To give my dd's veal burgers?

[lottieandmia]

I bought some veal burgers for my dd's. My mum said that it's cruel to eat young cows. I said well how is it any different from eating lamb? (Which she does). She couldn't answer.

So am I missing something? Are they slaughtered in an unkind way or something?

They have a pretty miserable life. But then again so do other animals that end up on plates.

If it's British veal ('rose veal'), the animal will have been kept and slaughtered in a similar way to older cows.

If it's from Europe, it's had an even more miserable life than standard intensively-reared cattle.

So there is not a specific difference?

It's British - I bought them from Waitrose.

Some veal is farmed differently so no it's not as bad as it was.

They have no more a miserable life than any other animal you eat. Hypocritical to single out one young animal and eat another. Your mother is being silly, ignore her.

I love veal. It's too expensive though.

No worse than lamb, chicjen, rabbit, Bambi... meat is meat and no critter skips merrily off to the abattoir.

I don't eat the stuff myself but don't understand people who object to cute meat beibg eaten!

There isn't a difference really these days - I work for a butcher.
Animals bred for veal a few years ago used to be kept caged in not the best conditions to reduce the red colour of the meat keeping it more pale/pink..

YANBU, lambs are killed just as young if not younger.

A lot of other posters have said it but if it's British, it's really much better than it used to be. Continental is still iffy, welfare wise.

www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/10770703/Why-its-time-to-welcome-back-veal.html

No, there is nothing wrong with veal. It's a meat, it is there to be enjoyed by humans - that's why the animals are raised. Without people to enjoy the meat, the animals wouldn't even be born FFS. (Unless it's wild game, but I don't see much British veal freely roaming the countryside!)

British veal is kept to a reasonable standard. I think the calves are kept in a barn, I don't think they get much exercise, but they're not in crates. They're allowed to eat grain and move about which makes their meat pink. They're killed young but if nobody ate British veal they'd be killed at birth because they are male dairy calves and they would be of no value. Or possibly transported to Holland where veal production is truly cruel, though I don't think that's economically viable any more. They'll exist as long as we drink milk because the cow has to have a calf to produce it.

British rose veal is kept to higher welfare standards. It is monitored according to produce standards and raised in the same satisfactory conditions as their beef lamb and poultry

I think rose veal is one of the meats/animals that lives the longest before being slaughtered so as long as it's British and not European I don't see a problem with you eating it.

I see no problem if it's British veal same as pp. They'd be killed at birth anyway since they come from cows bred for dairy.

It's hypocritical, if you drink milk, you should support British Reared Veal.

The Cows cry out for their calves, they might as well be part of the food chain, than destroyed.

White veal from countries like Holland and Denmark is produced in a notoriously cruel way (or was - and that's where the reputation comes from).

Calves raised for British rose veal are kept in far more humane conditions, as mentioned by pps.

I still won't buy pork or bacon from the continent. Outdoor reared British pork is still amazingly cheap when you consider what it actually is. Those countries may be more liberal and more advanced than us in thousands of ways, but the way they farm their meat is not!

British rose veal is acceptable imo - which I think all Waitrose veal is.

Oh and would she eat danish bacon? I think that's on par with their veal.

Traditionally veal (the meat from cattle under a year old) was produced from young calves kept in small crates, often in very poor conditions with little natural light, unable to move around or even lie down. They were fed on a milk only diet which meant many calves developed anaemia or didn't develop their digestive tract properly. These caves were killed young and produced very tender, very pale "white" meat.

This type of veal production was banned through out the EU in I think 2006 quite rightly as it was cruel.

Veal is still produced, farmers quite rightly want to use all the male calves born to dairy cows instead of killing them at a day old.
Veal sold in the UK is kept to a much higher welfare standard and marketed as "Rose veal" , which is approved by the rspa.

So, to answer your question OP, if it was British rosy veal, no problem, go ahead. No different to eating lamb, slaughtered at about the same age and with the same welfare standards at the abattoir.

However, be wary of imported veal, as welfare standards can be much lower.

British and some Irish meat in general is of a better ethical standard than the cheaper cuts from Europe.

Go ahead. Anyone who objects to veal should also object to milk as veal is a product of the dairy industry: cows need to give birth each year in order to produce milk - female calves become milk-givers themselves, male calves become veal.