Why isn't lamb a popular meat in the west

[CharlieD]

didn't know people ate catfish, the bottom eater, I sort of gagged when I heard about it....

and then...

I had some...

Wow! one of my favorites now!

It really good isn't it? The part I like the best, there are no little nasty bones. Yum.

Also, the lamb, roasted leg of lamb. I can eat the whole thing.
We have a farm nearby, sometimes my friend goes and slaughters the animal. My oh my, nothing like fresh lamb. It's the best.

 

[caseydog]

I like lamb. I can usually find New Zealand lamb in the freezer section of supermarkets. I'm in Canada, so I don't know if the same is true in the US.

Apparently, a lot of people find the taste of lamb too "gamey". I like the way it tastes of lamb and not just some generic red meat. But as the Chief wrote, it's kinda pricey. We often get lamb with Indian or Greek food.

American lamb is not gamey, but American lamb is also hard to find. Sheep here are mostly grain fed. There just aren't enough famers raising Sheep in the US.

In the early days in America, cattle ranchers despised sheep, and considered them a waste of good grazing land. Sheep farmers sometimes even had their lives threatened and their barns/homes burned down.

CD

 

[Bitser]

American lamb is not gamey, but American lamb is also hard to find. Sheep here are mostly grain fed. There just aren't enough farmers raising Sheep in the US.

In the early days in America, cattle ranchers despised sheep, and considered them a waste of good grazing land. Sheep farmers sometimes even had their lives threatened and their barns/homes burned down.

For the most part, the sheep/cow conflict in the US west was over control of public land and forage. There were huge itinerant bands of sheep, with heavily-armed herders, that ranged freely, often wiping out grazing for local ranchers.

On the other hand, cattle ranchers often acted as vigilantes, attacking herders and shooting hundreds of sheep in retaliation. Raid Lake, in the Wind River Range where I was a grazing cop, was named for a literal raid: herders whipped and tied to trees, sheep slaughtered, penned and torched, etc. Pretty nasty stuff.

When the national forest system was created (c.1907) one aim was to end the violent conflicts, by dividing the public rangelands into leased allotments.

 

[GinnyPNW]

We have a lot of sheep ranchers around the PNW. Of course, they are small time, comparatively speaking. But, there's a local Greek restaurant that roasts a whole lamb, at certain times of the year. And our local butchers carry the local meats.

 

[skilletlicker]

American lamb is not gamey, but American lamb is also hard to find. Sheep here are mostly grain fed. There just aren't enough famers raising Sheep in the US.

In the early days in America, cattle ranchers despised sheep, and considered them a waste of good grazing land. Sheep farmers sometimes even had their lives threatened and their barns/homes burned down.

CD

"Sheep here are mostly grain-fed"
Might be right; even probably right. But there sure is a lot of grass-fed beef hype and pasture-fed chicken and egg hype.

I'm not in favor of industrially raised sheep production. But it would be nice to see local, pasture-raised ovine markets develop.

Edited to add:
Like GinnyPNW says, It's happening everywhere. Just needs a little more foodie fire under it.

 

[Andy M.]

I see American lamb in my supermarket regularly.

There is a distinct difference in flavor between American raised and Australian lamb. In addition to the flavor, American lambs are bigger. I see the racks of American lamb in the supermarket and the Australian lamb at Costco. The American racks of lamb are significantly bigger.