The Ultimate Ethical Food

[Anneke]

"It's low in fat, low in food miles and completely free range. In fact, some claim that Sciurus carolinensis is about as ethical a dish as it is possible to serve on a dinner plate."

The ultimate ethical meal: a grey squirrel | Food and drink | Life and Health

[OregonYeti]

HAH! Tandoori Squirrel!

[KYHeirloomer]

Squirrels would be the second most ethical.

In first place: City pigeons, harvested by little old ladies on park benches, who lure them in with breadcrumbs, then beat them with their walkers.

[oldschool1982]

Cousin Eddies favorite But the Cholesterol


If anyone would like to choose this diet change please let me know. We have several hundred located in the red and white oaks of our backyard. These are the most destructive little creatures I've ever seen. Between the half dozen we had to evict from our attic last year to the ones that remain and are tearing up our lawn (and I thought vols and moles were bad) I'd be willing to even put the pot on the fire for the start of an old world Brunswick Stew

[OahuAmateurChef]

I'm reading a book about the social history of eating in modern America. I recall squirrel flavor being described as somewhere between lamb and chicken. Squirrel meat appears to be an unexplored avenue, but is actually nothing new. It has just been ignored by the ignorant corporate US food industry for the past hundred years.


There are no squirrels (or snakes) in Hawaii.

[Gummy-Bear]

I couldn't eat it.... they're my favorite animal.

[Anneke]

With controlled feed and floppy ears, they're just little rabbits. And them be good eats too!!

[MaryB]

Stew, fried, diced into a stirfry..... squirrel is tasty

[KYHeirloomer]

>It has just been ignored by the ignorant corporate US food industry for the past hundred years. <

Not so, Oahu. The corporate food industry has nothing to do with it.

In the United States, for the past hundred years or so, it's been virtually illegal anywhere to serve wild game in a restaurant.

There are all sorts of reasons for these laws; some of them rational, some not. But no chef is going to risk serious jail time (we're talking federal violations, now) or massive fines in order to serve something like a squirrel.

All game dishes found on restaurant menus in the U.S. are based on farm-raised animals.

Anneke, squirrels are rodents (rats that live in trees, is how Friend Wife describes them). Rabbits are not. There is no relationship between the two.

And before anyone jumps salty, I am both a southerner and a hunter. Squirrel therefore plays an important role on my table. But if we're going to discuss this seriously, then let's keep our facts straight.

[siduri]

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer

Anneke, squirrels are rodents (rats that live in trees, is how Friend Wife describes them). Rabbits are not. There is no relationship between the two.

I'm not a biologist, but i understand that rabbits are indeed rodents. They have constantly growing teeth and have to chew constantly to keep them filed down, and that, if i'm not mistaken, is the defining characteristic of rodent (from some latin word that escapes me now for chewing)

[KYHeirloomer]

I can't tell you the defining characteristics of each, Siduri, and bunnies are commonly---but erroneously---thought to be rodents.

Rabbits and hares belong to the family leporidae, whereas squirrels and other rodents belong to the family rodentia.

Thus, a common gray squirrel would be Rodentia Sciurus carolinensis, and a cottontail would be Leporidae Sylvilagus floridanus. But, other than as mammals, they are not related to each other.