TNR: Addressing the horsemeat 'scandal' and cultural divides
 

Rather fascinating piece in The New Republic offering a brief history of and levels of acceptance of horsemeat around the world. Makes many salient points that go beyond the horse-as-meat issue..

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/1...kea-delicious#

And so we came to eat not cow, but beef (boeuf), not pig, but pork (porc), not lamb, but mutton (mouton), not calf, but veal (veau). It is a pretension and a prudishness that we have internalized and unconsciously propagate to this day.

For some reason, non-vegetarian Americans can live with this nonsensical ethical code. Cows, chickens, pigs—we feast on their flesh without wincing or imagining them marching into the slaughterhouse, their lives racing before their big, dumb eyes. But tell them that there may be some horse in their dead cow patty, and you get theatrical retching and indignation.

Been saying this for ever.

Maybe because we don't breed and raise cattle, pigs or chickens to be companions, to learn to trust us, we breed them for their gaits, their athletic ability, their looks and style, it is the ultimate betrayal. I have nothing but disdain for any owner that chooses this method to dispose of their horse, I am FAR from wealthy, I work 15 hours a day to support my horses, and not one will go down this road, they will be euthanized the same way a beloved dog or cat is, I truly wish bad Karma on those that do this to their horses, if this is the way they see their horses than they need to find another hobby, one that doesn't involve animals that come to love and trust you, it's completely barbaric.

i've said all along, we have as much right to question people eating horses as people in india have to question us eating beef. cultures are different in different areas.
i wouldn't buy horse meat to eat, i wouldn't sell a horse for someone to eat, but i'm not going to judge someone else for eating them.

Just because we're supposed to understand that people have different cultures doesn't mean we have to like the customs. I have every right to be offended by them as they do me. The question is what happens after that. Some cultures think we're the freaks for making dogs into pets, but we've got rescue groups trying to take care of those animals and troops taking them home. The international community gets irate about the rape situation in India or the death penalty in the United States and does what? They try to change it. The Bulgarian orphanage system changed when a documentary was done exposing them to the world. There's a fine line between respecting cultures and putting them in a bubble. We're being awfully picky-choosy about which things have to stop and which ones we're supposed to mind our own business on.

I eat all sorts of "wierd" stuff, but I do appreciate the fact you should get what you think you are getting. Be it frog, rabbit, pork or beef. Or horse or dog or cat I guess...

i didn't say i liked them.