Vince talks about meat and mental health

A once permanent fixture on the family lunch calendar, the popularity of which has sadly made way for the busyness of everyday life in recent times.

And Vince Garreffa believes that the omission of regular, frequent gatherings has adversely impacted the mental health of many.

One of WA's most successful and well-known butchers, Mr Garreffa is also a philanthropist and passionate advocate for mental health care, helping to raise more than $4 million for Lifeline WA over the past 25 years.

"We've lost the larger groups of Sunday lunches with family and friends, and I believe that directly relates to the isolation people are feeling," Mr Garreffa said.

"With work, and shops open on Sundays, I think people feel like it's all too hard to get together.

"Doctors should be prescribing to their patients that they need to spend two or three hours each week with their friends and or relatives, sitting and enjoying their company and some beautiful WA lamb, and it will make them well again.

"We tend to open up, share and care a lot more when we are around a table."

Mr Garreffa said the corporate world had identified having a meal together as the model for getting the best out of people - they would take someone out and sit around a table in almost a fictitious family dinner in order to discuss business deals, or woo someone for a job.

"The real gold is when you do it for each other, as friends and family, at home, for free," he said.

Mr Garreffa is set to make a special appearance at this year's Wagin Woolorama, where he will be wearing two hats - one in advocating for mental health in support of the show's theme Let's Get Together, and the other in continuing to voice his support for Australian farmers - in this case, sheep producers.

He started working as a butcher as a 14-year-old and said when he was younger, mental health wasn't something that was spoken about - it was a taboo subject.

"Now people are talking openly and sharing their stories, prominent people are talking and showing that everyone carries a little bit of damage, and that gives hope to others that they too can find a way through," Mr Garreffa said.

Next year will mark 60 years since he started in the meat industry, and despite taking a bit of a step back from his renowned business Mondo's in recent years, his passion for the trade is as strong as ever.

He will provide butchering demonstrations promoting lamb during Woolorama, taking a nose to tail approach while showcasing his well-honed skills using just a knife and small hand saw.

Mr Garreffa will also provide cooking tips and free tastings of what he referred to as "the best lamb in the world."

"I will be giving some hints and clues, but in all honesty, there aren't any cuts that are unrecognisable when it comes to sheep anymore," he said.

"I would love for farmers to be able to breed lambs with 12 legs, because there are never enough shanks, or even to produce double lamb racks.

"But in all seriousness, this country has travelled on the sheep's back, and I believe lamb is worth so much more, and I hope these current sheep prices will soon be a thing of the past."

Mr Garreffa said one of his favourite lamb meals was in fact a simple roast leg, which would always be paired with rosemary and garlic fresh from his herb garden.

But rather than cook it in a pan, he would in fact place the leg on the top shelf of his oven.

This would allow the meat to drip onto a tray of potatoes below, creating his signature "dirty potatoes".

"The potatoes are basted by the fat of the lamb, but also the juices from the meat," he said.

This is just one of the pearls of wisdom Mr Garreffa will look forward to sharing with what is bound to be a captive audience while at Woolorama, a venue he is thrilled to return to once again.