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?

Always buy british meat and wil continue to do so. We have vegetarian meals few times a week....less meat better for environment and us.

What we should all have is information that is not in tiny print, so we make a decision with knowledge

Completely agree. It came out in the chlorinated chicken from the U.S issue that as part of the deal the chicken could not be labelled in the shops as from the U.S. Does anyone know what has happened to this negotiation?

We now eat far less meat, and will continue to include welfare and environment in our decision making.

I only bought British pork once I realised the law here was changing and all pork had to be raised free range. But then I heard that Denmark and Holland raised welfare standards for meat exported to Britain. I still only buy British pork products though.

[quote 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.[/quote]
I live in hope. People used to say the same about the slave industry "there will always be one", "it's just the way it is", etc. And there would be discussions about improving welfare standards for slaves. But it's just skirting around the edges of something that is fundamentally morally wrong.

Things ARE changing, especially in the younger demographic. More and more people are becoming vegetarian or vegan, and I really think in 100 or 200 years we will look back and think, "how did people ever eat meat?".

I just wonder, if anyone on this thread actually saw what went on in the treatment of farm animals, the transportation and in the slaughterhouse, if they would keep thinking it's OK. Because I have seen it (I am talking about Britain here) and it is utterly barbaric.

One thing I miss from living in Australia is the quality of the meat, especially the steaks!

Whether it'll be as good after being shipped so far I'm not sure.

@TheSaucepanMan

I wonder how many would eat meat if they had to kill their chosen animal themselves? Some really enjoy eating meat that's up to them but so many aren't conscious about where it comes from.

My severely autistic teen has no inkling where meat comes from but without meat, fish and eggs in his diet, he'd survive on peanut butter, chips, bread, raisins and very bad cake.

I buy local highest welfare I can find but I prioritise our food, cook cheaper cuts/ offal, use a lot of pulses too.
I realise I'm not the average food purchaser.

@Elouera the animal welfare standards in Australia are much lower.

I am Australian. I will not be buying the Australian animal produce.

@SarahBellam

I struggle to have a lot of sympathy for British farmers, TBH. Most of them voted for Brexit and claimed to know what they were voting for. This is what they voted for.

We didn't all vote for Brexit. Stop peddling this shit.

I’ll buy local produce from butcher

@SarahBellam

I struggle to have a lot of sympathy for British farmers, TBH. Most of them voted for Brexit and claimed to know what they were voting for. This is what they voted for.

Well I didn't and anecdotally I haven't met many Brexiteer farmers. We're in Scotland and I expect the vote was half for Brexit just like the whole of the UK.

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.

Agree that should be banned. Those ships make me want to cry.

I only ever buy from my local butcher who rears their own meat (except for chickens which come from a relatives farm) anyway. Id rather eat less meat otherwise. I never eat meat unless I know exactly where it comes from.

You I always do and always have. I get my meat from a local butcher.

@GuildfordGal

I only buy local farm meat now. It's organic, high welfare, etc. Stealthy deregulation worries me, post- fucking Brexit.

I'm not buying lower welfare anything. I'd rather not eat meat.

Same.

I think I would need to see more evidence on what the differences are. From what I have seen of Australian farms, the welfare standards are good. The real challenge will be an economic one. Australia has much more space, animals can continuously graze outside, and larger farms have huge economies of scale. As a result, even taking account of transport costs, British farmers may struggle. It would be very easy for some of these farms to meet any higher welfare standards that British consumers may demand. Which is all very well, unless you are a British farmer on the end of this change, in which case you have been well shafted.

Lumping NZ in with Australia’s animal welfare standards is very misleading, we are two separate countries with different laws.

I feel it is a little sanctimonious to be fussy about Australian standards when Britain’s farming methods caused/ created CJD and there are outbreaks of foot and mouth disease. ( I’m unable to give blood, donate my organs in this country due to poor British farming methods, they even refused my body for medical research when I die due to the issues around CJD)

NZ also exports serious amounts of butter, lamb and cream, which appear to be very popular in the Uk ( certainly were when I lived in the UK).

Britain voted for Brexit, this agreement is clutching at straws in order to feed a country which cannot feed itself without trade deals. Shame those who voted for Brexit didn’t think about this, or perhaps they are all rich enough to buy British beef from the local butcher….

Well it's high time to stop eating meat anyway.

Britain voted for Brexit, this agreement is clutching at straws in order to feed a country which cannot feed itself without trade deals.

Britain is almost self sufficient in beef (c. 86%) and has more lamb than we can eat (c. 109%)

I'm pretty picky about the meat I eat and I don't think I've ever bought NZ lamb in my life so am unlikely to start now. Unless of course I somehow found myself living in New Zealand. Hopefully country of origin will be clearly stated.

Also I would never buy imported cream or butter. Cannot understand for the life of me the popularity of (revolting) Lurpak butter in the UK. I often buy imported European cheese though.

@Fiercestcalm

Lumping NZ in with Australia’s animal welfare standards is very misleading, we are two separate countries with different laws.

I feel it is a little sanctimonious to be fussy about Australian standards when Britain’s farming methods caused/ created CJD and there are outbreaks of foot and mouth disease. ( I’m unable to give blood, donate my organs in this country due to poor British farming methods, they even refused my body for medical research when I die due to the issues around CJD)

NZ also exports serious amounts of butter, lamb and cream, which appear to be very popular in the Uk ( certainly were when I lived in the UK).

Britain voted for Brexit, this agreement is clutching at straws in order to feed a country which cannot feed itself without trade deals. Shame those who voted for Brexit didn’t think about this, or perhaps they are all rich enough to buy British beef from the local butcher….

I agree about not lumping NZ in with AUS - that's very ignorant.

I also agree about CJD although arguably part of the reason we have higher standards now is what we learned from that.

But your point about trade deals seems to imagine all trade with the EU will cease which is hasn't and clearly won't.

I already buy local high welfare and I'm promoting it to all my friends and family. If you're in the South West I fully recommend Field and Flower who do online orders - independent boxes or subscription for ease. Prices are very very reasonable.

I will continue to buy from our local organic farmshop for as long as it is legal, survives and I can afford it.
Obviously if I ever go back to eating out I won't always have the same level of knowledge about the origin of any meat.

@JingsMahBucket

Good point to the PP who mentioned a lot of farmers voted for Brexit. I don’t remember if that’s true in Scotland or not but it does give me pause regarding loyalty.

Don't obviously know all farmers in Scotland but a significant proportion of those that I do know voted against Brexit, are horrified it happened and are seriously concerned about how they continue in a profession which is all they have ever known.

Yes

Brexit is absolute bollocks but I feel sorry for all farmers, even Brexit voting farmers, whose industry is being shown nothing but contempt by the govt. It’s a hard enough slog with few holidays and without massive financial rewards for most, and this is not going to improve their lives. And if farming suffers, we all suffer. A country happy to shaft its own farmers accepts that imports will have to make up a massive chunk of the food chain. And that’s a precarious/stupid position to choose.