THE MEAT SLUMP

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7023, 11 January 1910, Page 3

THE MEAT SLUMP

FROM AN ENGLISH VIEW-POINT,

A New Zealand settler who had spent some time in England investigating the manner in which our produce was sold, Mr Board, of Hangitiki. told in these columns, how many provincial butchers would have half a dozen prime carcasos of New Zealand lamb hanging in front of their shops, hut that not an ounce of our mutton or lamb was on 6ale within —there was nothing but Argentine meat. The same story is told of English meat being used as a decoy for frozen meat by a man with a palpable prejudice against frozen meat, A. T. Matthews, who compiles the official monthly review of the meat market for the British Board of Agriculture. Writing in the November issue of " The Estate" magazine, Mr Matthews says : " One common practice is to purchase two or three good British carcases and hang them in the front of the shop to tempt the unwary whose orders are supplied from cheap frozen stuff kerpt in the background. But we need not dwell on the actual frauds committed. The Teal evil lies in the ignorance and apathy of the public, who ask no questions, and innocently accept whatever is supplied to them. They order 'a leg of mutton,' and they get one. They find it tender, free from any unpleasant smell or taste, pronounce it very good, and there is an end of it. There are not many consumers who cultivate their palate sufficiently to notice the difference between a tasteless frozen j oint and one from a prime English Down, full of nutriment and 'rich flavour.

"An article can be pushed without absolute lying as to its nature and origin, and this is just what is being done with frozen meat to an enormous extent. Whether it be true or not that English people are losing their taste for mutton, we are certainly going the way to make them do so/' Mr Matthews has allowed hia insular prejudice to run away with his bettcir judgment. The Home farmer will not be strengthened in the fight to maintain the position of homo-grown meat on its own markets by being led to believe that prime New Zealand mutton and lamb, for instance, are tasteless, and, inferentially, are devoid of nutriment, and that by the use of them the Home consumer will lose his taste for mutton. A. man of Mr Matthews's standing should take a more broad-minded view of the position.