[humphreymctush]

I heard that some well-intensioned people refuse to eat "rare breed" meat because they confuse it with endangered species like white rhino or mountain gorrila. Has anyone had experience of this? Perhaps more effort needs to be made to explain that eating rare breed meat helps to preserve that breed.

[HappyHippy]

I do try to explain to folks that if no-one eats the meat from these breeds that they will die out altogether.
It's the demand for the meat that leads to a need to breed and that increases numbers overall.

I think there are folk who try to promote it (RBST/BPA) but more does need to be done. Although, even saying all of that people only hear what they want too 
All we can do, as rare breed keepers, is to educate and spread the word to as many people as we can 

[princesspiggy]

when i sold most of our first litter for finishing, my friend was shocked cos they were rare and thought all would be kept for breeding. when i offered our piglet on a "buy-a-piglet" scheme, some thought they were being sponsored for life, like as in an animal shelter.
you have to repeatedly explain that by eating rare breed meat, u are promoting the breeding of more litters, and therefore helping to prevent extinction, or poor gene pool. and u still need to breed only from the best, and eat the rest.

[Brucklay]

I think you right HH - I guess the majority of people think a pig is a pig and lamb is lamb, especially when it's bought prepacked from the supermarket - when we say Rare Breed it's something a little special/different that need support to keep the breed going but I can understand how some people would take it like a giant panda!!

[Fleecewife]

There are far more pandas around than any of our rare breeds of farm livestock, except perhaps chickens 

[Penninehillbilly]

I have to admit I filled a questionaire in (some time ago), where I put 'no' to something like 'would you eat meat from rare breeds', not really thinking about it but the fact numbers should be increased, it was only later when I actualy thought about it I realised I should have put 'yes'.
(not that I ever get chance to get any, I'll do our own poultry and OH brings meat now & then)
I plead guilty (do I get a suspended sentence for seeing the error of my ways and feeling remorse? )

[SteveHants]

This reminds me of some comments I saw under a 'Daily Mail' (yes, I know...what did I expect from Mail readers?) article about the 'Exlana' which is basically a new composite breed of shedding sheep. As you sensible lot probably know, the fleece is shed in spring.

Anyway, some of the comments were from people frothing at the mouth because they thought that breeding shedding sheep was cruel because they would freeze in winter....

Others were seriously woried about criminal gangs roaming the country to pick the shed fleece up and put it in sacks to sell on the black market...

Still others were worried about their woollen clothes falling apart from the poor-quality fleece...

If the comments had been anywhere else I would have thought it was a wind up....

Heres the article (scroll down for the breathtaking stupidity - and pity 'Caroline Donner' for not realising who her audience was and making the only sensible comment): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1264462/The-self-shearing-sheep-save-farmers-thousands-pounds.html