You may think that we eat lamb at Easter because of its seasonality.
But as our ewes still aren’t due to give birth for another two weeks, Farm2Fork can say with some certainty that Easter lamb isn’t likely to be seasonal, and it might not even be local if you’re eating it for your Easter Sunday roast.
If you’re eating out of season British lamb at Easter, then it will have been born around December, and in order to get it finished in time for the Easter rush, it will have been fattened on grain and is often reared indoors.
Alternatively, if you are eating grass-fed lamb, then it’s most likely travelled all the way from New Zealand to get to your plate.
So if it’s not in season, why the enthusiasm for lamb at Easter?
The most likely reason is that it’s symbolic. Going back into Jewish history and the time of Passover (on which Easter is based), celebrations took place to mark the liberation of Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
The Jewish Festival of Passover is traditionally a spring festival – and this is when the Passover Lamb is killed.
For Christians, the lamb is more a representation of Jesus sacrificing himself and dying on the cross – Jesus being “the lamb of God”. It’s most likely that Christians eat lamb at Easter to remember this sacrifice.
The sacrificial lamb is mentioned in the Old Testament, when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son. Abraham’s son, on seeing the fire being prepared, asked: “The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
When God sees that Abraham is willing to sacrifice his son, God tells him to stop and instead a lamb is sacrificed.
Now while we appreciate the importance of religion, culture and history, we don’t want to force our lambs to come along when they’re not ready.
And we won’t feed our sheep grain because we believe in the benefits of 100% grass-fed.
Some customers think that it’s strange when we tell them we only have a limited supply of lamb available at Easter. But that’s because the English climate isn’t that of Israel.
We raise them naturally, and they come when they’re ready. So if you’re happy to hang on a little longer for us to replenish our stock, our lambs will be more than worthy for your dinner table.
Click here for all our 100% grass-fed lamb products currently available.
