Game is a perfect refutation to the sort of militant vegan campaigners who go around placing floral tributes on packaged meat. So long as shoots are responsibly conducted, game is as environmentally sustainable and ethical as meat-eating gets.
But this year looks set to be a tough one for parts of the industry. Chiefly because of a severe outbreak of avian flu in France, gamekeepers in the UK have struggled to source enough birds to rear (90 per cent of partridge eggs and 40 per cent of pheasant eggs are imported from or through France). By some estimates up to 70 per cent of partridge shoots and nearly a third of planned pheasant shoots may be cancelled this year. To make matters worse, a recent Cambridge study raised concerns that eating pheasant is likely to expose you to increased levels of toxic lead in your diet (the researchers say that occasional consumption is unlikely to be an issue, but weekly consumption maybe more so).
Game comes in all shapes and sizes: grouse, hare, mallard, rabbit, snipe, teal, venison, wild goose, woodpigeon, woodcock, partridge, pheasant.
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