Future of veal farm is looking rosy now

Feb 5 2010 by Katharine Capocci, The Journal

VEAL is back on the menu and in butchers’ shops in the region following an overhaul in animal welfare standards. KATHARINE CAPOCCI talks to a farmer about his rose veal.

IT’S fair to say we’re pretty squeamish about the idea of eating white veal here in the UK – and many would argue, with very good reason.

Many a hardened carnivore won’t even touch the stuff, and when you consider the controversial practices to produce said meat, it’s easy to see why.

In the old days young calves were kept crated to restrict movement, although the UK outlawed veal crate production more than 10 years ago and it has been banned in Europe since 2007.

The animals were kept on a liquid diet, low in iron and roughage, to make the meat tender and anaemically pale. And with no access to sunlight or straw, it was all pretty inhumane by anybody’s standards.

White veal is no longer produced in the UK, where animal welfare standards are much higher than those required by European legislation, although the meat is still popular on the Continent.

Veal accounts for just 0.1% of the meat bought in Britain, according to the English Beef and Lamb Executive, and fewer than one in 100 households buy and eat it.

But the times are a-changing and with it comes improvements in animal welfare standards, and a new take on veal in the UK. Rose veal, to be precise. The addition of that one word preceding veal makes all the difference to the animals’ welfare – and people’s perceptions of the meat are slowly changing, too.

Now a farm based near Darlington, noted for its award-winning ice cream, is starting to make a name for itself with its rose veal.

John and Susan Archer, who have a 300-cow Jersey dairy herd at New Moor Farm, Walworth Gate, near Darlington, are trying to educate the public about the production methods used at the farm.

They have launched Newmoor Veal, which uses the herd’s male calves, a separate venture to their award-winning ice cream business,.

John explains: “We are slowly getting people to realise that veal can be ethical. The ordinary diner is pretty squeamish about veal. It’s a certain age group – it’s the middle age people who went through the crate campaigns. There’s almost a stigma attached to veal.

“In our own small way we are trying to get it acceptable again. We want people to take it for what it is rather than what it was once.

“With white veal, the whole idea was to produce an anaemic meat, they weren’t bedded on straw even, and were kept in very small pens with no sunlight and didn’t have anything to lie on.

“Now it’s a different story. The important thing is the word “rose” in front, which means the meat has been allowed to colour, so the animal has been allowed to eat normal food, go outside and graze.”

The Archers are famed for their Archers Jersey Ice Cream, using milk from their pedigree herd, and have won several awards. Last year saw it crowned the Taste of the North-East of England in the 2009 North-East England Tourism Awards.

John, 53, originally from Kenya, who has lived in the UK for the last 30 years, stresses: “The ice cream that we produce from the cows’ milk is by far the most important thing.”

Although dairy bull calves generally have no market, Jersey breeders like John and Susan have found their calves highly suitable for veal production.

They are one of just two rose veal producers in the North East, which also includes Bob and Susie Douglas of New Heaton Holsteins, based in Cornhill-on-Tweed, Northumerland, whose veal is marketed under the brand Borders Rose Veal.