Fair game? A burger recipe made from ethical meat | Waste Not

Is it possible to eat meat ethically? Consider these wild burgers, that are made from genuine wild meat that might otherwise end up in the ground

To improve the overall carbon footprint of our restaurant, weve pledged to serve only high-welfare, zero-carbon meat at Poco Tapas Bar in Bristol, and now cook only with generally unwanted cuts of meat such as offal, culled wild beasts and invasive pests, including red signal crayfish, squirrels and muntjac deer. All can be classified as waste food products: offal and unfavoured cuts are processed for pet food or rendered down for disposal, culled wild animals are buried in landfill, emitting further greenhouse gas emissions, and if pests arent culled, their numbers spiral, which impacts on woodland, river beds and other wildlife.

Creating a demand for such meat brings it the value it deserves, and saves it from being wasted. Just be sure to buy from a veritable source. Some game is, in fact, farmed and then labelled as wild, so it has as high a carbon footprint as any other free-range meat. So buy from a good butcher or online, from the likes of The Wild Meat Company. And remember to ask for the packaging to be kept to a minimum.