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Kangaroo: It's What's for Dinner
In a
report released yesterday, Greenpeace suggests
dining on kangaroo, a far more environmentally-friendly red
meat than beef.
Report author Dr Mark Diesendorf said reducing beef consumption by 20 per cent and putting Skippy on the dinner plate instead would cut 15 megatonnes of greenhouses gases from the atmosphere by 2020.
"Kangaroos do not emit greenhouse gases. They are not hooved animals either so they don't damage the soil,'' Dr Diesendorf said.
Obviously, I'm on the meat/methane beat these days. But I, for one, support Dr. Diesendorf. Kangaroo is delicious. For those squeamish about eating roo, there was a movement to start calling the meat "australus" after Food Companion International magazine held a contest to give it a culinary name (think "beef" for cow and "pork" for pig). If it catches on, that should help.
So what's the problem (other than wimpy eaters)? It seems that kangaroo meat is tightly controlled in Australia:
The Greenpeace report has renewed calls for Victoria to lift a ban on harvesting roos for food.
Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia spokesman John Kelly said roos invading farmers' crops were already being illegally shot.
"They are being culled and left to rot," Mr Kelly said.
For more, check out my upcoming article in Doublethink about my quest to eat as many beasts as possible. It includes a recipe for kangaroo in fig sauce that was one of the best meals I've ever cooked. Of course, I still haven't had springbok.
|10.11.07 @ 11:35AM|#
...Food Companion International magazine held a contest to
give it a culinary name (think "beef" for cow and "pork" for
pig).
Would it help? The culinary names for most meats are just
corruptions of the French words for the animals. "Boeuf" means cow,
and "porc" means pig. As well, mutton="mouton"=sheep.
The French for kangaroo, however, is just "kangourou." So...
|10.11.07 @ 11:39AM|#
Haven't tried it yet. Sounds like good eating. we've got a llama and emu farm down the road here. I'd be cool to see roos hopping around that place.
|10.11.07 @ 11:41AM|#
Fluffy
I probably shouldn't, but no, kangaroos are not ruminants so they
don't produce the copious amounts of methane that cattle (and other
ruminants do).
And to reiterate what I said in the other thread, the problem is
not cow farts, it is cow burps. But, hey, that would get in the way
of juvenile humor (or someone's ideological whipping boy) wouldn't
it?
Episiarch|10.11.07 @ 11:46AM|#
I too share the desire to eat as many different kinds of animal as possible. I have not had the opportunity to have kangaroo. I have eaten bear, though, and that rocks.
Bhamba|10.11.07 @ 11:48AM|#
apparently kangaroos don't respire either, since CO2 and H2O
were greenhouse gases last I checked.
The medical world should investigate this miracle.
|10.11.07 @ 11:53AM|#
"For more, check out my upcoming article in Doublethink about my
quest to eat as many beasts as possible."
It's nice to know Mangu-Ward has set such lofty goals for
herself.
MW has great fun poking at those strange oddballs that believe in
something strongly and talking about it a lot (ethical eaters of
various stripes) while writing for a magazine that caters to a
group that most people who do not belong to it also see as strange
extremist speech-giving oddballs.
|10.11.07 @ 11:55AM|#
Before responses come in, I should of course mention that I myself don't see the libertarian movement as exclusively made up of pseudo-fanatical nutjobs. In fact I think there is a respectable (though at times wrong) philosophy underlying it and that it's admirable that its adherents believe in something so strongly. Of course, I feel the same way about vegans, vegetarians, etc..
|10.11.07 @ 11:57AM|#
When settlers first landed on Australia and saw the kangaroo
they tried to ask the natives about it. In the native language,
'kan ga roo' means 'I Don't understand you'
I read that somewhere. It could be bullshit
|10.11.07 @ 11:58AM|#
I've been thinking for a long time that we could do a great deal
to help the environment just by letting grocery stores package and
sell venison brought to them by hunters.
Zero pollution and carbon emitted as they are raised.
Zero antibiotics introduced into the ecosystem, or breeding
resistant bacteria.
Reduction of what has become an overpopulated species, due to
human-induced eliminiation of their predators and provision of
their preferred habitat (deer love suburbs).
|10.11.07 @ 11:59AM|#
"So, Mr. Nice Guy, I take it you're a vegetarian? BOO
HISS"
I'm not, but I respect people who think about the morals of their
everday actions and try to act upon it, and I actually think it is
very likely ehtically correct to give up meat as much as one can.
I'm just too morally weak to do it every meal.
