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This is from today's entry in Mark Sisson's Blog (the current "blog o the month"), and I thought it would make a great converstation starter over here:
Being a frequent globe trotter, I’m always baffled and amused by the great variety of cultural norms, particularly when it comes to diet. For years I traveled to China on business, where I tried out rat meat. Carrie and I love going to Thailand, where it’s not unheard of to eat dog. The French enjoy - as do many European cultures - frogs’ legs, snails and horse. Scandinavians relish fermented herring (not a pleasure I share). Many cultures around the world eat insects, grubs and all manner of meat. But every culture has its taboos. Here in the States, horse is certainly the biggest taboo. Why don’t we eat horse? It’s nutritious.
Make no mistake. I’m not making an argument in favor of eating horse. I’m simply asking out of curiosity. Why don’t we eat horse? Having a vegetarian son and a semi-vegetarian wife, discussions about sentient beings, animal welfare, and cultural standards are frequent in our household. For example, why do we consider cows to be perfectly acceptable plate fixins’ when they are capable of learning, forming bonds, and are in fact quite intelligent? Sure, perhaps they’re a little less sensitive than horses and they like to stand around (I guess), but that doesn’t seem like a rigorous argument to me at all. We think of horses as pets, but the truth is we have no problem grinding them up for other uses. Horse farming is a booming business. And we all know the old glue jokes. If the thought of horse meat horrifies you, you should know we already produce a whole lot of it - we just sell it overseas, where people think nothing of tucking into a sizzling plate of whinny. Arguments against horse meat consumption usually include the following:
- Horses have feelings/are advanced animals. And pigs aren’t?
- Horses are traditionally pets or workers. So are many other types of livestock.
- It’s just wrong. Feeling something is wrong doesn’t make it so.
If we can set aside emotions for a moment, let’s ask ourselves why we choose to eat some animals’ flesh and not others. If you agree that animal flesh should be included in the diet (my personal view), why shouldn’t we eat horse? It’s high in protein, low in calories, tasty, and sanctioned by the USDA. I’m an advocate of red meat. I have no problem with saturated fat. Our cells are made of it, after all. Horse meat is one of the most nutritious red meats on the planet. Personally, I’m perfectly happy with my grass-fed beef, organic chicken, and wild fish. But I guess I like to think about these cultural idiosyncrasies and ask why we follow certain practices so resolutely, when there is little, if any, logical reason to do so.
Happy Thursday! Further reading: What I eat in a day (not horse) Which fork is for the grubs? Why the Atkins Diet works Why vegans are misguided Raw food gets served
- Horse graphic source
My favorite line: ...where people think nothing of tucking into a sizzling plate of whinny.
And the question is completely legit. Pigs are actually quite smart. At least as smart as dogs. So why is dog disgusting and Pig okay?
For the record, I agree that the idea of eating horse is repugnant to me, but he poses an interesting question. Why not cows? Hm...
Its a good question, I have had similar discussions with my wife over people eating dog.
(I dont even like them as pets, so i wouldnt eat them) and as stated in the blog its just a cultural thing.
Theres always the argument over here about eating Kangaroo, personally I like it and have no problem eating something that lives naturally within the environment,(as opposed to sheep/cows which aint that environmentally friendly) and if we were still running around hunting there would be no question as to whether we would eat it.
I've been trying to get my hands on some horse meat ever since I read Franco Columbu's book on diet. Franco stated in his book that all the old bodybuilders he was around did it, and that horse meat was one of the leanest meats around. So far, being in America, I have had no luck of getting horse meat.
As far as it being taboo to eat horse meat (or any other food), I am not empathetic with the animals. I look at them as if I were a predator and they were prey. Animals are there for us to eat, much like vegetation.
Actually speaking of meat, I just got in a freezer full of deer meat. This stuff is quite good and really cheap when your girlfriends dad sends you half a deer:p
I live near a big horse processing plant. Its almost all sold overseas. In quebec (canada) they eat lots of horse meat.
Im sure its fine, but with all the cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens, bison, etc around here, I dont find variety that bad.
I wouldn't say that we get to eat lots of meat (I'm from Quebec). I actually know only one supermarket that carries ground horse and it's CHEAP. It has 5% of fat and it's cheaper than full-fat ground beef. Go figure, but I'm not complaining. It's pretty bland though. Horse steaks are a little easier to find and much pricier, but I still saw it in a handful of places.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank.S
Actually speaking of meat, I just got in a freezer full of deer meat. This stuff is quite good and really cheap when your girlfriends dad sends you half a deer:p
Venison is great. My sister, her husband and their daughters have all brought in their share of deer.
I never quite figured out the horse stigma. It wouldn't bother me to eat it. I figured it was some sort of sensibility from the old west, when horses were transportation. The only time one ate a horse was extreme desperation.
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I never quite figured out the horse stigma. It wouldn't bother me to eat it. I figured it was some sort of sensibility from the old west, when horses were transportation. The only time one ate a horse was extreme desperation.
I have eaten horse meat ( yeah I bet that doesn't surprise anyone), and it tastes fine. I think the stigma of eating horse meat comes from the fact that they were too useful/valuable as work animals so no butcher a horse unless it was sick, had died or was on its last legs - not exactly the kind of meat you would want to eat.
