To ask if you will buy British meat rather than OZ/NZ with lower welfare standards?

[Mamaboo22]

Partly inspired by the farmer thread…

The Brexit trade deal with Australia has opened up tariff free trade for meat which can be produced to a lower animal welfare standard than employed by the UK system

Our UK farmers could be undercut by imports where poorer practices are employed

Will you support homegrown meat, UK farming and the standards they work to?

[LadyCatStark]

I’ll buy British as it’s madness to ship the same animals that we have here thousands of miles for us to eat!

[DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult]

The honest answer is that it will be whatever is cheaper for me.

If I had the money I would support British farmers 100%, but my morals and my bank balance don't quite align sometimes.

[MaxNormal]

Yes. I already get my meat from an organic farm.

[DeRigueurMortis]

@LadyCatStark

I’ll buy British as it’s madness to ship the same animals that we have here thousands of miles for us to eat!

Agree.

[Lockdownbear]

I probably would but that my mission to stop stuff being transported round the globe.

If my memory serves me right the British Government got slated a few years ago for giving a massive contract to supply lamb to the British Army to Australia while insisting on better welfare for British sheep and lambs.

[Bloomsbury45]

Individuals will make their own decisions regarding the origin and welfare standards of the meat they buy.

But a huge percentage of meat consumed in UK is put into processed foods, ready meals, school and other institutional/work canteens and I suspect that market will be influenced more by price than by origin and welfare standards.

[Crinkle77]

Yes, I always buy British meat and will check the pack to make sure.

[Dinosauratemydaffodils]

I only buy meat from local producers anyway. In Lockdown we reevaluated where we buy food and now 90 percent comes from the village farmshop, butcher and baker.

[MrSlant]

I am eating a lot less meat now and only buying from a local butcher where I know where the animals lived and how they have been treated. The Suez Canal fuck up made me really reevaluate what was acceptable to me and Covid helped me start to use my local butcher more. I do 100% accept I am lucky to be able to afford their meat though.

[soolazy]

As an Australian I really hope this will put pressure on our government to improve standards in our abattoirs.

Although if it becomes more financially attractive to send meat to Britain it might reduce the number of animals made to suffer the appalling live animal transport ships we send to the Middle East.

[Elouera]

@Mamaboo22- Are you sure you aren't confusing the US with standards in Aus/NZ? Do you have a link to show where you are getting this information from?

[Mamaboo22]

I do hope people will think about how the government has sold out our farming industry when buying food. This doesn’t seem like taking back control!

[Everydayisawindingroad]

@Elouera I believe the perceived issue with Australian meat is the use of growth hormones.

[FillerAngel]

I always buy British anyway - ideally local as the butcher has the most easily sourced meat, but in a supermarket I only buy British. Waitrose need to step away from packaging fish from South Africa that can be caught by our fishing industry in Cornwall and I won’t get their frozen lamb if it’s from NZ. Our farmers deserve our support, not least as their meat is delicious and livestock treated well.

[Mamaboo22]

@Elouera - there are many resources discussing this in the news currently. Here is one from an Australian source listing differences in animal welfare (barren battery cages and sow stalls are legal), pesticide and hormone use etc

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/100205024

The RSPCA have lobbied against it

Chief Executive of the RSPCA, Chris Sherwood, said: “Everything we are hearing indicates that Boris Johnson is close to signing the deal. At a stroke he will be setting back hard fought for welfare standards here and giving Australia no incentive to improve welfare standards there. It will start a race to the bottom and the losers will be billions of farmed animals and UK farmers.

[Fr0thandBubble]

I won’t buy any meat from anywhere because there is no “humane” way to kill an animal that doesn’t want to be killed.

People who talk about welfare standards are kidding themselves. If you pay for animals to be killed simply because you like the taste of their flesh (which is the only reason there is, because you can live perfectly healthily without meat) then don’t pretend you give a damn about animals and their welfare, because you don’t.

[Mrbob]

Agreed froth. If you are that bothered then don’t eat meat. No need to worry then

[SappysCurry]

I remember back in the 80’s Australian ‘cheddar’ and Canadian, and then it disappeared, possibly when they applied PDO to cheddar cheese ?
Sorry bit off topic but seems sad to me that we’d have to import when We have a thriving farming country with appropriate welfare standards

[trashcansinatra]

I already buy local, try to buy in season and avoid New Zealand lamb where I can. Not on quality grounds, but on food mikes grounds.

[RickiTarr]

We only have two meat eaters in the house, and buy organic from the local farm for ethical reasons, and I try hard to keep food miles down generally, anyway.

However, I appreciate it will likely bring certain prices down and some won’t be able to resist so I hope we negotiate animal husbandry standards into the deal as time wears on.

[Empressofthemundane]

We will continue to buy British meat.

[SpindleWhorl]

Tbh we eat very little meat, but the dairy industry is pretty grim too.

It is a major political and ethical dilemma, and meanwhile it isn't really fair to say it's one for skint consumers to solve.

[Shmithecat2]

I already buy from my very local butcher/farmer. No plans to change that any time soon.

[PickAChew]

I try to buy higher welfare meat, where possible so will be likely to give the aussie stuff a swerve.

[Mamaboo22]

@Fr0thandBubble

I understand you don’t agree with the meat and animal trade. However there will continue to be one and it would be better for consumers to make informed choices on the standards to which it was raised. This is the only way retailers will make changes to the ranges they sell

@MrBob - not participating does not remove the need for worry. Not everyone is a non meat eater so animals will continue to be raised and slaughtered for sale. Upholding better standards is not something we should absolve ourselves of as consumers. We should all be interested in where the products we buy come from and how they are produced.