Is Meat Eating Going the Way of Tobacco Smoking?

[hugodrax]

O

Actually, no we can’t.

Oh, but we can. It's the most unusual thing about the US, in fact. All classes may and do hunt the same game here. Of course we have licensing restrictions, but we don't have class restrictions.

 

[karam]

I think baring religious views, anyone who becomes philosophical about not eating meat is just spoiled and enjoyed being in a rich, peaceful society (basically the "West") for far too much. My Athenian ancestors ate cats, dogs and rats in Athens in the famine of 1941-42, and my village ancestors ate donkeys and horses to survive.

As long as the animals aren't kept in intensive farms and do not suffer getting killed, I'll continue eating meat and loving it.

There was a vegan...something or other one weekend in Basel in the summer, and we happened to be in the centre when it was going on. My 6 year old daughter asked the BRILLIANT question: why do they protest if the milk is already out of the cow, can you put it back in?

 

[prairiedruid]

Squirrel has a bit of a gamey taste; I wrap it in bacon and slow cook it with some sliced apples.

 

[brian64]

I`m certain we wouldnt recognize the USA if we could look down the tube another 25 years

I already don't recognize it.

 

[Andriko]

Not just meat, but 'sugary' foods like cereals, soft drinks and sweets will also come under the same tactics used against tobacco. At this point I'm all for it. Everything out there does some harm in someway, so if my tobacco has to be heavily taxed, and the packaging defaced, than I think it quite right that everything else should come in plain packaging with pictures of cancer on it.

 

[sablebrush52]

This is a lot of hay over a lot of nothing. The article has a clickbait title meant to fish in the easily angered and confused, but the article itself is a big nothing burger (pardon the pun). There is a small town in the Netherlands where a small local green party has put out what amounts to a suggestion to stop placing adverts for beef products within city limits. This hasn't even been taken up by city council or put a vote. No one is banning meat. That is absurd.

Look, let's get lucid for a moment.

You're talking sense. That has no place here. Sense takes all the fun out of being righteous.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Oh, but we can. It's the most unusual thing about the US, in fact. All classes may and do hunt the same game here. Of course we have licensing restrictions, but we don't have class restrictions.

Oh, but we can't. He wasn't referring to "class", it was "whatever and whenever you want" and what can be hunted and when is well regulated and in the case of certain game, highly regulated, and there are obviously seasons and even within seasons there are certain hours of the day, again depending on species.

I'm not sure he was all that serious, however, and I'm sure you already know all of the above.

 

[hugodrax]

Oh, but we can't. He wasn't referring to "class", it was "whatever and whenever you want" and what can be hunted and when is well regulated and in the case of certain game, highly regulated, and there are obviously seasons and even within seasons there are certain hours of the day, again depending on species.

I'm not sure he was all that serious, however, and I'm sure you already know all of the above.

Well, he's wrong, then.

Somebody should tell him.

 

[K.E. Powell]

That was a great post and this paragraph stands out for me because I feel this will be true, unfortunately it's already happening with just inflation. In the last 2 years I've seen (Australia) rump steak jump from $20-$22 a Kilo to now $30.
Mind you, beef mince has stayed about the same.
One 'Kilo' being a little over 2 pounds etc.

Man, I feel you. I try to count my blessings as an American. We don't get much bang for the taxes we pay, but goods and services are still relatively affordable (generally speaking, minus healthcare of course). I think a lot of my fellow Americans take all this abundance for granted, not understanding that it is a relatively recent phenomenon, historically speaking. And, if covid should have taught us anything, it's a fragile thing.

 

[K.E. Powell]

And since we're talking squirrel, I will say, that I believe as a general principle, what an animal eats can have a big impact on what it will taste like. Squirrels in my neck of the woods have plenty access to nuts and greens, and rarely have to dumpster dive like their urban counterparts. They are delicious. I haven't been hunting in over a decade, but I do remember my father and I getting a mess of squirrels and having mom prepare them up right. She would use the liver to help make the gravy. Good eating. It has a sweet and nutty taste, but still meaty. But I'm not surprised when others grimace at the prospect of eating squirrels. They are pretty much tree rodents, and the closer to urban populations they are, the more likely their diet is trash, which impacts the flavor, at least in my estimation.

 

[mawnansmiff]

And since we're talking squirrel, I will say, that I believe as a general principle, what an animal eats can have a big impact on what it will taste like. Squirrels in my neck of the woods have plenty access to nuts and greens, and rarely have to dumpster dive like their urban counterparts. They are delicious. I haven't been hunting in over a decade, but I do remember my father and I getting a mess of squirrels and having mom prepare them up right. She would use the liver to help make the gravy. Good eating. It has a sweet and nutty taste, but still meaty. But I'm not surprised when others grimace at the prospect of eating squirrels. They are pretty much tree rodents, and the closer to urban populations they are, the more likely their diet is trash, which impacts the flavor, at least in my estimation.

