From the Now I’ve Heard Everything department. First it was polar bears, now it is sheep guts.
The Telegraph.co.uk
By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Haggis is at risk of dying out due to of global warming.
The meat pudding is known to children as a rare tartan creature found only in the Highlands but the rise of the common parasite lung worm, which is thriving due to global warming, is putting it at risk.
Haggis is made from a sheep’s stomach, which is stuffed with oatmeal and minced intestines. But butchers are finding it more and more difficult to get hold of the principle ingredient of sheep’s lung, as so many are infected with lung worm.
Dr Sandy Clark, the vetinary centre manager at the Scottish Agricultural College in Thurso, said the parasite was thriving because it is able to survive in grazing all year round in the warmer climate.
Although lung worm will not necessarily show up in a healthy sheep or affect all the meat, it will make the lungs of the animal unfit for human consumption.
“Lung worm has been at a very low level and did not cause serious problems in sheep but with the changing climate and availability of the parasite it is becoming a problem,” he said.
He also said lung worm has increased because new technologies mean farmers are only medicating animals that are shown to have traces of other diseases, rather than treating all animals on a regular basis.
“The sad fact is that the disease is causing the lungs to be condemned for human consumption because of the lung worm damage,” he added.
Joe Findlay, owner of Findlay’s Butcher in Edinburgh, said it was a struggle to source lung from Scottish farms so butchers are turning to Ireland instead.
The award-winning butcher said that the growing demand for haggis across the world was because of the fashion for societies dedicated to Scottish poet Robert Burns and the fact that the Scottish diaspora was also making it more difficult to source the ingredients.
“It could well get worse, we are just keeping our fingers crossed,” he added.
The Vermont Pub and Brewery has not yet issued a statement indicating how they will deal with the issue during their annual Burns Night celebration, when they serve Haggis alongside a number of excellent single-malts.
Let them eat cake.
Not to mention all of the extra sweating sheep will do under their heavy fleeces. 😉
Nice mention of a local (for me) drinking establishment. Anthony, if you are ever in these parts I’ll be more than happy to buy you a pint or two.
REPLY: thanks Jim
I just love the way they explain that the lung worm is prevalent because farmers are now only selectively treating where before it was blanket treated, and yet still manage to blame global warming. I wonder where the study is that showed that Scotland’s climate has warmed so much in the last few years that parasites can suddenly thrive.
Next, they’ll be warning of the looming & dire scrapple and pickled pig’s feet shortage— caused of course, by Glow Bull Worming™.
Well all of us love Haggis and we will sorely miss it along with blood pudding and balut (rotton ckicken fetus in the shell from the Philippines).
Thank God for small favors! Actually, that was already taken care of here, as Wikipedia notes that “Haggis may not be imported into the USA from the UK since the BSE crisis of 1989.”
The traditional ingredients have a few more mouth watering items, “There are many recipes, most of which have in common the following ingredients: sheep’s ‘pluck’ (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal’s stomach for approximately three hours.”
I TOLD YOU Global Warming was beneficial for mankind!!!
[…] Global Warming = Less Haiggis! […]
There are a number of possible explanations for rising cases of lungworm infestations. Increased resistance to drench or changing genetics of the scottish flock are a couple that spring to mind. To blame climate change without any evidence seems to be a little bit unscientific.
Could it also be that, rather than global warming, demand is outstripping supply? How ever did they manage during the MWP? Perhaps they just viewed it as one of those things that happen in nature that they just had to suffer through.
Don’t th’ worms die when ya cook em? It’s all just protein in the end…. er… well, not right at the very end….
Anyway…. You oughta see what goes into a bottle of tomato sauce?…. Actually yer better off not knowing…..LOL
Actually tomato sauce goes well with haggis! 🙂
The sheep only have themselves to blame for global warming though 🙂
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24470764-5009760,00.html
[…] the original here: Haggis at risk from global warming Tags: environment, global-warming, haggis-at-risk, politics, science, scottish, technology […]
So the problem is that the highlands of Scotland are now too mild so they have to turn to Ireland.
Everywhere in Ireland is milder than the highlands of Scotland. In the mildest parts of Ireland it almost never snows and rarely get more than a mild frost. Even the coldest places in Ireland are mild compared to the scotish highlands.
So there’s been global warming in Scotland, but not in Ireland, a hop skip and a jump away.
was a struggle to source lung from Scottish farms so butchers are turning to Ireland instead.
And Ireland isn’t subject to global warming? Or England or other places way to the south where sheep are farmed?
Russell (20:28:43)
“Selective treatment” yep! Just another EU directive.
Re: Russell (20:28:43)
“Selective treatment”, yes. Just another EU directive.
Louise Gray writes
“But butchers are finding it more and more difficult to get hold of the principle ingredient of sheep’s lung…”
and
“…the growing demand for haggis across the world was because of the fashion for societies dedicated to Scottish poet Robert Burns…”
in the same article and she does not see the connection: supply-and-demand you economically-ignorant journalist.
Poor poor Scotland. First Global Warming kills off the Loch Ness Monster, now it has killed of the rare endangered Haggis beast. Will Global Warming over-inflate bagpipes next, killing those off too?
The UK hasn’t had prolonged cold for years. Sheep farmers have faced few of the problems, and losses, that long cold winters used to cause them. I suspect most have more than enough stock – maybe too many. So, we have lots of sheep and little cold weather to kill the parasite – see this link “Larvae are vulnerable to adverse weather conditions, but in warm, moist, shaded conditions may live for over a year.”
So, too many sheep and less natural control of the parasites larvae by cold weather. Perfect conditions for infections.
Thus, I fail to see the problem with the story. I guess it feeds the need, a need so obvious here, to ridicule any and every story that dares, wrongly, on in this case rightly, to report a link between a problem and AGW.
This site can indeed be ridiculous at times.
Ethnic sourrr grapes, y’ commenterrrs.
“…Joe Findlay, owner of Findlay’s Butcher in Edinburgh, said it was a struggle to source lung from Scottish farms so butchers are turning to Ireland instead…”
Where, presumably, Global Warming is not happening? Could this be because the Irish are less gullible than the Scots? Or could it be because the Scottish Agricultural College is looking for funds while the Irish are already well funded?
Enquiring minds want to know…
Peter Hearnden, you completely miss the point.
The weather has been milder across the whole of the British Isles and if lung worm has been on the increase because of the milder temperatures, it should be a problem everywhere else – indeed one would expect it to be more of a problem in Ireland than Scotland if it is temperature related.
As the article itself states, this is surely the simple explanation:
“He also said lung worm has increased because new technologies mean farmers are only medicating animals that are shown to have traces of other diseases, rather than treating all animals on a regular basis”
No need to invoke the spectre of Global Warming at all.