SMALL IS MIGHTY

The British Game Alliance’s vision for a healthy game market and sustainable shooting sector is one that even the smallest shoot can get on board with, says chief executive Liam Stokes

- LIAM STOKES

The value of British Game Alliance (BGA)membership for smaller shoots is something we probably don’t talk about enough, because the value is a little less obvious than to the larger shoots who are perhaps more invested in the whole game meat supply chain. The BGA is trying to do something of value for the whole shooting community, which I believe is just as applicable to the DIY syndicate as it is to the larger commercial operators.

The BGA is an assurance scheme and a marketing and development board for game meat. We define our mission as ‘promoting, developing and assuring the consumption of game meat’, so the link to shoots selling their game into the food chain is immediately obvious. But note, we are trying to safeguard ‘the consumption of game’, not the sale.

I believe the days in which people could pluck meat out the hedgerow and eat it without anyone else asking where it came from are over. If they weren’t gone already, I think the Covid-19 pandemic finished them off. The general public, the media, the government: all will take an ever-increasing interest in how food (especially meat) is being produced and harvested. So whatever we do at the BGA to enhance and protect the game meat sector, I believe it needs to embrace all shooting operations of all sizes, no matter who is eating the game.

How the BGA works

The BGA works by signing up shoots and game farms, not individuals, as members. We also register businesses such as processors, retailers, pubs, restaurants and hotels as suppliers of the Assured Game our members produce. Our shoots agree to operate by the BGA standards, which are built on the principles of the Code of Good Shooting Practice.