Boo hiss? To vegetarians? One may agree or not with it, but boo
hiss? These are your villians? Grow up.
suffering|10.11.07 @ 12:00PM|#
Let's make more animals suffer for our pleasure in the name of "being green". give me a break. this planet is fucking doomed.
Episiarch|10.11.07 @ 12:04PM|#
joe has a good point, but then we would get into the buffalo
situation because the deer are not privately owned. The state would
still have bag limits, which would help, but I think poaching would
occur because of the profit motive. Still, deer are super-plentiful
and would be a great source of meat.
Plus, I love venison and being able to buy some in the store
whenever I feel like it rather than waiting out in the cold to
drill one during a three-week window would be sweet.
|10.11.07 @ 12:06PM|#
Joe- I think you've got a good idea there. BTW-Around here,
there are specialty butcher shops that sell venison from deer that
hunters have killed. These same shops allow hunters to donate a
percentage of the meat harvested from their kills.
What sort of climate do roos need to thrive? Is kanragooculture
possible in the U.S.?
Of course, if we just ate surplus humans, we could do a lot for the
environment.
Episiarch|10.11.07 @ 12:07PM|#
Boo hiss? To vegetarians? One may agree or not with it, but
boo hiss? These are your villians? Grow up.
Jesus H. Christ on a popsicle stick, lighten up. It was a joke. I
guess your sense of humor is as weak as your moral ability to say
no to meat.
|10.11.07 @ 12:11PM|#
Jesus H. Christ on a popsicle stick, lighten up. It was a
joke.I guess your sense of humor is as weak as your moral ability
to say no to meat.
ZING!
|10.11.07 @ 12:11PM|#
Episiarch,
It's the deer's hardiness in the new landscape we've created that
makes them seem like a good subject. Unlike Buffalo, their numbers
are growing in contemporary America.
suffering,
Wild animals culled once they're well into adulthood, as a
replacement for factory-farm-raised beef, would represent a massive
reduction in the amount of suffering involved in providing the same
amount of food.
thoreau|10.11.07 @ 12:14PM|#
I've been harsh on KMW in the past, but she has good food
blogging.
And she introduced us to lobster girl.
I repent of my criticisms.
Christ on a Cracker|10.11.07 @ 12:17PM|#
"... They are not hooved animals either so they don't damage
the soil,'' Dr Diesendorf said
Where did that come from? I guess the hooves are just another
reason we are supposed to feel guilty.
ed|10.11.07 @ 12:18PM|#
letting grocery stores package and sell venison brought to
them by hunters
They do that in Africa. It's called bush meat. I think AIDS started
that way.
Why does joe hate us?
|10.11.07 @ 12:19PM|#
"Kangaroos do not emit greenhouse gases. They are not hooved
animals either so they don't damage the soil,'' Dr Diesendorf
said.
Kangaroos might produce less methane, carbon dioxide, and water
vapor than cows do, but they do produce some as Fluffy and Bhamba
pointed out. When a researcher confuses "less" with "zero", I
become skeptical.
Ryo|10.11.07 @ 12:20PM|#
I'm no climate scientist but I had the perception that animals
add to global warming is wrong. Generally, plants sequester CO2 in
order to grow/live. Animals eat those plants, digest them and
release CO2 back. Net effect on the environment: zero.
Certain ranching techniques might be net CO2 contributers, and I
gather cattle ranching is more energy intensive than kangaroo
ranching. In that respect, it probably would be better for the
environment. Still, the idea that kangaroos would be better because
they emit less gas is, well, bull.
Also, I liked this bit from the article:
They are shot with high-powered guns between the eyes at
night.
Why the addition of "at night"? Is it more humane because the
kangaroos would be sleepy?
Jesse Walker|10.11.07 @ 12:23PM|#
Kangaroo is tasty, but steak and lamb chops are tastier. Still, let's deregulate Skippy-harvesting; I'm happy to let the market decide.
|10.11.07 @ 12:24PM|#
Wild animals culled once they're well into adulthood, as a
replacement for factory-farm-raised beef, would represent a massive
reduction in the amount of suffering involved in providing the same
amount of food.
I only have venison like once a year, but that's a point that I've
tried to stress when people ask if I feel bad for the deer. I tell
them that the deer had a much "happier" life and more humane death
than their steak did.
