I may be opening a can of worms here but...

[Graye]

...I need some information/opinions.

OH and I mainly eat vegetarian, with occasional tuna, salmon or prawns thrown in. Before anyone reminds me I am not really a vegetarian - I know! I was one for 27 years and now I'm not - I claim self-defence after living in Spain and France for years and having to eat omelettes every time we ate out. On the other hand, I don't eat eggs anymore either...

Up until now we have managed to buy and cook meat for visitors by searching out free range chicken and so on. I have my son and granddaughter coming to visit over Easter, both a serious carnivores and I don't really want to impose our diet on them for four days. I have never had any problem with preparing and cooking meat so that isn't a problem. However OH has now seriously taken against slaughtering methods AS WELL as insisting on free-range and I have now had to promise:

a) not to buy lamb as he suspects this is always slaughtered according to halal rules
b) same with chicken and beef
c) not to buy pork where the pigs have been caged

I know Morrison's fresh meat is non-halal. Their frozen lamb is usually from New Zealand and is slaughtered under halal rules. On that basis (and as this is our nearest supermarket, despite being 20 miles away) I'm leaning towards looking carefully at the packaging and buying fresh and free range on the basis he finds this OK. I'll probably have to give the pork a miss as I doubt they will say whether or not the pigs are caged. Do butchers ever do their own slaughtering these days? I suppose I could go into the very posh one in Mach and ask but I genuinely can't bear the smell in butchers' shops - I even have to hold my breath to walk past it!

Unfortunately OH has been looking online and just discovered that the legal requireent for describing a chicken as free range is that it can flap it's wings ie it is not tootling around a meadow as we would so like to believe. My choices are getting fewer and fewer apparently....

[KathyLauren]

I'm not sure what advice we can give you. You and your OH will have to negotiate this. I am not generally in favour of one party making unilateral demands, but if that is how it is working out, you have to deal with it somehow.

Reliance on kosher or halal standards as a "certification" that animals are or aren't treated humanely is problematic. That is not what those standards exist for.

DW and I are vegan. Fortunately, in the community where we currently live, that is fairly mainstream. However, even when we lived in a city that was known for its beef industry, we never served meat to guests. We see our duty as hosts to be to serve our guests tasty, nutritious food that they could eat. We would of course accommodate any restrictions, such as kosher, halal, gluten-free, etc. We know of no dietary restrictions that require a person to eat meat, so any guest could eat our food. (That is not the case for animals. Our cats get meat-based food.) In other words, we accommodate any requirements, but our guests don't get to order the food of their choice.

But, it is for your partner and you to decide together how you want to handle this. Good luck with it.

[Green Aura]

What about feeding them according to your preferences at home and then taking them out for a meal where they can get their meat fix - The Cross Foxes used to provide a tasty meal.

Not many people these days expect meat every day and fish is surely an acceptable option on one or two nights and veggie the rest.

I agree with Keith, as long as you're not feeding them stuff you know they detest they should eat what you give them.

[cideristhefuture]

I am a big fan of good 'local' buchers. They should be able to tell you where meat has come from/ farm and about it's slaughter.

Mine does and all chicken/ turkey iss free range, with other meat from local farmers.

[Thomzo]

I presume that your son and granddaughter know that you are vegetarian (is that pescitarian?). Why not simply say to your son that you have a problem buying and preparing meat and give him the choice whether to eat as you do or bring meat for himself and his daughter. He's your son, you don't need to try to impress him, just be yourselves.

Zoe

[Zech]

If you're going twenty miles to buy meat anyway, I'd recommend Morgan's butchers in Aberystwyth. I'm sure they'd be happy to tell you about where the meat comes from. They also have cooked food near the entrance and uncooked at the back, so you can go into the shop without smelling the raw meat.

On the other hand, a bit of googling finds a butcher in Mach that has their own abbatoir. http://www.wil-lloyd.co.uk/philosophy.htm I guess that's probably the very posh one you referred to.

[Marmalady]

If your visitors are A) family and B) only with you for 4 days, then there is no reason why they should not eat the same as you. Even the most serious carnivore does not have to eat meat with every meal - or even every day

If they really cannot last 4 days without meat, then go out to a restaurant / have a takeaway meal one day so that everyone can eat whatevr they like

or send your OH out to buy whatever meat he finds acceptable!

[baldybloke]

As you seem to have ruled out lamb, beef, chicken and pork, by my reckoning that only leaves venison and duck. I would suggest a good independant butcher or farm shop would be the best option to meet your criteria.

[darkbrowneggs]

There are a couple of forums where the folk keep animals and sometimes have meat for sale. I don't know if it is ok to post a link but I can always PM anyone who is interested. There is usually beef, pork, lamb and poultry from various folk.

I keep my own animals (though I never have any spare meat to sell) so haven't tried the products myself, but know those who have and were very happy

[oldjerry]

Google in The Rare Breed Marketing Scheme' there will be a butcher not too far away- none of the pigs will have been caged.Anyhow what's wrong with them eating fish? Why can't they eat Veggie for a few days? (but if you want to stay on speaking terms with them,for God's sake don't give them Quorn!)

[Graye]

I don't mind preparing the meat etc, I just want to be able to buy some OH will tolerate in the house. I never was what I call an "ethical" vegetarian really, I just could never bear the taste and texture. On the other hand he definitely is. And since the fields surrounding us are now full of skipping little lambs he's in full flight!

I really don't want to impose our eating habits on other people and I suppose if the shoe was on the other foot I wouldn't expect anyone I stayed with to insist I only ate meat if that is their normal diet. I know my son & his wife would make a point of preparing something without meat for us if we were visiting but it would be a bit much to expect them to eat in the same way too.

I shall make a point of taking a deep breath and going into the "posh" butchers in Mach to see what they have (I think there is only one and the address in that link seems to fit). Thanks very much for that, it's just what I wanted to know. The problem with Morrison's is that there is no one to ask if things aren't plainly labelled - I don't think they actually have a butcher instore, just pre-wrapped packs.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.

[Andy Hamilton]

How about venison or other wild meat? Its free range and often killed with one shot? Stay clear of birds except for maybe pegion and stick to rabbit, venison and boar.

I get all my meat from the farmers market or from a good butcher. You can talk to them at farmers markets about their animals and work out for yourself if this is ethical enough for you.

[boboff]

For what it's worth if I was visiting my Mum I would be grateful to eat what they eat, and Mum and Dad not stressing at all about what, where and how any meat brought to the house was killed. I bet if you upped your prawns Tuna Mackeral Achovies intake a bit they wouldn't even notice. Most important thing is you are relaxed and happy.

[gregorach]

Another vote for the wild venison option here - it's pretty much the ultimate in ethical meat, and it's absolutely delicious.

[Susie]

Graye, fwiw I'm a meat eater and I wouldn't think twice about eating veggie for four days, in fact I'd enjoy it - I don't think they'd necessarily feel like you were imposing your lifestyle on them. If you went out to eat once and also cooked fish as well they probably wouldn't even notice.

(But yes, the butcher is a good bet).