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?

New Zealand probably has the highest percentage of pasture raised grass fed beef and lamb in the world. Much higher standard meat than UK does.

Not sure about Australia.

I buy British organic already and will go veggy before I buy from an industry that supports sow stalls. Horrible things.

But most people buy on money alone sadly.

I’m horrified at this deal.

I’m lucky that I can now afford a good food budget but I disagree that lower incomes mean you should throw all ethics out the window.

I’ve been on very low income before. During those times I ate meat a few times a year. Always free range. If you care you reduce quantity rather than quality.

The problem is not the bit of steak you buy in the local butchers, it’s the meat in your child’s school dinners, in hospital dinners, in restaurants & takeaways.

New Zealand lamb has been around forever. I've never heard of any welfare issues.

Know less about Australia. Kangaroo is supposed to be excellent isn't it? Low fat and tasty. I'm guessing that's not what we're getting though!

Not heard about issues with welfare in those.

My issue is carting so much stuff around the world rather than getting it from our neighbours in Europe whose standards we know and who are close.

Anyway.

Glad we're not getting USA meat which definitely has issues.

@nancy75

The problem is not the bit of steak you buy in the local butchers, it’s the meat in your child’s school dinners, in hospital dinners, in restaurants & takeaways.

Yes. Jamie O and Hugh FS were always saying that.

Eggs as well. Free range in the shops but in loads of prepared stuff eg mayo it was battery still.

I think that's changed but not sure tbh.

Yes. I live in a farming area and try to buy as much local produce as possible anyway, but since Brexit I have been consciously reducing our family's meat intake. Partly it's because I think we eat too much meat anyway and it would be healthier for us to eat less, and partly it's because I am trying to prepare for the likelihood of more price rises. I would rather buy smaller amounts of better quality/more ethically prodiced meat than cheaper imports from questionable sources. Then there's the environmental impact of transporting produce half way around the world. So yes, lots of reasons to try to buy local where possible.

No thanks. I will keep shopping at Waitrose and trust them not to be absolute fuckwits until proven otherwise.

Waitrose sell NZ lamb and have done for years.

Why are you dragging New Zealand into this? Their welfare standards for agriculture are as good as ours.

Has there actually been a relaxing of import standards, or is this just a tariff drop? There's already a system in place to accredit hormone-free Australian farms for European exports. Plenty of Australian producers go beyond the minimum legal requirements for welfare.

I shall continue buying from my local butcher in any case.

I expect we will if the price difference isn’t too great. We aren’t made of money, otherwise I’d get everything from our fab local butcher...

We already get meat from NZ and have done for yonks.

Also confused.

Op- link pls

I’m in Australia, meat is expensive here.( like everything else)

Is Australian meat really going to be sold cheaply in the uk? Will the stuff sold be poorer quality?

I'm a vegetarian mainly because of animal welfare standards. There's no doubt that standards have increased significantly over the past years, some of it as a result of the EU but we are streets ahead of some other EU countries. I want even higher standards and more inspection so I would be furious if standards regressed.

However, I read a report from Sky this morning that had looked over the UK-Aus deal and although detail is scant, they said the deal states that all animal welfare standards that the UK operates by will remain the same. Therefore Oz's emports must abide by our welfare standards. So no hormone-fed beef for example. In fact quite a few Ozzies are saying that they hope this deal might raise standards in their country. Which is a big win for animals. Further, the UK is banning export on the hoof. It will all be on the hook in future (except for breeding) Hopefully, this will happen in the opposite direction - might even be included in the new laws, I'm not sure. Also Australia doesn't even fill its already allowed quota to the UK. They prefer to sell to Asia, its nearer so cheaper, I guess.

Obviously there is more detail to come out, but if there's a possibility that the deal improves animal standards in other countries, everyone's got to be happy about that.

I definitely want to support practices that give animals the best life possible, and I also want to support local businesses.

But sadly, I am less and less sure I want to support British farming quite so automatically as I once did. I live in a rural area and one of the local farmers spoke out against Brexit and recognised that their own labour force depended upon us being part of the EU. But they're one among many, and I've heard so many others insisting Brexit will make us stronger, Brexit is great ... oh, wait, how come no one wants to pick the crops, oh how dare they, goodness, what a shock.

It's made me furious. Especially as it has been the wealthier farms (owners rather than those renting) who've been the most pro-Brexit and the keenest to throw the rest of us under the bus.

I’ll buy whatever is tastiest and best value for money. I don’t have any romantic views about the meat industry or any particular affinity with British farmers.

I’m just baffled at how Aus/NZ meat can arrive in the UK and be cheaper: food, and particularly meat, is significantly more expensive in Aus/NZ so it doesn’t make sense that it’s expected to be transported at expense and then undercut meat produced here.

New Zealand probably has the highest percentage of pasture raised grass fed beef and lamb in the world. Much higher standard meat than UK does.

This. Also, while I agree that buying home grown meat is best, can the British farmers produce enough for the whole nation to eat?

I've always bought only British meat poultry and eggs and will continue to do so. I buy it for the UK's strict animal welfare and production standards, which results in superior quality and taste. As far as possible, I also buy "UK" fish ( fished or landed in UK.).
cheap

 Imported    NZ lamb and S American beef   has always been cheaper than British,  but it doesn't taste as good which is why I happily  pay more for  British.  UK farmers will always have a market for quality  meat , among customers willing to pay a premium for it.

I would buy British in supermarkets but eating out and processed food (say a Cornish pasty) will be potentially problematic

We don't buy much meat anyway with a vegan in the family.
Truth is I don't really look at where the meat has come from on labels when I do buy it.
So I'll carry on buying it as and when occasionally and depending on price when I do.

@MoppaSprings

I’m in Australia, meat is expensive here.( like everything else)

Is Australian meat really going to be sold cheaply in the uk? Will the stuff sold be poorer quality?

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

This is the bit I’m confused by. There was an Australian beef farmer interviewed on Newsnight last night and one of the points he made was that importing Aussie meat would give people in the UK choice, but that the Aussie product was a premium, more expensive product - 🤷‍♀️. If that’s true then I’m not sure how popular itv would actually be. Odd.

it not itv!!

www.ruralnewsgroup.co.nz/rural-news/rural-agribusiness/nz-beef-and-lamb-among-world-s-most-sustainable

It's better for the environment to buy imported NZ meat than local (or EU), as it's not so intensively produced. This is despite the travel costs.

Better still, reduce meat intake hugely. You choose, but either way, if you're that concerned about the environment the EU have sold you a pup.

And NZ welfare standards are as good as the UK's and rather better than the EU's.

Not sure why people keep mentioning NZ, the trade deal is with Australia. They are not the same country!