Country Mouse on veal

One of the most stupid lunacies to have befallen British farming was the destruction of the veal industry; it's a pointless waste

Country mouse, Country Life magazine
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Of all the lunacies that have befallen farming over the past decades, one of the most stupid was the destruction of the British veal industry by gullible do-gooders. What do these people think happens to bull calves born to dairy herds? They're hardly going to be kept as pets. In fact, it's simple?they're either shot at birth because they are worthless, or sold, when market conditions allow, cheaply, for live export to the Continent. It's a pointless waste, but such is the stigma attached to eating veal, that this delicious meat has all but disappeared from our plates.

Nor?in Britain, with its exemplary welfare issues?is raising veal cruel. Our farmers want to produce either rose veal, whereby these hitherto unwanted bull calves are raised outdoors, fed on milk and grass, and slaughtered at 10 to 12 months, or fattened until they're 16 to 19 months and sold as young beef.

All that's needed is a market for this delicious product?it is up to us to provide one and to stop the dreadful waste of killing them at birth or exporting them live to who knows where on the Continent. We would be doing the farmers, the calves and our cuisine a favour.

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Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.