Grouse in season, but should we be eating it?
30 August 2013
Dear Farm Direct ,
With apologies, I feel that I should record that I am not happy that you should be selling grouse. I suppose you have done so in past years but it is new to me this year.
There are several reasons I am not happy. The main one is that owners and keepers of too many grouse moors in the UK are implicated in the illegal killing of protected raptors, in particular hen harriers. No hen harriers bred successfully in England in 2013, which is a shaming outcome for all of us. Many grouse moors are also over managed so as in effect to "farm" these wild birds and the consequence is a drying out of the moor, loss of biodiversity and increased carbon emissions from the peat. Grouse moors have also been implicated in flash flooding of towns and villages, because the ground cannot hold the water.
All of this is well-documented and, though there are of course contrary voices and arguments expressed, I don't think can reasonably be refuted.
You will probably know that Marks and Spencer recently caused controversy by starting to sell grouse, and there have been calls for boycotts. Well I'm not proposing to boycott Farm Direct, but I would ask you in all seriousness to consider this issue.
If I could anticipate one point, you might say that your supplier says that they only get grouse from reputable shoots. The trouble is that they all say that: they would hardly say that they favoured illegal raptor presecution. And yes, of course there are good law-abiding properties but there are also far too many bad ones. And neither you nor I know which exact moors the birds are actually coming from to reach your supplier.
Many thanks.
Anonmyous - (A very valued customer).