Virtuous Venison
Virtuous Venison
Fallow deer are not native to Britain. They are from the eastern Mediterranean where, for thousands of years they were associated with the goddesses of hunting, Artemis and Diana. The Romans brought them to Britain and we know they were kept at Fishbourne Roman Palace in Sussex. But after the Roman period that population of fallow deer died out.
The deer you see in Britain today descend from animals re-introduced in the medieval period. They were brought from Turkey around 1000AD, just before the Norman Conquest of 1066.
At that time, hunting was a popular pastime. Fallow deer were so precious they were kept in parks – hundreds of them across Britain – so they could be hunted, mainly by women.
All the deer that were hunted were used for food. Their meat – or venison – was distributed across the whole of society, to rich and poor, for free.
Eventually hunting went out of fashion, deer parks fell into disrepair and the fallow deer escaped. With far fewer people managing their populations, deer numbers increased.
Today, in some areas, there are so many fallow deer they are over-grazing the environment, which is doing harm to woodland, farmland, wildlife and their own wellbeing.
Fallow deer need to be managed back to sustainable levels and venison is a delicious product of this important work. At the moment, there is little market for wild venison so we’re bringing back the ancient tradition of sharing venison throughout society.
We’re working with deer managers, supplies and food charities to make sure as many people as possible can access affordable and free-range wild venison.
Our aim is to provide ethical sustainably sourced protein that has a positive benefit for people, deer and the natural world.