Most people enjoy the sight of reindeers (sic) at Christmas.
But a dramatic increase in the number of people who enjoy the taste of Dasher, Dancer and Rudolph is putting pressure on reindeer stocks in Finland, where suppliers are turning down requests for the exotic meat for fear of depleting the forests.Eat home-grown red, fallow or roe deer then. It’s virtually identical!
Or…here’s an idea for some sustainable farming in the Highlands – they do well there. And since there’s now a demand…
Five years ago there was an outcry when it emerged that the Swedish furniture giant IKEA was selling salami containing reindeer.
But with the foodie revolution putting game firmly back on the menu at home and in restaurants, the squeamishness appears to have faded. The German-owned supermarket chain Lidl is stocking its shelves with £7.99 reindeer steaks this year after a successful trial run in 2010.I know! They are superb. They also do diced reindeer, so I’m set for Rudolph Stew over the festive season as well. Who’s not happy?
Well, the usual suspects, of course.
Animal rights groups, however, are quick to play up the Christmas link. A spokesperson from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) told ABC that “no one likes the idea of eating Rudolph at Christmas” .Wrong! I do! And so do a lot of other people, it seems.
Maybe you’d get better support if you dubbed them ‘Snow Kittens’?
Would PETA object to canibalism, I wonder?
ReplyDeleteI have eaten reindeer many times in Finland. It's very tasty and is better for you than beef. My kids also like reindeer and would willingly eat Rudolph at Christmas
ReplyDeleteI don't know how they have come up with that piece of churnalism, but overall, I don't see a shortage of reindeer in Finland. The producers (or butcheries actually) of course want a better price, so all kinds of press statements get sent out. The forests are not "depleting" in any meaningful sense, but other land use and the herding of reindeer may of course sometimes end up in a conflict.
ReplyDeleteI must say I very much like having a Rudolf for Christmas dinner. I do accept Bambi as well. The traditional meat of a Finnish Christmas meal is an oven-baked buttock of a pig, but now that people are more wealthy, we commonly have ham *and* reindeer *and* even turkey. While choosing more meats, people drop lye fish, which most people hate (though some love).
You will also see lots of ooman-rights whinging about how the reindeer-herding Sami are indigenous people who should get to own the land in Lapland. But that also is a campaign where myths don't match with historical (or pre-historical) reality. Who is indigenous is not that clear, unless you set the criteria to be that an indigenous person has to wear a traditional dress that is different from the mainstream population. A lot of bad blood is being created by intervention of foreign campaigners who believe in the power of funny hats.
I wonder what the sources of this piece of churnalism are. I suspect this is more about a campaign by the meat producers (butcheries and meat product refineries) trying to increase the price they get for reindeer. For that purpose, they think any press release is surely justified.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree that Rudolph is welcome to my Christmas meal. And so is Bambi, to join Fifer, Fiddler and Practical - one of whom regularly contributes one of their buttocks to our table - as well as Flounder (but isn't it funny that Disney has no salmon character).
(umm, left two somewhat similar comments since the browser seemed to show that the first one was thrown away).
ReplyDeleteIf people want to eat reindeer, then so be it. What I object to, is people putting donkey, horse or even reindeer and selling it as something else.
ReplyDeleteBut I guess, the modern world has no place for these simple principles - alas.
XX “no one likes the idea of eating Rudolph at Christmas” .XX
ReplyDeleteFuck off! I do!
Any way. I got fed up with reindeer at a very early age.
You tend to when your Grandmother owns two to three heards of them.
Eco-poppets should eat more venision. Not only is it excellent meat but, depending on the cut, it takes much less energy to prepare than beef.
ReplyDelete"Eco-poppets"-WOAR
ReplyDeleteLadies & Gentlemen, we have a WINNER for this year's coverted "Best New Word Of Blogonia"!award.
Eat pigs this Xmas and help plug the black hole in police pensions.
ReplyDeleteBuffalo beef is good.
ReplyDelete"Would PETA object to canibalism, I wonder?"
ReplyDeleteYou could say they are currently practising a form of it...
"The producers (or butcheries actually) of course want a better price, so all kinds of press statements get sent out. "
Yup, it's 'The Mail', after all.
"If people want to eat reindeer, then so be it. What I object to, is people putting donkey, horse or even reindeer and selling it as something else."
Good point!
"Not only is it excellent meat but, depending on the cut, it takes much less energy to prepare than beef."
Yup! And as Rightwinggit points out, the same can be said of buffalo.
PETA - People Eating Tasty Animals... I'd join that splinter group in a heartbeat!
ReplyDelete