Britain has been having troubles with their processed-food supply like the one we had with our infamous "pink slime," but in their case it's worse because the offending ingredient is not even a bovine product (sorry, Cow!). Horse-meat has been found where people thought they were eating beef. My indignation doesn't have as much to do with the "ewwww factor" but with trust and disclosure.
There doesn't seem to be anything actually WRONG with eating horse or slime (nutritionally) if you compare it with eating sucrose and wheat flour. If those pairs of "foods" were my only choices, you can easily guess which i'd pick.
But i'm of the opinion that truth in labeling is important -- sometimes there are darned good reasons for eating a prepared meal, and people should have informed choice. A lot of people don't read labels, and ... frankly, if they don't care enough after they've been alerted (and i'm not shy about alerting people -- my FB posts are full of that), let the buyer beware. But when you DO read labels and you DON'T know that "spices" can mean "MSG" as an example ... to me that's wrong. Some people's health can be seriously undermined by the duplicity of BigFood.
The serious snobs will say, well just don't eat processed food! Eat what you've seen growing with your own eyes! Know your farmer! ... All well and good actually -- IF YOU CAN. Some people can't. Some people have so many other things in their lives requiring attention, they HAVE to get on as best they can. Even people like me who can take the time and spend the money to source healthy whole foods, SOMETIMES have to cut corners! It's called "LIFE."
So, all you libertarians -- we NEED central entities to make those "smart successful businesses" treat the consumer with a decent degree of fairness. We need those smart successful businessmen to add a little integrity to the mix. Zoe thinks we're fools to trust processed-food manufacturers, and she's got a point ... BUT if they're breaking laws to ensure their "success" we should be able to trust that the bastards WILL be nailed to the wall.
...Anecdotally, mule is supposed to be a better meal than horse. It's said that explorers, emigrants, hunters and trappers in the "old west" preferred using mules for several reasons, only one of which was that if things went bad ... mule tasted GOOD. ;-)
I would eat a horse meat if it were available.
ReplyDeleteyes, the taboo in this country about eating horsemeat is based on sentiment, not biology. i can think of a lot of worse things. i'd have a problem eating dog (which polynesians and native americans have long done, with enthusiasm) ... but that's sentiment-based, too!
DeleteYes, there is a sentiment about eating cats, dogs, rats I can relate to. Not everybody in the world is so squeamish. I remember watching a Globe Tracker episode about some South American countries. People there kept Guinea pigs as pets at home and also used them as a convenient food supply. Probably, not a bad idea considering the growing world population. I don't think I would live to see it.
ReplyDeleteit's only one step away from backyard rabbit-growing -- some people see them as pets (hi, Kim!) and others as "poultry." as my DIL used to have to chant to herself when they started using Great Pyrennees dogs as livestock guardians, when it rained ... "they're livestock, not pets!" they HAVE shelter, and don't think they're maltreated when they go out in the rain! now, my Spenser will look out the back door on a rainy day and look back at me, and you can imagine him trying to communicate "you expect me to go out and pee in THAT? ...i can hold it!" :-)
DeleteProbably, the first thing to be done if meat supply gets short in my area - to start catching squirrels in my back-yard, moving into the direction of different wild animal catching (eating roadkill is too much for me).
ReplyDeleteDogs are definitely family members, not just pets.
we have squirrel PROBLEMS in my neighborhood, but somehow i'd be hesitant to eat "city squirrels" even if we harvested them -- who knows what they eat! :-)
DeleteThe horse-meat thing has been totally overblown in the UK. selling horse-meat while advertising it is as beef is ofcourse a heavy lawsuit, but people are looking at the horse-meat thing as though horse-meat is some kind of lethal poison thats contaminated the food supply.
ReplyDeleteThousands of suspect food products will be destroyed because of this, which is retarded and a huge waste of food when there are so many poor or homeless families in Britain that go hungry.
like the people who carry on about conventionally-raised meat here -- sure, it's not optimal, but POISON? massive exaggeration.
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