Why is Lamb so Expensive to Buy?

[mrs_overall]

I cannot justify paying for lamb as it is so costly. Strange, considering how many sheep we have in this country!

[rosamundjohn]

just to change the subject if no-one minds.......
What about fish?
Skate wings would appear to a delicacy these days. Also monkfish-you only eat the tail although head ok for stock
Fishermen used to throw these back into the sea

[DTCwordfan]

Why not just rustle one then, mrs o?

[mrs_overall]

Rustle one of your relatives DT?

I get my salmon and rabbits from a local poacher, but your family is a step too far

[DTCwordfan]

As a compromise to this thread and rosemundjohn's attempt to hijack it, there are sheep fish.... :=)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZEFoSWl86A

[pastafreak]

I used to dislike lamb....I would have to 're-discover' it when there's a shortage....:-(

[rosamundjohn]

EXCELLENT! Dtcross-I knew I hadn't lost the plot!

[mrs_overall]

Monkfish is my all time favourite fish, but I would need a 2nd mortgage to buy it

[rosamundjohn]

Exactly Mrs. Overall
there is also squid (now known as calamares or whitebait) This was bought 20 years ago as BAIT for fisherman, ha! As it has now been promoted by the Chefs on the TV-the large supermarkets have decided it is edible and another delicacy!

[humbersloop]

From pedant's corner Rosa, whitebait is defo not squid. It's a fish.

And the fishermen I know - who do it for a living - don't buy bait. Not everything gets chucked back...

[pdust]

i eat loads of lamb, think i pay about 6.99 a kilo for shoulder no idea if that is cheaper or more expensive than supermarkets.....

[mike11111]

Fish for me these days is an expensive luxury. Still, looking on the bright side I managed to get a pound of liver from Morrisons today for 39p as it was nearly the sell-by date. Have frozen it and it will do me at least three meals. 13p a go, not bad.

[rosamundjohn]

Sorry Humbersloop. brackets got in the way. yes whitebait-bocerones are small fish which were a poor man's food. Not at the prices in restaurants now though.
I think we need to go back to eating what we have where we live and get rid of all these poncy chefs who aim to impress the elite

[douglas9401]

If you think lamb's expensive try venison, it's REALLY deer.

[mike11111]

But chicken is cheep.

[237SJ]

Lamb isn`t intensively farmed in the way of pork or chicken. Sheep need a lot of grazing land and agricultural land is very expensive at the moment. Sheep that are scattered all over many acres of countryside need to be checked on every day (usually in a battered old Land Rover) so petrol prices come into play. Coupled with the fact that supermarkets screw farmers down to the last penny, that makes for expensive lamb. The mild spring might make prices a bit cheaper later in the year as less lambs have died due to the combination of cold and wet.

[NoMercy]

I saw a leg of lamb in Waitrose for £23. I thought that was quite steep.

However, they were giving away French trimmed racks of lamb recently at half price so I bought six and stuck them in the freezer.