Does “veal” refer to baby cows in general, or only a certain type of calf meat?
Is it possible to get vealish meat from free-range calves? Or is confining them in small stalls and malnourishing them an integral part of the process?
I try to avoid eating veal because of the cruel method used to produce it. But I’m curious as to the taste, and I was wondering if humanely-raised veal was an oxymoron or not.
It’s my understanding that the veal is uniquely pale because the calves are not allowed to move around and the muscle tissue doesn’t develop properly. Free-range calves would just be regular, but young, beef. I think you’ve hit upon an oxymoron.
Back when I could eat red meat, I still boycotted veal because of how the calves were treated. Last time I ate it was about 30 years ago. It annoyed me that so many meals at Italian restaurants were off limits to me because they were all veal dishes.
Yeah, so nowadays I just get fish and birds. Man, some days I get so sick and tired of chicken.
Veal comes from young, male cows that are not needed by dairy farmers
In 2007, the American Veal Association annouced that crating veal cows would end by 2017. According to wiki, they are already a third of the way there.
If you want a totally free range veal experience, you’ll probably have to go to the UK and get hold of some Rosé Veal
Untrue. The pale color comes from a lack of myoglobin. Cows develop dark meat as a consequence of iron uptake from eating grass. Veal calves are traditionally fed milk and milk by products.
What the crate does is to improve the texture of the meat. Muscles that have never been exercised taste better (it’s why tenderloin is the most expensive cut of regular beef).
Cool, thank you for contributing to fighting ignorance! 
So it’s still called veal, even if they are not chained up?
Yes. A lot of modern veal is actually quite dark in color IME.