I really don’t know what to think. I just cooked pheasant, from breasts bought from a small independent butcher in a small shop in a small village in mid-Wales, thinking about a food system of small players and traditional game as an alternative to industrial meats.( I made a lovely stir-fry with nettles and wild garlic, Chinese flavours. ) Yet, if you read this article, you’ll understand all the many issues surrounding these birds, related to general bird biomass, ecology, land ownership, and food supply. It’s chilling that this explosion of pheasant numbers, many more than can be eaten in this market, takes place at the same time as some people pushing for more industrial chicken sheds in the countryside: raising livestock birds for cheap meat, raising wild birds for the pleasure of the hunt and who compete with local birds in waning populations. You can’t drive around here in spring without seeing dead pheasants all over the road. Why did the pheasant cross the road? To make us aware of all these conundra.
This post is by Guy Shrubsole.
Go for a drive down a country lane and you’re almost certain to encounter a pheasant, most likely as it leaps, kamikaze-style, into the path of the oncoming car. Pheasants are a non-native species in Britain, introduced for shooting; and though we tend to think of them as a harmless (if rather stupid) species, their numbers are now vast – a staggering 35 million are released in the UK every year (20 million of which are in England, as we’ll later see). A recent study showed the biomass of introduced pheasants outweighed the biomass of all wild bird species in the UK. So who’s releasing all these pheasants? What’s the ecological impact of doing so? And who owns some of the estates responsible? Who Owns England decided to investigate.
The ecological impact of pheasant releases
To be clear from the outset: the science…
View original post 1,517 more words
Kitchen Counter Culture 
Killing for sport with no intention to eat the creature is so utterly lacking in respect, understanding or love for nature. It’s a very masculine world that seeks to dominate and control for monetary gain and soulless pleasure.
That’s an interesting article, Annie, but perhaps raises more questions than it answers. I’ve heard, though not seen evidence personally, of shoots who dig holes and bury large numbers of surplus birds killed on the day, presumably because the money for them is in selling the ‘experience’ rather than in selling the meat. If true, it’s unconscionable. As a meat eater I have no objection to people shooting for the table. The wild populations of some game, like deer, have to be culled for environmental reasons (muntjac breed all year round and can decimate their own habitats and those of other animals, birds and insects) but the bulk of pheasants, except those which escape the shoots to breed in the wild, are reared commercially and there is not that excuse. I would be interested to see some objective research into the environmental impact.
Hi Linda. I’ve heard that about the shoot as well. I don’t know. Hmmmm. For me there’s just a disconnect in my experience of how very many pheasants I see (dead and alive) and the very limited presence they have in the world of food– markets, butchers, restaurants, etc. Yes to there being more questions than answers. xx