Serve venison in colleges to assist management deer inhabitants – Tory MPs

British venison should be served regularly in UK schools and hospitals to reduce the environmental damage caused by deer numbers surging to the highest level in 1,000 years, Tory MPs suggest today. 

As many as two million are believed to be roaming the British countryside, after a two-year culling pause during the pandemic.

With wolves, bears and lynx extinct in the UK they are unchecked by any natural predator apart from man and cause damage to vital woodlands and farmland.

Ministers are being urged to take action to protect the environment while also boosting UK food security and lowering family bills by creating a bigger market for the ‘cheap and abundant homegrown meat’.

Venison is high in protein, zinc and iron and naturally low in fat, and some efforts have already been made to widen its appeal beyond its current luxury market position.

The need to cull the animals was raised by Jeremy Clarkson in a an episode of the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm, which dropped on Amazon this week, in which he heads out to shoot deer near his Cotswold’s home.

Sir Robert Goodwill, the MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said: ‘To keep deer in check, we need to get wild venison on the menu rather than letting this cheap, British meat go to waste.

‘Just as we stipulate how much fish should be served, the government should update its procurement policies so that wild British venison is served in schools and other public institutions across England.’ 

As many as two million deer could be roaming the British countryside, unchecked by any natural predator apart from man and causing damage to woodland and farmland.

Venison is high in protein, zinc and iron and naturally low in fat, and some efforts efforts have already been made to widen its appeal beyond being seen as a luxury.

‘Wild venison is as free range as it comes. Eating it is a win for our woodlands that can also boost our food security in the process’. 

In 2021, it was reported that deer were causing £45m of damage to cars each year. The deer are also costing agricultural businesses an average of £20,000-a-year by damaging crops.

Currently, 350,000 deer are being culled annually.

The Conservative Environment Network argue that there needs to be more investment in processing and refrigeration facilities that can handle the animals to prevent them being wasted,

It also wants venison added into the public procurement protocol in the same way as fish, to guarantee it appears on menus. 

Under current procurement rules, public sector caterers who provide lunch and an evening meal – such as in hospitals, must provide a fish option at least twice a week. If they serve one meal a day there has to be fish at least once every three weeks.

Sir Robert Goodwill, the MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said: ‘To keep deer in check, we need to get wild venison on the menu rather than letting this cheap, British meat go to waste.’ Sir Desmond Swayne, the MP for New Forest West, said: ‘With no natural predator, wild deer numbers have exploded to their highest in 1,000 years. At this scale, their overgrazing presents huge problems for rural communities by causing extensive damage to farmers’ crops, increasing the risk of traffic collisions, and preventing the natural regeneration of woodland.

Sir Desmond Swayne, the MP for New Forest West, said: ‘With no natural predator, wild deer numbers have exploded to their highest in 1,000 years. At this scale, their overgrazing presents huge problems for rural communities by causing extensive damage to farmers’ crops, increasing the risk of traffic collisions, and preventing the natural regeneration of woodland. Fortunately, there is a large appetite to solve this problem.

‘Venison is a cheap and abundant homegrown meat, but too much is being exported or going to waste due to a lack of appropriate infrastructure to handle the supply. The government should support new processing and refrigeration facilities across the country to help put cheap, domestically sourced venison back on the menu.

‘Getting this British protein onto dinner tables and restaurant menus represents a significant economic opportunity. By providing the initial support, the government can help nurture a new industry for our rural communities whilst protecting our woodlands.’

In January this year a nursey chain introduced venison into its meal options. Tops Day Nurseries, which oversees 32 nurseries in Dorset and Hampshire, teamed up with the Eat Wild agency to offer two wild meat meals twice every three weeks – adding up to 3,000 a month.

It is served in meals they are already familiar with, such as spaghetti bolognaise. On The nurseries are also experimenting with game pasties, wraps and burgers.

Last year a Net Zero campaigner today revealed he has switched to eating venison and duck as part of efforts to help save the planet.

Lord Adair Turner spoke about changing his own habits as he warned people must cut down on red meat to stop deforestation.

The crossbenchers and chairman of the Energy Transitions Commission, which pushes for global carbon reduction targets to be met, told Times Radio ‘heavy’ diets were driving the ‘conversion of tropical forest to produce in particular soya bean production to go into meat production and the conversion of tropical forests to cattle pasture’.