Tim Bonner: Pheasants flying into hospitals

If you have the misfortune to be in hospital over the next few months there might be one positive. Six NHS hospitals are going to be trialling pheasant, partridge and venison on their menus as part of a project driven by the British Game Assurance which was originally started before the pandemic.

The BGA has been working with a number of organisations to promote game as a healthy, sustainable, protein source and the NHS was a natural fit. Game meat is perfect for many hospital patients as it is nutritionally superior and higher in selenium than other meats. In tests it was also easy to consume for patients with swallowing problems.

Hospital catering managers and patients have reacted positively to the idea and there is every reason to hope that the trials will be successful and that game will become available across many more NHS hospitals.

This is a win for hospital patients who are able to access game as well as another welcome extension of the game market. As we know game shooting provides a whole range of benefits from conservation of the countryside to its huge social and economic contribution to rural communities, but we must never forget the value of healthy and nutritious game products. The word is that there is likely to be strong demand for non-lead shot assured game next season as supermarkets and other retailers look to expand their offerings. This is great news for shooting - as one wise pollster said to me after a focus group on public attitudes to the countryside: "Everyone who has ever eaten a pheasant is a friend of shooting" - but it will require shoots to plan for next season both in terms of moving to non-lead cartridges and getting BGA assurance in place.

Being able to show high standards across the sector is critical in terms of public and political perception of game shooting, which is why I would encourage every shoot in the country to sign up to BGA assurance. It is one thing to say that your shoot operates to high standards, but it is another to prove it. The role of the BGA in assuring game farms and shoots, and then in opening up new markets for game is absolutely critical, not least when we are in parliament promoting game shooting and defending it from legislative attacks. There are different levels of self-regulation for smaller shoots than for those operating on a large scale, but wherever you are shooting you should be asking whether the shoot is BGA assured and if not, why not.