With horsemeat scandals in England, where horse DNA was found in processed meats, in Ireland, where a food company's Bolognese was found to contain five percent horse, and in Greece, where chicken nuggets were found to contain horsemeat this past Tuesday, horsemeat is quite a contentious topic. I understand wanting to know what you are eating; in fact, I highly recommend being aware of what you consume. However, if we are "Big on the Pig," cow?craving, pork?guzzling, red?meat?eating Americans, why hate on horse? I've been thinking about this since the England and Ireland scandals broke back in January and from my research, horse does not seem so bad. So from this point on, I pledge that every land mammal I eat will be horse. Actually, let me correct that statement. I will only eat horse until horse is mass?produced the way some of our other meat products are, but until then, horsemeat or no meat. Now, let me tell you why.
Think about the way horses are raised. Most horses in the United States are treated and fed well. People spend a lot of money to own a horse, so they keep their horse healthy. If we were raising horses only for consumption, we would be pumping as much grain into them as possible, making the environmental footprint of cattle and horses comparable. Note here that we are not raising our horses for consumption, so the environmental footprint is not comparable.
Now, think about the way cows are raised. They sit and eat in their pastures. That is what we have encouraged our cows to do: get nice and fat so that we can have enough meat to supply the demand. These animals lead two very different lifestyles. One consumes and the other trots around, tamping down the earth. For now, this means that horsemeat is leaner, so eating horse is better health?wise than cow. Also, isn't it nice to think that your dinner has lived a good, full life? Horses can spend time galloping, jumping over poles and having humans ride atop them. Show me a cow that can gallop, jump and be ridden and I will compromise and eat some cow.
Now it is time for the serious science. According to the University of Massachusetts's Center for Agriculture, horses' digestive processes produce far less methane than do the digestive processes of cattle and sheep. Since methane is 20 times more potent than carbon as a greenhouse gas, keeping it out of the atmosphere is ideal. From an environmental standpoint, horse looks pretty good. Perhaps this Easter weekend any Jumbos heading home to celebrate can convince their family to replace the traditional lamb with some filet de cheval.
The fun doesn't stop there though, horse is not only better for the environment, but also better for human health. According to articles from Science KQED, the Huffington Post and the New York Times, horsemeat is leaner and contains a good amount of protein and iron. So why do the individuals quoted in these articles often eat their words, stating sentences later that they would never eat horsemeat? This is a question I'm still not able to answer. Some blogs say it is because horses are social creatures, others say that horsemeat contains dangerous additives, but then again, so does most of the food we consume.
My final point is that we should let nothing go to waste. Is it not our duty as sustainable citizens to eat the horsemeat that does not end up in the alleged glue factory or pudding mix? I say this half in jest, but also want my meaning to stand firm. What is the big deal? I say let them eat horse.
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