Immediately after reading it, I was horrified. Then I started thinking about it in a logical way. The question that popped in my head was "Would I eat a horse burger if it was labeled as a horse burger?"
Note that I'm not an expert in the food chain or scientist of processed food, but I am a curious person who eats meat on a regular basis. Let's face it meat is meat. Granted most meat has different tastes, but in the grand scheme of things it's all meant for substance in the game of survival. Yes I'm aware of the vegetarian groups. It is possible to survive on a vegetarian diet, which I have nothing against. For this post, let's pretend everyone eats meat. There is an abundant amount of different kinds of meat sources in the world: cow, pig, chicken, dog, bear, deer, buffalo, moose, fish, alligator (watch Swamp People), etc.
What would be so wrong adding horse or dog to the menu? As long as the industry standard regulations are followed (not that there hasn't been mistakes in the current supply chain), what would be the problem? I know, I know. You'll have to follow my train of thought here by taking out all emotion and the societal customs we've been raised in this country with.
Think about it. Cows, pigs, chickens and even buffaloes (Just visit South Dakota and you can get a buffalo burger) are being raised domestically for the national meat supply chain. Horses and dogs are raised as domestic animals in our country already. If we could get over our fondness and the cuteness of having horses and dogs as pets, would people be willing to buy a horse burger or a dog burger? What if it was cheaper than beef? Having choices is what our country was found on.
My question to you is would you buy horse meat if it was labeled as horse meat for your family?
Afte a week's training for Line Clearance Certification in Waimanalo, HI, the crew put on a pig feast (buried in the ground for 24 hours). They also included horse: dark, tender and sweet. I'd do again-- if it were available.
ReplyDeletert6runner