'Enormous' potential for game meat...

[The Business Barn]

New research has shown that the majority of the British public have never bought game meat, but with effective promotion and marketing this could be reversed.

The polling was undertaken by ORB on behalf of the Countryside Alliance and found that 85% of people have never bought pheasant or partridge to cook at home.

Of this 85%, only 14% said they hadn’t purchased game meat because they opposed game shooting and only 7% said they don't eat game because of the minor risk associated with lead.

Discover more findings here >>>

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[Gone Shooting]

All the birds from our family shoot are eaten - shoots usually struggle to shift high numbers of game and its not through trying ( game dealers etc ) - just think of the fallout in this sue the ass of anything mentality if someone bit into lead shot or suddenly realised that it wasn't reared out of the back of the supermarket.

 

[Jakem]

They better get promoting soon then because we couldn't give the buggers away on the shoot for the last couple years.
I put it down to laziness, id imagine wrestling the cardboard from there oven meal is inconvenient enough for most people nowadays let alone trying to pluck and draw a pheasant

 

[A1an]

The lack of a market for game is going to be the downfall of shooting.

This needs to be sorted sooner rather than later.

 

[Adeptandy]

Why bother to pluck and draw a Pheasant, just open up the chest and slip the breast out

 

[Danllan]

Why bother to pluck and draw a Pheasant, just open up the chest and slip the breast out

Ditto, treat them like big pigeons .

 

[Jakem]

Ditto, treat them like big pigeons .

I should of said fresh game or unpackaged meat in general is to much like hard work for most people nowadays, but even breasting a pheasent would seem like a ridiculous idea to a lot of people I’d imagine as it’s to easy to by prepared meat for dirt cheap in my opinion.

 

[Jakem]

Any way it means more for me at the end of a shoot of no one else is taking so don’t know why I’m complaining.

 

[A1an]

My wife cooks for our local shoot, guns and beaters.

The 'keepers breast out all the birds and vacuum pack then freeze the fillets. my wife then helps herself to the contents of the freezers for lunches.

If you are creative it surprising what can be done with a few pheasant and duck.

She does game pies for elevenses, lunch soups, casseroles for dinners.

 

[Danllan]

I should of said fresh game or unpackaged meat in general is to much like hard work for most people nowadays, but even breasting a pheasent would seem like a ridiculous idea to a lot of people I’d imagine as it’s to easy to by prepared meat for dirt cheap in my opinion.

Hmm... I don't think there are many on here who would disagree with that. It is daft of me, but I am still surprised each time the degree of detachment between the general public, meat and its origin raises its head.

A century ago a large proportion of the population were still in the country and / or kept stock, be it a pig or hens, or had a neighbour who did. The current separation from the food chain is not a good thing. I'd like to see every local education authority or equivalent, across the UK, have at least one 'school farm'* where every child would spend a few days at a different time each year.

Such a system would re-educate and open the public's eyes - those of children and parents - to farming and food realities. It might even encourage a bit of fresh blood and thinking into the industry too.

*Open farm days are a fair idea too, but not convenient for all.