Pasture-raised veal eliminates the need for pens and tethers, and allows calves to roam free. In 2007, the American Veal Association called on the industry to voluntarily stop using containers and tethers in raising veal calves by 2017.
In the late 1980s, veal calves became a prime symbol of animal abuse. Pictures of calves tethered in stalls so small they couldn't turn around, sometimes unable to lie down, isolated and spending their lives without seeing sunlight were circulated by animal rights activists. Many people were appalled, and sales of veal plummeted: In the 1940s, Americans ate 8.4 pounds of veal per capita a year; it's now down to a half-pound.
Farmers and producers took note and, slowly, things changed. In 2007, the American Veal Association passed a resolution calling on the industry to voluntarily stop using containers and tethers by 2017.
Strauss Brands, a Franklin-based family-owned veal and lamb producer founded in the late 1930s, didn't wait that long. For just more than a year, the company has produced veal made from the meat of calves that were either 100 percent pasture-raised and not separated from their mothers until market day; or from "group-raised" calves that live in individual spaces in a barn for about two months, then move to pens with other calves in a "finishing barn" until they're ready for market. Group-raised calves have enough space to move around, and they're able to go in and out of barns. Calves are considered ready for market at five-and-a-half months old, and weigh about 500 pounds.
"We made the decision for emotional and ethical reasons," said Randy Strauss, the president and CEO of Strauss Brands. "We knew we could do better. It was time to end the suffering that started when factory farming began."
The use of containers and tethers began in Holland after World War II when excess liquid whey from the dairy industry was used to feed veal calves, mostly bulls, until they were ready for market.
"Until recently there was no sense of animals having rights," Strauss said. Before containers and tethers came into use, veal calves presumably lived much better lives. "Free-raised veal goes back 20,000 years; you see them in cave paintings," Strauss said. "The fatted calf, which you read about in the Bible, lived in the open pasture on grass and its mother's milk."
Healing a ‘black eye'
It took Strauss eight years to change its operations. For farmers raising veal calves, it has meant a considerable investment to remove containers, build larger pens and establish grazing, which is hard on pastures. Group-raised veal costs about the same as container-raised veal, as cheap as a few dollars a pound depending upon the cut, while free-raised veal can sell for as much as $25 a pound.
"The biggest challenge for us is that people have been avoiding veal for so long that they don't even think about buying it," Strauss said. "Veal has a black eye."
Tony Schiavo, owner of Cafe Continental on King Street, would probably agree. "There's no demand for it whatsoever. We've been here 11 years and nobody has ever asked for it."
Maria Davis, program coordinator for the REAP (Research, Education, Action, and Policy on) Food Group's "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" program, said most area restaurateurs use veal only in specials, if at all. "If they offer veal, they hear about it from their customers. It makes them angry."
L'Etoile co-owner Tory Miller said he didn't serve veal until the past year, when pasture-raised veal from Fountain Prairie Farm in Fall River became available; it was served at a special dinner for Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" and at a Julia Child-themed dinner. Miller said the stigma against veal is still so strong that he expects it will take time for people to accept even free-raised veal. He said he would not serve group-raised veal at his restaurant.
Strauss said consumers face a learning curve when it comes to free- or group-raised veal.
"People don't even know how to cook it anymore," he said. "The cutlets have to be pounded." Getting used to the darker pink color of free- and group-raised veal (traditional veal is pale because the calves were anemic) is another difference. So is its fuller flavor.
To distance itself from the inhumane practices of the past, Strauss last summer introduced packaging that prominently states that containers and tethers were not used.
"Many people tell us they won't eat it if it wasn't humanely raised." Strauss said. Marketing efforts will also inform consumers that veal is lower in saturated fat and has fewer calories than meat from older beef cattle, and that veal raised conventionally often contains chemicals, especially antibiotics, that are hazardous to humans - something that is eliminated or avoided in free- and group-raised veal.
Taking a hold
Whole Foods in the Midwest has been carrying only free-raised veal for a year and a half, said Rich Wolff, meat coordination for the grocery chain's Midwest region. "The veal we carried prior to that was group-raised, which was the most humane raising conditions of that time. Now that the standards have been raised we have moved to the free-raised product."
Although he wouldn't disclose sales figures, Wolff said interest has been especially strong in Wisconsin, with its German cooking traditions that frequently included veal.
"Considering that we launched this product line in a very economically challenging time, this program has done remarkably well," Wolff said. "There has been a lot of excitement not only around the animal compassion component, but also the flavor profile. More and more chefs have been getting behind the product as well."
The Roundy's supermarket, which includes Copps and Pick ‘n Save in this area, sells group-raised veal and has had "phenomenal double-digit increases" in the sales of veal since it recently began doing point-of-sale promotions of its "tether-free" products, according to Mark Bristow, meat manager for the chain.
"But still, it's a niche market and veal is only 1 percent of our sales volume." Bristow said Roundy's would be interested in procuring more humanely raised meat products, "but they are still hard to come by."
By CHRIS MARTELL | Wisconsin State Journal | cmartell@madison.com
Source: newsroom - meattradenewsdaily.co.uk
Source Date: 29 Jan 2010
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