Meat we can eat?

Our class wants to know if all animals are meat we can eat?

A.G. & K.J.

Comments

[AKMA]

Some animals have flesh that isn't good for people not even for meat-eating people.

[Joi Ito]

Do you have any examples AKMA?

[Anne]

What isn't good to eat often depends on your culture - and different cultures around the world eat different kinds of animals.

For example, in Canada and America some people have cats and guinea pigs as pets - but in some parts of the world these animals are eaten as food. In other cultures, cows are sacred and are never eaten.

[AKMA]

Ummm. . . Fugu?

[Kevin Marks]

Joi: Fugu

[David Weinberger]

Humans are animals, aren't we?

[Joi Ito]

OK There are some organs in some animals that are poisonous to human beings, but I frequently eat the "flesh" of Fugu. I guess it depends on your definition of flesh.

David, have your ever bitten your nails and accidentally eaten some of your nails? ;-)

[Joi Ito]

By the way, fugu is a Japanese puffer fish that has a very poisonous organ that can kill you if you eat it. Cooks in Japan need a special license to prepare fugu. The meat is eaten raw, fried, grilled or in a stew. It's really very tasty. Some silly people insist on eating the liver which is much more easily contaminated with the poison. Some people also try to get just a little bit of poison in the stew to get a tingling taste. This is very dangerous. It is illegal in Japan and every once in awhile someone dies from eating illegally prepared fugu.

[Trevor Bechtel]

I found some pictures of fugu here http://www.kidzworld.com/site/p745.htm

[Chad Fowler]

Cynthia says some interesting (and correct) things here, but the truth is that people *do* eat swine and catfish. There were once reasons to avoid them, but a lot of people eat them now.

Most people who don't eat them are avoiding them because their religion says not to eat them--not because they're unsafe to eat.

[ethan]

Yes there are meats you shouldn't eat. I wouldn't recommends eating raw or uncooked meat. Along with that I wouldn't eat old or rotten meat. You also don't want to eat animals with cute faces. That is just a no no.

[Ted]

Although there are many animals that humans choose not to eat, when it comes down to it, almost all animals are at least partially edible. Since what we usually think of as "meat" is muscle tissue, many smaller animals don't have enough muscle on them to make them an adequate meal, so we don't bother eating them. However, if you were starving, you could get sustenance from almost any creature. Cooking meats is also a good idea as you can get sick from uncooked meat, and cooked meat usually tastes better than raw meat.

[Alex]

Almost every animal can be cooked in a way to make it safe to eat - they're all /edible/. But whether they're /eatable/ is something else.

People all over the world have different ideas about what's gross to eat and what tastes good. In America, we think eating worms is gross. But where I used to live in Papua New Guinea, people loved to eat some kinds of worms.

There are all sorts of rules about what you have to eat and how you have to cook it in order to stay healthy. But what we think is gross and what isn't doesn't have to do with those rules. It has to do with what we grow up eating and what we're used to. If someone told you worms were really really good for you, would you eat them? If someone told you pizza was really really bad for you, would it suddenly start tasting bad to you?

If there are people in your class from different countries or different cultures, you should ask them what they like to eat - you may be surprised!

[Chris]

There are many fine dishes made from uncooked meat - steak tartare in France, carpaccio from Italy, and several Ethiopian dishes. It has to be prepared more carefully than cooked meat.

Can all meat be eaten? Well, maybe, but many do not taste good to the human palate.

[Simon Phipps]

Seems eating slugs may not be healthy - see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3204299.stm for details. In general, some creatures host viruses, bacteria and parasites that are harmful to humans and need avoiding.

[Tripp]

Hello!

I eat most meat that's considered "normal" American fare plus a few that are not.

All sushi is yummy. Fugu may be a stretch.

Veal, ox, snake, alligator are odd but yummy.

How do you guys suggest preparing strange meats? Drown them in ketchup? Do you like mustard on your meats?

[Lois]

I agree with Chris (10/22) that animals are not here for us to eat. All animals have parents, they all need food, shelter, sunlight, comfort, and just like humans ... all animals need love.

If you look into the eyes of an animal that you know (a cat, a dog), you will see their spirit. Every animal has a spirit, whether human or nonhuman ... and they are not alive just so humans can kill them and use them.

The good news is there are so many different choices we can make now. We can eat a plant-based diet (not animals), and we can wear synthetic clothing (not wool, down, fur, or leather). We can even go to circuses without animals, such as those with such talented acrobats - like Cirque du Soleil. We can live in harmony with animals, and not use them for anything except to give them our love.

[Lois]

Oops, it was Sharon's comment I agree with, that animals are not here for us to eat (10/22) ... sorry, I thought that was from Chris!

Lois
.....

[Kelly]

Would you like someone to eat you? :(

We're animals too...and I'd be pretty sad if someone decided to eat someone I loved for dinner.

The chicken nuggets at mcdonalds (or any other meat) start out as a living, breathing animal, with families! They are raised in really bad conditions, then killed to become food. Which really just isn't necessary since our bodies are much healthier when we eat a plant-based diet! (veggies, fruits, grains, legumes!)

Http://shedonteatmeat.com

[Mary]

It is possible to eat lots of things that aren't really food. When I was a kid, I had a classmate who ate green crayons (only the green ones!). All animals live and think, much like people do. Just because we bring them into our lives doesn't mean they don't think and want things for themselves, nor that they don't hurt. That is why I don't believe any animals are food. It is possible to eat them, but as I said before, it is possible to eat a lot of things that aren't food.

[Rosemary]

Everyone has different ideas about what is food, what should be food.

Some things I consider:

Was anyone hurt making this food? (for example, animals killed for meat)

Will eating this food harm me? (food poisoning, heart disease, cancer, many other diseases are caused by eating the wrong kinds of food, or too much of certain foods)

Does it taste good? (if it tastes bad, I won't eat it, even if it is supposed to be good for me)

[Al]

Have any of you read 'The Hungry Soul: Eating and the Perfection of Our Nature' by Leon Kass? It is very thought-provoking on this issue.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0226425681/theologia/

[Robin]

See, you can never really get a room full of adults to agree about anything.

In the end, there are just a lot of things in the world that we don't understand very well, and nutrition is one of them. (Morality is another, I suppose.)

[Paul]

"there are just a lot of things in the world that we don't understand very well, and nutrition is one of them"

While the average man on the street may hold some odd ideas, I think that an expert on nutrition would understand at least the basics of nutrition well enough to explain it to children in elementary school.