The Tide is Changing in Sustainable Eating

Sustainability is the cornerstone of our business here at Woodmill Game. We are working towards a zero waste model with compostable packaging and utilising all parts of the animals to provide tasty treats for our four legged friends. Recently we have noticed a sea change in people’s attitude towards eating game, and more and more people are thinking the same way as us (even some vegans).

 

Conscious consumerism has been around for a while now; people have greater global and environmental empathy and like to play their part in protecting the planet and its people. This is definitely the case when it comes to food too after the UK left the European Union and fears over food safety began to rise. 

People want to know their food isn’t full of additives, harmful preservatives, and that when it comes to meat: that it has lived a good healthy normal life. There have been many exposees in the media about mass produced meat and the conditions linked to this, and it has people thinking twice. We have a higher rate of vegetarians and vegans than ever before with some indicating that over 50 per cent of ‘Gen Z’ could be ‘meat free’ by 2025.

What we are seeing on the ground however is something even more interesting… people who used to be vegan are now choosing to eat only game. We have had several interesting conversations on the ground at our markets with people who are waking up to the truth about what is better for them, the planet, and the animals here in Scotland. So why is this happening? Let us think about why people choose to become vegan in the first place…

Number 1: animal welfare. Nobody can deny that mega-farms are an abuse of animals. They live in cramped, unnatural conditions and are fed specific feeds to help stimulate their growth and produce more meat more quickly. They are overbred and underappreciated. Eating animals has been a part of our culture since the dawn of time, but historically, we ate a lot less meat and treated the animals with a lot more respect… enter Woodmill Game. Hunting wild animals for our meat means that the animals have lived a full, natural life in the wild. Their death is quick, and their habitat respected. There are safeguards and restrictions on what can be shot when, to ensure that the species thrives.

Secondly: personal health. Vegetarians and vegans often talk about the health benefits of choosing a diet free of animal produce. There is a lot of research to support this case, however this is usually talking about the mass farmed meats that are presented to customers in highly processed formats. Game is lean, full of iron and vitamins, and the perfect way to get protein into your diet.

Last but not least… the environment. Whilst farmed animals take up a lot of space, water, and processed feed which all have a huge environmental footprint, wild game does not. However the story only begins there for wild game’s sustainability credentials. A lot of protein substitutes used in the vegan diet are shipped in from across the globe, meaning that the food miles of a vegan are likely to be higher than that of a meat eater. Soy plantations are also responsible for deforestation and harming biodiversity. Eating wild also means that the places these animals live continue to be protected. Choosing to eat wild means you are having a positive impact on the environment and not buying into the global food system that shares a large part of the responsibility for our planet’s destruction.

We are uniquely placed here in Scotland. We can eat a meat that is tasty, plentiful, ecologically and ethically sound, and good for us. So why not give it a try? If you are anything like us, you will never look back. 

Written by Kylie Ashlynn

24th September 2024