Personal politics of food

Submitted by louiseds on December 4, 2007 - 6:11pm
Body: 

Whooops! I really stirred up something here. It is interesting to hear all your thoughts in the Pelvic Health Forum. I am continuing it here, as it doesn't really belong there.

I really thought I was stirring the pot, mentioning eating kangaroos, but it appears not.

Yes, we do eat kangaroo, both from the supermarket and from the bush, shot by our daughter's boyfriend. Australia is, on the whole, a very dry continent. The expansion of farming and grazing activities has produced reliable water supplies where there has never been reliable water before. Hence out beautiful, awe-inspiring outback is riddled with feral animals; donkeys, camels, goats, pigs, rabbits, some deer, cats, dogs (not dingoes) as well as the formally husbanded sheep and cattle. However, the native species that can compete with rabbits, cats and others, particularly some kangaroos and emus, are prolific in parts, and so numerous as to constitute plagues at times. Hence R shoots them without shame, as they are plentiful and their farm is near the limits of agriculture.

Many other species, however, are endangered by loss of habitat and shortage of food at times from competition from ferals, but mainly predation by feral cats and dogs.

There is something very satisfying about eating meat that you have had a role in killing, butchering and preparing, whether a domestic species or native animal. Just to see the whole process happen is to some extent to understand the whole cycle of life, as unpleasant as it is to see an innocent animal die, the blood and gore, and to have to dispose of the guts. And I think dead animals are yummy when prepared properly! ;-)

I think perhaps we shouldn't eat meat if we are not prepared to kill for it, and we shouldn't kill animals that we are not going to eat. Killing should also be humane. The only exceptions are feral animals which do not belong in the local environment, killing to put a wounded animal out of misery, and killing in self-defense. Oh yes, and unhelpful insects fit into the killable category as well!! Sorry, but I am not a part of the Save the Flies and Mosquitoes Campaign.

Yes, the law has gone mad in this respect. It is now illegal in some Shires in Western Australia to kill your own sheep and use the meat to feed anybody who does not normally live on the property. (It is all about biosecurity, they tell us, control of exotic diseases, nanny state.) This means no more farm killed lamb or beef on the Weber for parties at home, well, technically speaking anyway. I just think this is stupid when you have raised the animal from birth and know every detail of its husbandry, and have killed it and stored it properly. We humans have a bit of a history of seeing what we can get away with. It is called sport!

Enough from me. Eat more deer! I still think it is funny so near to Christmas though!

Cheers

Louise

alemama

December 4, 2007 - 7:00pm

We had a traditional thanksgiving this year and ate our deer meat fried. My dad cuts it into strips, marinates it in Jamaican Jerk sauce, dips it in flour and deep fries it- not very healthy but very yummy. My gut did not like the meat I gave it- but I sure did.

He gave us a deer ham that I put in a crock pot and made stew out of. Delicious and healthy and nutritious.

Zelda

December 5, 2007 - 11:24am

I'm so glad to read this thread... I agree and thought there were many thoughtful points.
The politics of food is a topic I get pretty upset about too. I find it more of a dividing line
than Dem. vs. Rep. in my social choices. None of my close friends are unconscious main-streams.
Or" White Breads" as my husband and I affectionately refer to Them.

Where the hell are the anti-Monopoly laws when they are needed to save the Human-race ?
7th grade government class, we learned about this concept, I remember the epiphany.

A flotilla of Geese, way Way high up are flying south down the river corridor I live on. 1000 + ?
Far out - wish you All could see this... I can even hear them when I shut off Pandora.com WOWee.

I feel a political obligation to shop consciously in So many ways, and not just for food. I think
often about what obscene consumption is glorified in our country, and how I would love to live
in an intentional green community. Instead I live in a town with a community of like minded
people ( We have a rockin' Farmers market !) I think Wal-Mart is virtually evil. I am a second - hand
shopping Genius ! and if I have to buy new I'm always looking for the smallest business to provide. It means
trading in my instant gratification, for a clearer conscience and shopkeepers who know me. Rich rewards
in my value system. Wish we had more power - Us clear thinkers.

Yes- I too think everyone should be required to take a life and then honor the gift of it's life
by (gasp !) eating it with gratitude. I have yet to cross this thresh-hold although I have killed one
animal, a city squirrel with the car. Looking in my rear-view mirror and seeing it's death throes
made me cry big hiccuping heart-broken sobs. I'm a nut - No ? Maybe I'd have felt better if i'd eaten it ?
But I have been threatening to do this thing. So there. Does killing carrots count ?

The loss of gardening - Or at least anything close to what I used to do is a grief I'm sure will hit me
harder this spring. Right now it's starting with the arrival of seed catalogs. I'm a huge fan of Heirloom
nurseries. All the amazing varieties of fruit (apples in particular) and vegies that we have forever lost, merely
because they didn't ship well. THOSE are painful extinctions in my mind.

A favorite deer recipe ? Well anything you would do to beef I guess you can do with deer. The caveat is
it cooks quicker, in other words there isn't the fat to keep it "moist" when cooking so you want to braise
it and aim for rare to med. rare results. I know many people that eat deer and elk and I see categories...
1. The folks that secretly think it's poor folk fare, and season the hell out of it to disguise it, like you would
if you had to eat a rat.
2. The folks that think the noble elk is somehow superior to (vermin)deer with an odd snobbery.
3. The folks that will try anything.

I HAVE eaten caribou. But NEVER ever a reindeer.... We have Pronghorn almost every year. One year he got
a mountain goat, my favorite, as it was tough BUT cooked slowly it's SO savory it makes divine gravy. As far as
protein consumption goes- I eat like a queen !

We have been to Zimbabwe and I ate impala, Kudu and warthog. And Biltong, their version of jerky would quite
possibly be my deathrow/last meal choice. With maybe a jar of Nutella and GOOD french breadfor desert.
Not that I'm planning...It's just that pretty soon Everything fun will be illegal, me and the uni-bomber spoke at length
about this.

So here's a recipe that I thought y'All might find interesting. In fact you could use just about any animal you can find....

Meat Dumplings
4 ounces (125g) cooked meat
1 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted
2 Tablespoons (15g) white breadcrumbs
1 large egg yolk

Put the meat in a food processor and chop until it forms a FINE crumb. Place into a bowl
and add melted butter. Stir thoroughly, then work in the bread crumbs. Add the egg yolk
and mix until a stiff paste forms. Using your lovely hands break into 14 even pieces and roll
into balls slightly squished- they stay together better when cooking ,oddly enough. Let
stand for 30 min. before cooking.

Bring a pot of salted water to a hard boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Add the dumplings
and let them cook 10 min. or until they float, as soon as they float, they are ready to serve.

Do not substitute on ANYthing and using only white bread crumbs, and follow amounts exactly or they
fall apart. Trust me , I'm the original recipe tweaker. This is an old Pennsylvania Dutch (hence olde German
or Hessian) recipe and it's alchemy. They are delicious using heart. I used to use chicken hearts and make
them for this old man I knew who had a bad heart and believed eating heart was the ticket...he's dead now
but he sure loved 'em.

Oh and to any of you who know about my mortgage crisis. My dear mother-in-law has sent enough
to delay the wolves a while longer. Hallelujah. I have been so heavy and exhausted with anxiety.
Hope your POP's are all ridin' high ! Mine is behaving at present. Just wish I could figure out whywhywhywhy
it varies, but therein lays our hope.
Hugs,
Zelda