Episiarch|10.11.07 @ 12:28PM|#
However, joe, your idea would face stiff resistance from Big Gardening. Think of how much money they make from people buying new plants to replace the ones the deer eat.
ed|10.11.07 @ 12:35PM|#
What about iguanas? They're becoming a big problem here in South Florida. A dog-sized one walked right past me the other day with very little regard and took a human-sized dump on our pool deck. I threatened him and he shrugged impudently. If they taste like chicken I say we eat 'em all.
Episiarch|10.11.07 @ 12:39PM|#
and took a human-sized dump on our pool deck
Dude, that was me. Sorry.
"I'm not the same Jerri Blank who informed on those blind orphans.
I'm not the same Jerri Blank who revealed the hiding place of those
Guatemalans... such as yourself. And I'm not the same Jerri Blank
who took a crap in the Fleishmann's holly bushes... last
night."
|10.11.07 @ 12:43PM|#
It Takes Two Hands To Handle The Hopper®
I swear I once read something about a 'roo burger that was really
called that, but it might have been a joke.
|10.11.07 @ 12:54PM|#
jtuf
Ruminants produce methane because of the way they digest their
food. Other animals do not.
|10.11.07 @ 12:54PM|#
Kangaroo is mad tasty. Marinate it and put it on Kebabs for an alliterative treat.
|10.11.07 @ 12:56PM|#
For more, check out my upcoming article in Doublethink about my quest to eat as many beasts as possible.
Yay! I'm not the only one! "Never pass up a chance to eat a new
type of animal" has been one of my rules to live by for some years
now. If you're ever in Oregon some September, KMW, don't miss the
Imnaha Bear and Rattlesnake Feed (assuming you haven't already
crossed those two off your list).
|10.11.07 @ 1:02PM|#
Unlike Buffalo, their numbers are growing in contemporary America.
Au contraire! In Eastern Oregon (where I grew up), they've been
ranching buffalo for some time now; as a result, the number of
buffalo in the U.S. has been rapidly increasing.
And you just haven't lived until you've eaten a buffalo burger. My
salivary glands are kicking in just thinking about it.
|10.11.07 @ 1:06PM|#
joe @ 11:58
Travel to Michigan in about another month. You'll be able to find
all the Venison you want (I'm not sure about the price, let's just
say it's less than beef) for sale at any country gas station.
|10.11.07 @ 1:07PM|#
Whatever happened to "Emu - The Cattle of the Future"?
They're still being ranched, and it's relatively easy (though still
takes a bit of footwork) to find 'em on menus around here. Are
folks not in the West unable to find emu meat?
It's absolutely delicious, by the way. Goddammit, when's lunch?
|10.11.07 @ 1:14PM|#
Would it help? The culinary names for most meats are just
corruptions of the French words for the animals. "Boeuf" means cow,
and "porc" means pig.
Someone from Ottawa should damn well know that boeuf is
beef and vache is cow, porc is pork and
cochon is pig.
|10.11.07 @ 1:15PM|#
ed,
Iguana is fairly disgusting. And I eat most anything. Rank and
rotted tasting. If you want to get into reptiles, alligator is the
way to go.
|10.11.07 @ 1:15PM|#
Episiarch and joe -
Why not just allow deer to be ranched, like those Oregon buffalo?
All we'd have to do is get rid of that stupid law defining them as
"game animals" and banning private ownership. Let the ranchers
figure out how to best care for them and increase their
numbers.
That idea could work for other "game animals" (like elk) as well...
though I don't think I'd want to try being the first bear
rancher.
And once the veterinarians are all caught up with deer
vaccinations, that family in
Molalla can raise their deer. It's a win-win!
|10.11.07 @ 1:18PM|#
Not that I am against eating Kangaroo but this smacks of "cure
worse than disease".
Biologists, please correct me if I am wrong but cow and Buffalo are
both ruminants, meaning they a)have multiple stomachs and b)re-chew
their food after partial digestion. What this means is they can
extract far more total nutrient content from the grasses they feed
on than any other form of food animal. In order to "farm" enough
kangaroos to replace any measurable amount of beef would require a
rather large land tract and I just don't see how any ruminant based
industry would be able to transition.
That having been said, being that Australia doesn't exactly have a
booming cattle industry but possesses loads of natural kangaroo
habitat, I say free range kangaroo should be a natural in that part
of the world, I just don't see it replacing hoofed methane
producers on the worldwide menu anytime soon.
|10.11.07 @ 1:25PM|#
Kwix,
Good points, except that Australia does, in fact, have a booming
cattle industry.
I'm not sure exactly where it stands, but it's way up in the ranks
of beef exporters.
