Where to buy good lamb

[tommyl]

Okay so having lived in Vancouver for many years I still haven't found a great, fail safe spot to buy good lamb. I like lamb that tastes like lamb and find that a lot of lamb in the GVRD is too mild, so I am turning to all chowhounds for their recommendations. Thank you to all in advance

[kitchendame]

I have been looking for lamb as well and came across a very intriguing website for Hills Foods in Coquitlam, which not only carries local free range lamb but Australian and New Zealand lamb as well, plus just about every regular and wild meat you could want. It's for restaurants but open to the public as well.

[robinsegg]

Not to be ornary, but saying lamb is "free range" is a bit like saying, hmm, soil-grown wheat. There is really no other way to raise lamb.

[kitchendame]

I beg to differ. Animals can be raised free range, or in stalls and limited access pens, with only bought grain and hormone injections. Certified organic free range means they are allowed to meadow-graze on unadulterated grasslands, without being injected with hormones or force-fed so that they fatten up at a freakishly unhealthy rate, and in small areas where they cannot feed naturally on grasslands, or nurse from ewes that have the same freedom to grow and eat.

[robinsegg]

In all of my experience and dealings with lamb producers in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, I have never encountered lambs raised in pens. I can attest to the fact that none of the NZ or Australian lamb that is imported to Canada (or to any other country) is raised in that manner - it simply is not commercially sustainable. If there are farmers raising sheep in Canada in that manner, I was not aware of it.

[kitchendame]

Are you saying the rest is true?

[robinsegg]

Kitchendame

I don't know what you mean by "the rest". My original comment was about "free range", not about organic or non-organic. You correctly point out that lamb can only be considered organic if the pastures aren't treated with chemicals. Lambs are usually "doused" for worms, and traditional dousing methods are not considered to be organic.

Back to my original point - raising sheep in pens is not economic for the mass market, so the lamb we get here from NZ and OZ is free range.

[brokentelephone]

I'm pretty sure robinsegg isn't doubting the existence of organic rearing....

[robinsegg]

No, I wasn't ... :-)

[talker32]

Armando's at Granville Island - best local rack of lamb in town. Amazing! Don't cook it too long.

[bill_n_opus]

Rempel Meats Abbotsford?

[brokentelephone]

People often recommend Stong's Grocery on Dunbar for lamb. I had a pretty good leg (butt end) roast from there last week, and really enjoyed it. If anything, they have a better selection than any other supermarket I've seen.

[Tinfoilhat]

No personal experience, but I would think that a Halal butcher would be a great place to look.

[Philx]

I would suggest Columbus Meats, Cioffi, Jackson's Meats and Windsor meats as they all have local lamb. Should be able to google them all.

Good luck