Matt Kilcoyne

Our Easter lamb reveals the miracle of free trade

Photo by Thierry Zoccolan / AFP / Getty Images

Easter is heavily associated with lamb in Britain. The paschal lamb’s sacrifice is a gift to all but that is not the only link, the last few weeks of lent also mark the beginning of the spring lambing season in agricultural communities.

This has fed through in recent decades to the consumer. This Sunday, while the churches stand empty and a great many of us are separated from our family, millions of us nonetheless will sit down to a meal of lamb.

If you live in Britain though, this is actually quite an odd phenomenon when you think about it. Lamb is not really in season. New season lamb has only just been born. If you’re tucking into British lamb today, as superb as the quality is (and it really is great), then it’ll most likely either have been long-frozen or born indoors in January.

Really, in season lamb, in the quantities required on the level to be eaten by everyone requires lamb to be shipped in from countries like New Zealand.

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