Their beef does not have much appeal with Americans though, since
it is grass-fed.
|10.11.07 @ 1:31PM|#
Jake,
True enough, but I was talking about surviving in the wild.
As for the recommendations about finding venison - it's great that
the country stores in Bumblefuck county have it available, but
that's not really going to make a perceptable difference in
meat-raising patterns. It needs to be ground and in steaks in the
Stop and Shop in South Boston for that.
|10.11.07 @ 1:35PM|#
Jake Boone,
That's interesting, but it sort of defeats the purpose. If deer are
being raised like cattle, then the benefits to the environment (for
example, letting them browse and fee themselves instead of bringing
in feed becasue they're penned instead of them ) are lost.
|10.11.07 @ 1:38PM|#
Farm raised deer is probably feasable. I know that reindeer is just a domesticated cariboo.
|10.11.07 @ 1:39PM|#
There is also a problem with Chronic Wasting Disease in penned deer. It is also present in some wild populations but is mostly a problem where population densities are excessive.
Chuck|10.11.07 @ 1:40PM|#
ed--
Iguanas prefer to poop in water, so I'm surprised he didn't get
into your pool to do his business (that's why I don't let
ours into the lanai). Consider yourself lucky.
I doubt iguana meat is very tasty--they have virtually zero fat, so
I would think it would be pretty tough and stringy. They are
standard fare in parts of central america, though, so maybe your
local Guatemalan can give you some cooking tips.
|10.11.07 @ 1:41PM|#
I'd break my (formerly-principled) vegetarianism to eat a
kangaroo, but only if it looked as cute as the one in the photo
above. And if I could make it like me before I killed it.
Yeah, I'm not a very nice vegetarian. (Not nice to animals,
anyway.)
Allen|10.11.07 @ 1:46PM|#
Kwix --> You answered the question I had, what advantages are
their to cows stomachs and the type of crops they consume. I was
guessing they emit those gases for a reason. And whenever a green
group is focused on saying "X emits less gases than A" I'm very
leary of it. I suspect they're not looking at the whole picture
like how much meat is produced for that gas.
I also thought there were issues with trying to farm kangaroos. Are
there any domesticated versions?
Allen|10.11.07 @ 1:48PM|#
J. Boone --> There are a limited number of Elk farms. Elk, like any wild animal, present a lot of issues when trying to use them domestically versus being able to run around like they're pre-programmed to do.
|10.11.07 @ 1:49PM|#
Not only do they not emit greenhouse gases, they do their best to stop others from doing so, too.
Geoff Nathan|10.11.07 @ 1:54PM|#
Oh well, I guess it's time for (one of) the linguist(s) on the
list to chime in and bore all of you.
The English words pork, beef, veal, mutton are borrowed
from Norman French, the French spoken by William the Conqueror when
he and his gang invaded England in 1066. The existing Anglo-Saxon
words pig, cow/bull, calf, sheep stuck around, but, since
speaking French was hoity toity and Middle English was low class,
the fancy Old French words stuck for the names of food, and the
Anglo-Saxon words specialized to mean just the animal.
And there are, of course, exceptions--chicken refers both
to the critter and the food. We use the Old French word
too--pullet, but it's got a very specialized meaning.
Other edible animals just get one name: goat, duck, goose,
kangaroo... Even if the Normans ate them. (there were probably not
many kangaroos at Hastings...)
Geoff
bill|10.11.07 @ 1:57PM|#
I love how roos got their name. When Europeans got to Australia they saw these funny animals and asked the aborigines what they were called. The natives responded "Kan ghu ru", which means "I don't understand you". Priceless.
VM|10.11.07 @ 1:59PM|#
Geoff - what about mutton = lamb/sheep (sheap? ha ha) (AUS, NZ,
SA, etc); = goat (JAM, IND, etc)
cheers
ed|10.11.07 @ 2:02PM|#
Iguanas prefer to poop in water
Well, this one cozied up to the edge and left it about 3" from the
water, looking at me all the while with his smart-ass iguana
grin.
|10.11.07 @ 2:30PM|#
I recommend this site to a lot of friends, but now I'm shivering in fear that they will come here and find a in-depth discussion of iguana shit.
Cartman\'s Mom|10.11.07 @ 2:38PM|#
So, I'd like the $100 up front to star in the Iguana Scheisse video. Will they be wearing leather?
