Reindeer meat sells out
The Sami are 20,000 strong in Sweden, and 3,000 of them still rely on reindeer to earn a living. Reindeer meat is very tender, low in fat and can be prepared in a number of dishes, including roasts, stews, cold cuts and steaks.
Lars begrudgingly shared his meat-smoking secrets with COLORS: “Cut the reindeer meat into layers, then place it in a bucket with salt and add some sugar. Leave it for 10 days. The day before smoking it, place it in the cooler.
Then hang the meat in the smokehouse and light a fire of old, wet birch wood. Smoke it for 30 to 40 hours.” Lars grins as he continues, “Then circle it three times singing as badly as you can. You see, Caruso could never make meat taste like mine. He sings too sweetly.” Reindeer herders follow the animals’ seasonal migration from high mountains in the spring and summer to forest grazing grounds in the winter. “Reindeer herding is not a normal job,” says award-winning producer Lennart Blindh, 60. “If you choose this work, it’s a different set of values. It’s the freedom to be with nature, where life revolves around the seasons.” But landowners have different values, and in recent years have brought lawsuits against the Sami, challenging their right to let reindeer graze on their property. They want the Sami to pay SKr20 (US$2.80) per hectare for grazing rights.
“It’s ridiculous,” exclaims student Eli Larsdotter Brynhildsvoll, 28. “The herders don’t have that kind of money.
So the landowners want someone else to pay. But who? Everybody thinks the Swedish government is looking out for the Samis, but in the end they’re letting us down.”
An animal welfare group have criticised the Swedish furniture company, Ikea, for selling reindeer meat urging the chain to get it off their shelves.
Ikea have been accused of animal cruelty by Viva! as they claim that modern hunting methods causes the animals stress and are cruelly exploited at the hands of hunters.
The campaigners of Viva!, the Vegetarian’s International Voice for Animals, believe that by selling the meat Ikea is condoning animal cruelty and will continue to do so unless the meat is no longer sold in their stores.
The modern hunting method involves the reindeers being surrounded by helicopters, herded by snowmobiles and then trucked several hundred miles causing them mental stress.
Ikea, with 17 stores in the UK, sells reindeer meat in its food halls, along with other Swedish food products, at £1.75 for 30g of reindeer salami and £2.25 for 100g of reindeer.
A Viva! Spokesman said, “We are calling on the company to withdraw the sales of the meat, due to the cruel exploitation these wild animals suffer at the hands of the huntsmen”.
The group used evidence from Uppsala University in Sweden from 2005 to back up the reasoning behind their argument. It demonstrates that the reindeers were caused “considerable physical and mental stress” due to the modern uses of motorcycles, snowmobiles and helicopters in the extensive hunting process.
Viva!’s claims and the evidence from the Swedish university showed that the pain did not stop at the catching process. Once caught the reindeer had to be transported up to 1,000 km only to meet their end.
Ikea’s response go against these accusations denying that they were cruel and strove to make sure they met animal welfare standards.
A statement released by Ikea said that the figure that said that 70% of reindeers being caught were calves represented “a national figure for Sweden” and was not specific to Ikea.
The use of modern machinery was also defended in the statement stating that it keeps the reindeer safe from predators and is used “because of the large size of the reindeer herding area (half the size of Sweden)”.
The charity has already removed Kangaroo and other exotic animals from the shelves of supermarkets to fight animal cruelty.
