Tops Day Nurseries with branches in Christchurch, Lymington and Fawley introduces deer in children’s meals to help cull on South Downs
A CHILDREN’S nursery with branches in Christchurch and the New Forest is introducing deer to its menu to help with a culling of the animals.
Tops Day Nurseries says the meals are “designed to captivate young taste buds while providing unmatched nutrition that aligns with our sustainability mission and ethos”.
The company added: “We are proud to be among the first in our sector to make the move and put wild meat on our menus.”
Working in collaboration with Eat Wild, which encourages the use of wild meat in the UK, it says children will be enjoying the new game dishes twice within a three-week cycle.
They will be tucking into venison spaghetti bolognaise, deer wraps and burgers.
Catering manager at Tops, Peter Ttofis, said: “Having worked in the hospitality industry for so long, I had always been aware of how delicious wild foods were, especially game.
“The variety and how natural it is always appealed to me as I knew it hadn’t been subjected to courses of intense growth hormones or antibiotic treatment and is left to roam freely eating natural foods within its natural environment; because after all, we are what we eat, right?”
The company says that the nutritional value of game is “excellent” as it contains less fat, more protein and is higher in vitamins than beef, chicken, lamb and pork.
Leon Challis-Davies, culinary director at Eat Wild, said: “There are lots of reasons why getting wild and sustainable meat onto school menus is so important.
“First and foremost, though, it’s so important that we get the younger generation to eat more nutritional and vitamin-rich food to help them develop.
“Wild meat is not only healthier, but it’s also more sustainable than what we consume from our current meat-producing sector.”
The venison used by Eat Wild comes from the South Downs where the over-population of deer is reportedly having a negative effect on the environment.