Hmmm. Interesting thread.

I doubt that militant vegetarians will succeed in banning our meat
consumption by law. And, yes, I WOULD like to be able to eat various
unusual kinds of food. In fact, I think there's a sort of tyranny about
the lack of choices on most restaurant menus and in most supermarkets.

There's beef, chicken, pork and turkey--and less commonly, lamb (I
crave it and shed crocodile tears over the poor lamb), Cornish hens,
and what else??? There are some occasional choices I've seen such as
buffalo or ostrich burgers and frozen pre-seasoned quail. The tyranny
goes further: it mandates at times that the only kind of chicken
available is white meat. I much prefer dark meat (supposed to be more
nutritious too).

Here's why meat may be restricted or unavailable in the future: it's
extremely uneconomical to produce beef and to transport it. There are
all kinds of subsidies to the grain producers; you need enormous,
uncultivated tracts of land for pasture; then there's the process of
getting the raw meat processed and eventually shipped to market. There
are more economical ways to get protein AND people don't need as much
of it as Americans typically consume. Hidden from knowledge of most
Americans is the devastating effects of industrial scale agriculture on

Third World farmers, who are driven from their lands, which are used
for raising cattle, winter strawberries or cut flowers for the markets
in the US and Europe. Guess where the displaced farming families end
up?

Now, why can't I find venison in my local supermarket? I'm in the
middle of deer-huntin' North Carolina and there's still too many deer
darting out in traffic and eating the local shrubbery. I'd love to try
venison but I haven't had the opportunity. Why not?

On to sea creatures and sea food. I agree that it's ridiculous to ban
live shell collecting by individuals. Except for the shells in nature
preserves -- there would be little to look at unless you get there
first in the season. But surely there's lot more range of edible
protein from our gastropod friends; it just needs to be prepared
differently (or it could last longer than the toughest chewing gum). I
love clams and oysters but I've been increasingly parsimonious with my
intake because of their status as filter feeders: I think it's
RussianRoulette to eat them.

I heard a remark on NPR's Science Friday by a marine biologist. She was
asked whether there are any fish that are OK to eat without damaging
effects to their population. She said, "Think wild animals." She
explained that most or all of our other food supply is maintained
through organized cultivation and production; this has been true since
humans changed from being hunter/gatherers. Yet most of fishing
industry is done by going after wild creatures on the deep seas and
plundering everything in sight, trashing whatever is considered
unmarketable and seizing the rest without consideration for
re-population. This is not sustainable and has resulted in many fish
species being virtually wiped out (but not extinct?).

Has anyone tried raising escargot (or other) snails in any quantity?

David Kirsh

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