When New Zealand was settled, pioneers from the British Isles missed the red deer that they had hunted in Scotland. So wild red deer were corralled in Scotland and put on boats for the over 11,000 mile journey to New Zealand where they were released and to flourish in that beautiful country without predators. Today descendants of those original immigrant deer are raised on farms in New Zealand and the venison distributed to fine restaurants and specialty retailers all over the world. Farm to table demand is often local demand and there is New Zealand venison is certainly not local, but despite the food miles it is surprisingly sustainable according to Mark Mitchell, President of Broadleaf, a New Zealand based game processing and marketing company. \”Shipping a pound of meat from Texas to New York produces more carbon emissions than shipping  it from New Zealand to New York by sea freight.\” The deer graze on grass and hayh , in vast open pastures  and are never subjected to feedlots, confined spaces, hormones, antibiotics or corn-based diets.

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