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i think a lot of it too, is that horses are pets. People don't have pigs as pets... well, not normal people.... who would want to butcher their dog?
i remember a special on tv about a guy who would have his horse like a dog. He would drive around in a truck or car, and have the horse with him in it. Then it showed him tucking his horse in a bed.
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Didn't congress just pass a law against eating dog? And I think they have banned excess wild horses going to meat plants. Totally silly. I like cow meat, freaks out Hindus. I like pig. Freaks out Jews and Islamic folk. Japanese like whale, freaks out us. As long as someone don't try to roast and carve up me, they can eat whatever. 'Course if they carve me up guess I don't have much to say about it. HaHa.
Tony, have you ever eaten horse? I like Beefalo, Bison, and Deer meats... They're a little gamey sometimes but I still like it. I figure Horse would be pretty similar since it's a pretty lean animal.
Strangely, the thought of eating a horse or cat or something would feel cannablistic to me.
I wouldn't have any problem eating a horse. I think it might come down to the fact I have very little exposure to them so to me they are similar to a cow or buffalo. Now I might have to track some down and see how it tastes.
And I agree that a freezer full of venison kicks ass.
Danny
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Tony, have you ever eaten horse? I like Beefalo, Bison, and Deer meats... They're a little gamey sometimes but I still like it. I figure Horse would be pretty similar since it's a pretty lean animal.
Strangely, the thought of eating a horse or cat or something would feel cannablistic to me.
Ground horse meat is pretty bland, I don't know if it's the same thing for the steaks though.
Didn't congress just pass a law against eating dog? I like cow meat, freaks out Hindus. I like pig. Freaks out Jews and Islamic folk. Japanese like whale, freaks out us.
I would put whale in a separate category. The main argument against hunting and eating whales is that many whale species are endangered or threatened. Not so much with pigs or cows.
I have always found food taboos fascinating. I don't understand why it's okay to eat a cow or a pig, but not a horse or a dog. I also don't understand why many people happily eat crawfish, oysters, and shrimp, but cringe at the thought of eating jellyfish or beatles.
For that matter, I don't understand vegetarians who wear leather shoes.
I would put whale in a separate category. The main argument against hunting and eating whales is that many whale species are endangered or threatened.
I don't know if that is still true. Actually, Japan is lobby for restarting commercial whaling, and is opposed primarily by "western nations" that would pay a high political price at home for voting to re open commercial whaling even though whale stocks have increased and stabilized.
But as you say food taboos are interesting. Many taboos probably started for practical reasons.
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Peter
After all, diamonds are a girl's best friend…
I don't know if that is still true. Actually, Japan is lobby for restarting commercial whaling, and is opposed primarily by "western nations" that would pay a high political price at home for voting to re open commercial whaling even though whale stocks have increased and stabilized.
But as you say food taboos are interesting. Many taboos probably started for practical reasons.
I guess I should re-phrase -- The main argument against hunting and eating whales is that many whale species have been endangered or threatened in the recent past. There's a good bit of debate about whether commercial whaling can be done in a sustainable way (and the politics of the International Whaling Commission are Bizantine). So at this point there are still some practical arguments against whaling, but as you said, this may be an example where we see practical restrictions on consumption morphing into cultural taboo.
I've often seen it theorized that the Hindu taboo on beef consumption arose because cattle were too valuable as work animals; that would make them somewhat analogous to horses in American culture.
I've often seen it theorized that the Hindu taboo on beef consumption arose because cattle were too valuable as work animals; that would make them somewhat analogous to horses in American culture.
Had to laugh, I had written this in my previous post but cut it out as the post was "too long". LOL Yes, I think you' may be dead on with your analogy. But I am not a social anthropologist, just a carnivore
BTW, just on this topic I was at a "yakitoriya" (kind of japannese restaurant, and what should I see on the menu - horse
Quite often, it is served thinly sliced and raw. I don't mind raw beef but raw horse is a bit too chewy.
Cheers
Peter
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Peter
After all, diamonds are a girl's best friend…
I dont know how it is over there, but down here if you eat a meat pie, you're probably getting some whinny in your diet. And not the good parts.
As for the topic, I'd say it has a lot to do with historical reasons. When people looked around at their animals they had cows that kinda stood around and gave milk, sheep that stood around and gave wool, pigs that stood around and gave...probably not much, and then you had horses that they rode. They probably formed much closer bonds with their horses, and saw them as other than livestock.
Possibly also to do with the amount of feed for a horse v's other animals, but without checking I'd have thought that a horse raised for meat would consume about the same amount as a beef cow, so that doesnt seem likely, but I could be wrong on amounts.
I would guess that back when 'taboos' were being formed, people didnt have the leeway we do to be picky about what to eat and what not to. Unless they had a strong reason not to, they probably ate it, and theres just been very little change since.
Ive heard that horse meat doesnt really taste all that good. Thats why Ive avoided it.
Ive had dog though, among other things. Felt a little bad about it, and it was meh tasting.
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Horse Meat... From Mark Sisson's Blog
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