The truth revealed (From The Westmorland Gazette)

All about rose veal ...

11:21am Friday 16th January 2009 in Leisure By Gillian Cowburn

‘Making the connection’ between farm and plate is an oft-used phrase in the local food scheme of things.

Which is why, ten minutes after visiting dairy farmer Roger Mason at Heaves, near Kendal, I was in Plumgarths farm shop just a few miles up the road making a very special purchase.

Until that moment I had foolishly never made the connection between the milk in my morning brew and the fate of male calves.

The only consolation is that I am not alone in my ignorance.

Veal, on the other hand, or ‘young beef’, is something that we’ve all heard of – and what we’ve heard isn’t good. Or at least it didn’t used to be.

In fact, those infamous veal crates were banned in the UK in 1990. Sadly, it took a further 17 years for Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) to achieve a ban across the rest of the EU.

Today, CIWF, together with the food and farming industry, RSPCA and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), are working to find a long-term solution to the problem of ‘unwanted’ male dairy calves.

Female calves obviously go on to become milkers but the males are not suited to rearing for beef.

Veal is the meat from these calves, usually aged up to eight months.

What I didn’t realise is that buying British veal helps to ensure that more male dairy calves are reared in the UK – not shot at birth (often the only cost-effective option for the farmer) or exported on long journeys to continental veal farms which, according to CIWF, “fall short of UK legal requirements”.

British veal calves get more space, bedding and better food. In fact, British veal – unlike its white European counterpart - is often called rosé veal because of its deep pink colour, which is as a result of a far better diet.

The RSPCA gives high-welfare veal its approval with the ‘Freedom Food’ label and wants more meat-eaters to buy it.

But production can only be driven by demand.

“The more veal you eat in this country, the greater the incentive for farmers to rear veal calves here in Britain,” says Anthony Gibson, of the National Farmers Union, which is where dairy farmer Roger Mason, of Heaves Farm, comes in.

I know there will be some of you out there – vegans - who object to dairy farming … full stop.

But for those of you that do drink milk, the argument goes that you have a responsibility to think about what happens to male calves.

It’s not as though, if you are a meat-eater, you don’t eat other young animals … “veal is to a cow what lamb is to a sheep”.

Compassion in World Farming backs British veal – but only as long as it is reared to the highest standards.

“There’s nothing inherently cruel about veal if the calf is reared to the highest standards, either outdoors with the mother or indoors, but in a large, well-ventilated barn with lots of space and good straw bedding, and a reasonable amount of food,” said a CIWF spokesman.

And that’s just what you will find at Heaves Farm.

With the help of son Gary, Roger tends a 150-strong milking herd.

Last year he won ‘best managed farm’ at Westmorland County Show, which also organises the award-winning educational farm visit programme of which Roger and his wife Carole are members (1,200 children visited Heaves Farm last year, for example).

“Things have changed with veal, it’s just that people don’t realise how much they have changed,” said Roger.

People eat lamb which is three or four months old … so why not young beef, which is older?

Roger’s calves start out on their mother’s milk and then feed from their very own ‘milk bar’ as well as being given copious amounts of ‘roughage’. They are kept together in social groups and have lots of straw bedding in their ‘open-to-the-elements’ barn.

“We have the room to do something like this here,” said Roger, who has had some interest from wholesalers, hotels and restaurants. However, it’s the consumer he is hoping to convert.

“When they try rosé veal people seem to like it. It’s got a very smooth texture, lean, and it doesn’t take a lot of cooking.”

I certainly didn’t muck about with the two steaks I bought from Plumgarths. I just lightly floured and then pan-fried them in olive oil for a few minutes on each side, serving them with home-made potato wedges and a lovely green avocado salad.

It is, as Roger said, “a beautiful tasting meat”, and I will be buying it again.

Roger’s eldest son Neil, who lives and works in London, has designed the new Heaves Farm Veal website to help promote the brand.

“We want to sell locally,” said Roger. And in that I hope the Mason family succeeds.

For animal welfare in this country is second to none, and Heaves Farm is a shining example of how things should be done.

If you drink milk, eat meat, and believe in buying local, then you really should give British rosé veal a try.

www.heavesfarmveal.co.uk info@heavesfarmveal.co.uk