Back on the menu: the ultimate free-range food

Venison used to have something of an olde worlde image, viewed as the kind of meat beloved of Tudor kings, a meat to be served on oak tables decorated with swan. Times change. Deer is fast becoming one of the most fashionable "new" meats of the 21st century, backed by a slew of green and gastronomic claims.

A report from Mintel reveals that game, including venison, rabbit and pheasant, has surged in popularity in recent years. Between 2004 and 2006, sales went up 46 per cent to £57m. Within this trend, venison has been the star performer.

Leading chefs champion the consumption of some of the one million deer roaming Britain, and many sociological and culinary trends are propelling its popularity.

Venison is being promoted as a free-range local meat, vaunted as a low fat, low cholesterol dish ideally suited to those jaded with eating poultry, which was similarly noted for its leanness but is now tainted by the process of factory farming.

The rise and adventurousness of foodies is also raising interest generally in game, once closely associated with aristocrats, the gentry, the hunting and shooting brigade, and poachers.

"The market for game is growing strongly as we increasingly look for exciting, alternative flavours that fit our renewed interest in good quality food.

"These meats are low in fat and cholesterol, but are still full of flavour and this healthy image is definitely helping to boost sales, especially among women," said Mintel's analyst, David Bird.

"A growing concern about the environment and the negative impact of mass produced food is changing the types of food we buy, with many of us opting for food that is organic, locally-sourced or bought from a farmers' market."

Mr Bird speculated that game's popularity, and that of farmers' markets - both bringing people closer to local food - might even lead to a revival of fishing and hunting. Game is, strictly speaking, the meat of animals and birds hunted for fish or sport, although some deer are farmed.

According to Mintel, venison takes 47 per cent of game sales and is sold in burgers, sausages and steaks, with lower fat than beef or pork products. Pheasant, partridge and grouse account for 31 per cent of game sales while "other game" such as hare and wild boar make up the remaining 22 per cent.

The trend for eating natural food, and for foodie adventurousness, is spurring the revival. Fergus Drennan, a professional forager and star of the BBC show The Roadkill Chef, cooks up the freshly-deceased game he comes across.

"I love it," he said yesterday, "because for me, from a vegetarian point of view, I don't like anything reared for food on my behalf."

The writer and television presenter Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, too, is an advocate of gamey meats and invited guests to shoot pigeons on a recent TV show against factory farming.

A campaign, Game to Eat, run by the Countryside Alliance, seeks to popularise the eating of game. Fearnley Whittingstall enthuses on its website, game-to-eat.co.uk: "Game is a top quality food - healthy and free range - and is very good value. It's now readily available in supermarkets and butchers so there's no excuse not to try it."

But despite its greater availability in recent years, almost half of the British population shuns game. A survey of 1,000 people in November found that 31 per cent had never eaten game and did not want to try it, 11 per cent had tried it but would not eat it again, while 5 per cent were vegetarian. A majority was keen - 12 per cent said they would like to try it and 41 per cent said they did eat it. Their numbers appear to be on the rise.

While some people were put off game because of concerns about shooting and expense, some said they liked its tastiness, environmental credentials and healthiness.

Venison is now stocked by Sainsbury's, Tesco and Adsa, although half of all sales are still through butchers.

Animal welfare is not yet a significant issue since the animals live wild and there is a general acceptance of the need to cull deer, which have no natural predator in Britain following the extinction of wolves. But in some areas their numbers are increasing rapidly. Defra estimates there are between 20,000 and 60,000 deer-related traffic accidents in the UK annually.

Richard Guy, founder of the Real Meat Company, which stocks venison, hare, rabbit, and pigeon breast, said: "I think the trend is clearly towards naturalness and leanness. There's not a shred of fat on venison."

David Hammerson, who runs the Everleigh Farm Shop in Marlborough, Wiltshire, has seen demand for venison pick up "tremendously" in the past five years. He sells 70 per cent more each year. "It is lean meat, tantamount to fat free, and from a cholesterol point of view is good. I think people have latched on to this and it's a sensational product. Haunch of venison, the leg, is very similar to a leg of lamb," he said.

Mr Hammerson, who also runs a business that breeds birds for shooting, added: "Game still has the reputation of being for the wealthy man's table. It is only those who are slightly wealthy who eat a wood pigeon. Those who are impoverished would think it's beneath them."

Go wild

* Game is the meat of hunted animals and birds, whether for sport or food.

* In Britain, the best known examples are venison (deer), rabbit, and the game birds pheasant and partridge.

* Enthusiasts can catch and cook a vast variety of game including: deer, wild boar, rabbit, wild duck, grouse, guinea fowl, pheasant, partridge, wood pigeon, snipe, woodcock and, less commonly, ptarmigan, blackgame, moorhen, golden plover and curlew.

* British venison traditionally comes from roe and fallow deer. The deer population is booming and now tops one million. Three thousand wild deer are killed each year for venison.

* There are official seasons for the killing of game birds.

* Grouse season starts 12 August and ends on 10 December.

* Partridge runs from 1 September to 1 February, while pheasant begins a month later but ends at the same time.

* Pheasant is by far the most popular game bird, with about 20 million birds bred for release in the autumn.

* The League Against Cruel Sports has a campaign against shooting. There are also concerns about the impact of the high populations of certain birds on native birds.

* Country sports supporters say shooting preserves thousands of acres of moors and provides rural employment.