more protein then beef so you can up this number again.
To add to this, most soya is imported from the Americas, predominantly from Argentina and Brazil, and then transported globally. Think of the food miles! There can be no argument British wild venison is more sustainable.
PETA says: “Heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and diabetes – the UK’s top killers – are all linked to diets heavy in the saturated fat found in animal-derived foods.”
Well, you can knock venison off that list as it contains lest than half the saturated fat of beef and is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which actually reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
High nutritional value
A diet should be balanced one that fulfils all of a person’s nutritional needs. Incredibly lean, venison also contains many vitamins which are good for your health, reducing the need for artificial vitamin supplements. Pair it with seasonal vegetables and you have the perfect balanced meal.
We should be feeding our most vulnerable people with the best we can provide them with, and venison is just that.
I for one am heartened to see that venison is proving so popular and being utilised by hospitals, and even more so that preparations for the wider roll-out of this initiative continue at pace.
The Daily Mail stated that the hospital’s venison and winter vegetable pie, and Lancashire venison and mash casserole, accounted for more than a third of patient meal choices last December. These sound absolutely delicious to me and congratulations to BGA, Highland Game and the NHS for making it happen.
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