I have to say, if I were to be offered squirrel to eat, I would be concerned that it might have lived in an urban environment.

That said, here in rural west Cornwall we have seagulls ripping open black plastic bin bags looking for something to eat. I'm not suggesting eating seagulls (though some cultures do), what I'm saying is wildlife that lives in rural areas don't necessarily just eat what they have eating for thousands of years but can become scavengers.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[karam]

If I want to have a "pig pull", I call a farmer up north, tell him what I want. I drive up and back the next day. Hell, It's barely cool when I pick it up. Put the pig on the smoker early the next day. Very fresh.

Hmm isn't very fresh not good for cooking? My butcher in Greece, for whom I have a lot of trust built over years, had even strongly suggested I didn't buy the mutton I was after once as he said "this was only slaughtered 2 days ago, give it at least a week".
From several discussions with butchers and cooks I understand that meat needs to hang for an absolute minimum of three days for the meat to relax and any stress hormones (which on a well-killed animal shouldn't even be there) degrading. Most of the butchers I spoke to said that 7-10 days is the real minimum time of ageing to have decent meat, and the flavour only goes up the longer you hang it, especially beef and goat/lamb/mutton. Not sure about chicken and pork, they both spoil fairly easily so I may be totally off.

 

[warren]

Never found the need to "age" a dead porker destined for smoking and roasting. Sometimes the young fellow ages a few days before laying "in-state" for the consumers to pay their respects as it soaks up the smoke and heat. "God bless the pig!"

 

[JOHN72]

I vote for eating the vegans! They might be kinda fatty, so slow smoke them in a good bbq sauce to make them more tender.

I agree with you, Cosmic. It's time to eat hopping bunnies. I can't wait for the full moon to rise.Damn restless bunnies.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Hmm isn't very fresh not good for cooking? My butcher in Greece, for whom I have a lot of trust built over years, had even strongly suggested I didn't buy the mutton I was after once as he said "this was only slaughtered 2 days ago, give it at least a week".
From several discussions with butchers and cooks I understand that meat needs to hang for an absolute minimum of three days for the meat to relax and any stress hormones (which on a well-killed animal shouldn't even be there) degrading. Most of the butchers I spoke to said that 7-10 days is the real minimum time of ageing to have decent meat, and the flavour only goes up the longer you hang it, especially beef and goat/lamb/mutton. Not sure about chicken and pork, they both spoil fairly easily so I may be totally off.

I agree on leaving a carcase to rest. Whenever we took a pig, lamb or goat for slaughter, we'd pick it up almost immediately from the slaughterman then drive it to our local butcher who would hang it in his cold store for a couple of days before butchering it into the joints, chops, mince etc that we asked him to do.

I have to say, home reared meat is a hundred times better than anything you're likely to find in your average supermarket, especially so as you know exactly what it's been fed on and how it lived.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[K.E. Powell]

I have to say, if I were to be offered squirrel to eat, I would be concerned that it might have lived in an urban environment.

That said, here in rural west Cornwall we have seagulls ripping open black plastic bin bags looking for something to eat. I'm not suggesting eating seagulls (though some cultures do), what I'm saying is wildlife that lives in rural areas don't necessarily just eat what they have eating for thousands of years but can become scavengers.

This is a very good point. Squirrels are like most animals: they will take the easiest and surest meal over the "best" one. And who can blame them? I'm lucky insomuch that my family owns a little bit of land that is only dotted by a handful of homes out in the country, so the squirrel there tend to be good eating. Probably easy shooting, too, now that my grandfather has passed away. The squirrels there are probably brazen at this point. One of these days, I need to grab my dad and go squirrel hunting one more time while he is still healthy enough to do so.

 

[MacMarty89]

Where did you get an idea like that?

I really thought it was the truth, 5th Amendment and all.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I really thought it was the truth, 5th Amendment and all.

By not incriminating one's self????

Even rules and laws have rules and laws governing them. Hunting is regulated by season and even the animals being hunted have laws towards size, number, and gender that can be hunted.

 

[AJL67]

This is a very good point. Squirrels are like most animals: they will take the easiest and surest meal over the "best" one. And who can blame them? I'm lucky insomuch that my family owns a little bit of land that is only dotted by a handful of homes out in the country, so the squirrel there tend to be good eating. Probably easy shooting, too, now that my grandfather has passed away. The squirrels there are probably brazen at this point. One of these days, I need to grab my dad and go squirrel hunting one more time while he is still healthy enough to do so.

 

[Pipingntrucking]

By not incriminating one's self????

Even rules and laws have rules and laws governing them. Hunting is regulated by season and even the animals being hunted have laws towards size, number, and gender that can be hunted.

Even these laws vary by state, county, city, and country side. I've never heard of rabbit or squirrel being regulated but that's likely just because of where and when I grew up. Most of the time people will self regulate to make sure there isn't a desolation of the population of them to ensure future meals being born and grown.