Reindeer meat for christmas?

Juts being watching The Wright Stuff on channel 5 and Lidl is going to be selling reindeer meat this christmas.

Bill Oddie said that the difference between the reindeer and the turkey was that children have a relationship with reindeers at christmas whereas the only realtionship with a turkey was sliced up on a plate with gravy and veg.

One other guest agreed with Matthew Wright that meat is meat (not sure if thats the exact wording) and the other guest agreed with Bill Oddie.

I'm not a big meat eater myself, I will eat a burger or a chicken if it's wrapped in bread crumbs and sausages, or lamb steaks, but I dont eat any more than that (We'll not go into what I do and dont eat) So I'm not that bothered about if someone eats a reindeer at christmas instead of a turkey - they're not on the endangered list, however an animal activist group said that they were slaughtered as calfs but then how are they slaughtered any different from cows and sheep who are also slaughtered at a young age? I do however think it is up to the person eating it, I would never force a child to eat reindeer meat in the sense that I do believe that children do have this relationship with reindeers - but it's still meat right?

In Scandinavia and Russia it is a popluar meat, just like in Korea and China - dog meat is popluar so I guess it may just be a cultural divide.

Just thought I'd hear your views, I'm on the fence, it doesnt bother me what people eat if the animals isnt on the endangered list of course.
Would you eat Reindeer meat for chirstmas?

Will look into it (thanks for info)but think would eat it and am always on the look out for new/different things to try. Diet is very restricted due to intolerences and am a big meat eater(perhaps too much). No gluten,yeast,limited fruit,dairy, sweets,sugar, no beer, wine...a meat feast is always good

Absolutely yummy!

I would give it a try as a deer is no different to a cow or sheep when tou get down to it.

Also the Reindeer is very important to a lot of the northern groups of people and has been farmed for thousands of years. Longer then modern day cows or pigs.

As for children being upset because they are eating blitzen i think its important that kids know where there food comes from and that an animal had to die for them to eat it. If more people understood this then there would be more respect for farm animals as a whole.

Lidl are also selling venison steaks, ostrich steaks and as an aside ,chicken thighs for £1.49/kg (which is very cheap if you are a raw feeder).

I wouldn't have a problem with eating reindeer any more than I would venison. It's like the difference between wild rabbit and domesticated bunnies

Oh not what I was expecting, I was expecting an onslaught of horror - well a heated discussion against the reindeer steaks.

I tried it last year in lapland,it was ok a bit like liver my kids did look at me as though i was a monster though They are both old enough if you get what i mean to not think i was eating rudolph! and ones a vegetarian anyway. I was a vegetarian for 10 years ands still feel bad about eating meat sometimes, however I do find it hypocritical when people get upset about people that eat animals we don't in this country, ie:horse It was a living thing it's now dead surely all life should be valued regardless of species. Not eating a certain animal for your own reasons is fine but don't knock people who will eat that animal.So I guess i'm of the same opinion as you SLB

Boy this has made the news! Even here in Cyprus it has been posted about in the discussion forums (Lidls just opened here this month). Amazing considering Cypriots shoot just about every other living thing on the ground or in the air - and not just to eat them either.

I remember Safeway selling Reindeer steaks many years ago along with Kangaroo and some other stuff.

I suppose it's Venison isn't it? But you don't hear about Santa and his venison!

Well yeaah, my Aunt bred and showed her dogs, then went on holiday to China - she ate a GSD, she feels bad but at the time she thought she was eating cow - her chinese translation was rubbish She felt bad but then again, she wouldnt be eating any over here.

I guess it raises the otehr issue - if an animal is bred for meat - the animal doesnt know any different, however the same can be said for lab testing (of which I dont and will never condone) the animal is bred for that purpose but doesnt know any other way of life. Of course an animal bred for meat has a short-ish life then any suffering ends, experiemnts go on forever.

I wont eat anything I dont want to so I dont see why everyone (the outside world) is bothered about eating meat from an animal - would we feel the same if Santa had cows pulling his sled?

My OH is one of those who feels bad after he's eaten it - especially lamb - so I told him that lamb is just a part of the sheep it's not actually a baby they kill (I'm sure thats true - if not it's shut him up - a white lie is fine )
I know where I stand and it's one of those carefree attitudes towards meat. However the next chinese man to say "Yum yum" and point to my Sadie is getting some bad choice words thrown at them (not the best threat)

I wouldn't eat it as I'm a veggie! But I do find it a tad hypocritical when meat eaters moan about what meat is on the market! I would feed the dogs reindeer if I could get it and they liked it though.