It reminded me that lamb is not a popular meat choice in the US. I’ve never cooked with it.
I’ve had lamb Gyros a few times. A coworker brought a 3 meat meatloaf (with part lamb) to a potluck that was pretty good.
Pigs are dirty and smelly. They bite and can be mean.
I think of a Shepard and their faithful dog herding sheep. It seems more serene and clean.
Why grow cotton instead of shearing sheep for wool?
It.seems totally different in the US compared to the rest of the world that raise sheep.
Why did the US choose pigs instead of Lamb as an alternative to pork?
'Muricans are beef and bacon eaters ( fried chicken, too). They are more likely to prefer burgers and meatloaf than tend a leg of lamb in the oven, and generally don’t like it much. It’s seen as foreign. Finding it ‘gamey’ or something. The net holding a lamb roast probably scares them.
Besides, it’s expensive. A rack of lamb for a very special occasion for a few is permissible.
Lamb gyro meat is popular, though. Often mixed with other meats to be sliced.
We’ve established systems for producing large quantities of beef, pork, chicken, and turkey cheaply. Other meat sources like sheep, goats, rabbits, ducks, and geese have more niche production so they cost more. And this higher cost means people eat these meats less, which means producers aren’t incentivized to develop mass production systems.
Lamb is my favorite overall meat. I’ll take a ribeye or NY strip before a lamb chop, but otherwise lamb wins out in my mind for curries, stews, roasts, and just about any other animal protein treatment I can think of.
I wish it were cheaper and more readily available. It’s delicious.
I’ll defend his point on this one. Pigs, even just one pig in a decent size corral stink to high heaven. Lambs and even sheep smell much better, even when it is 20 of them together in the same size area.
I’ve on a few rare occasions combed sheep, pigs really stink.
Sure, pigs stink, and I think it’s worse because, being omnivores, the smell of their waste is closer to the smell of human waste, so it probably offends our senses more readily.
But sheep are no way ‘serene and clean’ unless you’re talking about Shaun the Sheep or something.
Lamb can be gamey to the degree that it needs to be an acquired taste. Of course many non-beef-eaters find beef repugnant as well, but as someone who likes both lamb and beef, I understand why other people might not like lamb.
Plus there’s less meat per head for sheep than cattle, so it’s somewhat less efficient.
I was thinking of the competition at the supermarket and consumers. Consumers decide if they want chicken, beef, pork, or maybe lamb. Although lamb is really not even considered because it’s expensive in the US.
You’re right. Cows and sheep compete for pasture land.
Yes. Lamb is practical to produce when you have a lot of sheep. Ranching lambs exclusively has some economical and logistical problems.
Still wondering how pigs are used as an alternative to pork. Perhaps the OP wasn’t aware that pigs are the magical animal that produces ham, bacon, and pork. And sausage, rind, chitlins, pickled pig’s feet, and some things called food but are rather disgusting to imagine.
I’m sure that’s a factor but IMO the biggest factor is the urine component of their waste. In addition to reeking of swine, especially males, it ferments to ammonia which helps the other odors penetrate more readily. My eyes start to water when I’m around a pig pen.
Your personal opinion. Millions of people worldwide would disagree with you. I eat lamb, pork and beef in equal measure and enjoy them for different reasons/in different ways. Lamb is a terrific. But then as a Brit, I was brought up with it, sheep having been an essential part of our economy for 100’s of years.