Geoff Nathan|10.11.07 @ 3:49PM|#
Don't know why the antipodean colonists use 'mutton' for
goats--the etymology is clearly from the OF word for 'ram raised
for slaughter' Note that the word has a specialized meaning in OF
which it lost in Modern French. This is quite common in language
change--the word dog meant a species of hound in Old
English--the OE generic word was hund, the origin of
modern 'hound', and the terms have almost switched places.
The story about kangaroo meaning 'I don't know' may be
apocryphal--apparently there's no Aboriginal language left in which
the word actually occurs in any meaning. Of course, many Aboriginal
languages are extinct without record, so we're stuck...
|10.11.07 @ 3:58PM|#
I've just checked my French dictionary. In modern French,
"boeuf" can mean steer as well as ox. "Porc" still means pig or
hog.
Another one: veal comes from "veau" (calf).
M|10.11.07 @ 4:12PM|#
something about a 'roo burger that was really called that
Served in a pocket-pita?
|10.11.07 @ 5:14PM|#
Why the addition of "at night"? Is it more humane because the kangaroos would be sleepy?
Unlike the US night hunting is legal in Australia (or at least in
some states). Shooting kangaroos after locating them with a
spotlight is quite popular. I believe if you tried that hunting
deer in any US state you would find yourself in serious
trouble.
Since so many animals are nocturnal hunting with a spotlight at
night is remarkably effective.
Chuck|10.11.07 @ 6:26PM|#
I recommend this site to a lot of friends, but now I'm
shivering in fear that they will come here and find a in-depth
discussion of iguana shit.
The uniqueness of the conversations is what makes this board my
favorite, even if I don't get to post often. I learn something
every day. For example, today I learned that kangaroos don't fart
(much). You never know when that little tidbit might come in
handy.
Oh yeah, we have had our pet iguana for about 11 or 12 years now,
so if you need to know more about iguana shit, just ask. (No, I
don't have any iguana scheiss videos)
|10.11.07 @ 6:52PM|#
"So what's the problem (other than wimpy
eaters)?"
Call me a wimp all you like but eating a kangaroo is like eating
Bambi's mom.
VM|10.11.07 @ 7:27PM|#
Ooh. Right, Chuck. I get it.
Can I buy one of your home videos that just happen to have the pet
iguana in it? $10...
$15
Chuck... CHUCK!!!!!
[runs off after Chuck]
CHUCKY!!! May I call you Chucky?? $20. Final offer...
|10.11.07 @ 8:56PM|#
Ken Shultz | October 11, 2007, 6:52pm | #
"So what's the problem (other than wimpy eaters)?"
Call me a wimp all you like but eating a kangaroo is like eating Bambi's mom.
Tasty but tough??
|10.11.07 @ 8:57PM|#
Issac,
Thank you, I stand corrected on the state of the Aussie cattle
industry. Me personally, I prefer grass fed beef as it tastes,
well, more beefy to me.
|10.11.07 @ 9:38PM|#
Call me a wimp all you like but eating a kangaroo is like eating Bambi's mom.
Ken, while it is hard to get hunters to shoot anything that does
not have a "trophy rack", more modern game management has dictated
that many more does need to be culled in the annual harvest. Those
who actually like the taste of venison have found that the meat
from does is more tender than that of bucks.
Look, I'll admit it is tough to shoot "Bambi's Mom" (I did it
myself, in spite of having doe permits available) but the fact is
that by the beginning of hunting season the yearlings that are
still hanging around with their mothers are perfectly capable of
functioning without them.
This combination of "trophy envy" and "Bambi's Mom sentimentality"
are serious enemies to rational game management practices
today.
In Australia roos (my brother is a grazier and a professor of
agriculture there) are a pest. They can't, for the most part, kill
them fast enough.
|10.11.07 @ 9:49PM|#
Kwix
My father (a pre-WWII career naval officer) was the Supply Officer
on a heavy cruiser in the South-West Pacific 1943-4. In that
capacity he took delivery of several pounds (maybe tons) of
Australian beef for the "cruise". The cooks did nothing but
complain about having to butcher it and the sailors complained
about how it was "nothing like the beef back home".
But of course once they were under fire the complaints stopped. Or,
at least, the cooks and the gunners had other things to complain
about besides the color of the fat in beefsteaks.
Chuck|10.12.07 @ 7:03AM|#
OK, VM, $20 it is. Plus shipping and handling. But only my mother calls me Chucky.
Fatty|10.12.07 @ 4:52PM|#
Try Zot in Philly for awesome kangaroo steak, amazing sauces, and great Belgian beers. The kanga steak I had there was literally one of the top five steaks I've had in my life, of all animal varieties. Roo is tasty.
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