Grilled Bald Eagle, Anyone?
To save endangered plants and animals from extinction, conservation scientist Gary Paul Nabhan points the way from the free market to the supermarket. From nowpublic.com:
According to conservation scientist Gary Paul Nabhan, the best way to save more than 1,000 plants and animals on the edge of extinction is by creating a market demand for them. In other words, slice them up and slap them on the grill.In his book released last month, Renewing America's Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent's Most Endangered Foods, Nabhan speculates that by creating a culinary need for many of the endangered species of North America, actions would be taken by private and public organizations to increase the population and establish safe havens for them. He reminds us that many of these foods are "delightful" and nutritious as well.
...Without a need beyond saving the animals from extinction, regulation can only be a band-aid for the problem. It takes financial incentive for corporations and demand by the public to go beyond the initial boost in population. There has to be a reason to keep them alive and help them grow.
via metafilter
I've heard this argument before, but if these endangered animals were a convenient source of food, they probably would have become so already.
...Without a need beyond saving the animals from extinction, regulation can only be a band-aid for the problem.
What kind of regulation? Hunting or pollution? If I commented like Crid, I'd be making a point about how weasel-ish this statement is. Need, regulation. What do these mean...
justin case at May 12, 2008 1:20 AM
There's an old joke with the punchline: "Tastes kind of like a California Condor..."
Clinky at May 12, 2008 1:20 AM
There could be bald eagle hatcheries!
Amy Alkon at May 12, 2008 1:27 AM
Well, here's another situation more complicated than it seems. Just how well do these things live in captivity, however big the range? Elephants thrive in Africa today only where there is funding to manage them against poaching, ironically by rationing hunting licenses. The plentiful whitetail deer, a staple of hunting in the USA, is not a herding animal, and considerable controversy persists because the rabbit with antlers has followers thinking that "Bambi" is non-fiction. There is considerable resistance to the idea of venison, despite its centuries-old tradition, as a result of market ideas. Ditto the horse.
Chicken is cheap because it grows fast. I know a fellow here in SC who usually has 40,000 at his farm at a time, and yes, they get everything to market but the "cluck". So, given the rescue efforts of environmentalists everywhere, if these creatures were ever going to be plentiful, they would be already. Food animals have one thing in common: numbers, stemming from a high reproductive rate and/or few natural predators.
Something you might not know: the USDA prohibits the processing of "game animals" on the same equipment as food stocks. No matter the judgment of the operator, one may not butcher a deer with the same equipment used for pork, beef, chicken, etc., because there are no controls on zoonotic diseases in the wild animal population. Sorry - can't have you come down with Mad Eagle disease!
Radwaste at May 12, 2008 2:29 AM
I heard an interview Sunday where this author was explaining his position. Most of the species he was referring to were heirloom foods that have been mostly abandoned by commercial producers because they either don't travel well, don't all ripen at once, or don't look like the food that kids' picture books show farmers growing. The increase of people buying local and looking for food that was bred for taste rather than looks or the ability to ride in a semi trailer is the best hope to save many of these breeds.
Loess at May 12, 2008 6:22 AM
Pertinent to Radwaste's comment: The USDA also prohibits the processing of "game animals" to help feed the third most endangered species. I visited a tiger sanctuary near Ste. Genevieve, MO and watched as the cats were fed name brand fresh frozen chicken parts, at no small cost. Missouri is overrun with deer and I wondered why the operators didn't have a deal with local sportsmen and meat lockers to process extra kills for the tigers to eat. They said all the meat has to be USDA inspected. I guess the tigers in the wild didn't get the memo.
Mary Q Contrary at May 12, 2008 6:22 AM
Up here in Idaho, they process game foods (deer, elk, moose) that are now roadkill for the prisoners.
eric at May 12, 2008 7:29 AM
Another example of commercialization saving an endangered are the Alligators. In the early 70's they were a dying species. But once they were allowed to be "farmed" they ended up making a big comeback.
The same thing is occurring in Africa with Elephant hunting licenses. Once you give an incentive to people to take care of the environment, because that is a resource instead of a drain, then you will see a change in behavior.
Jim P. at May 12, 2008 7:59 AM
The joy of market laws in motion. :D
Toubrouk at May 12, 2008 8:56 AM
There could be some wisdom to this. Notice we don't have any shortage of pussycats.
Bikerken at May 12, 2008 12:00 PM
Toubrouk says: "The joy of market laws in motion. :D"
Market laws sometimes cause agony, too. If people exploit game, fish, and wild plants completely without regulation, the resource gets depleted. Look at bison on the American plains; cod, tuna, and whales in the ocean; and dodoes on Mauritius. If the resource is commercially valuable enough, then what happens is, regulations gain popular support, as in Jim P.'s example of regulated elephant hunting. Any number of commercially valuable species in North America could be cited as well.
But about the bison? Still around, but they've lost their dominant niche on the plains. Market laws replaced them with longhorn cattle because those were easier to raise at a profit. Then longhorns were replaced by Herefords, Aberdeen Angus and so on, for the same reason. Passenger pigeons are all gone because too many of them were salted down in barrels and shipped to markets in the East, and market forces replaced their forest habitat with farms.
In other words, the situation is way too complicated for a blanket statement that either free markets or strict regulation is the answer to maintaining heirloom species, either wild or domestic.
Axman at May 12, 2008 12:20 PM
Well while it goes against the grain the logic is sound for the most part. I think the application would depend heavily on the species. With some species this should work. However there are many species where this is just no feasible. If you look at whale populations they have sky rocketed since the band on whaling. The Florida reefs used to be open for Aquarium specimen collection which damn near whipped them out. I'm all for it but it has to be evaluated on a species by species basis.
Long pig is the most protected of species and they have a constant population increase. They are however totally useless for food purposes. Think back to "A Modest Proposal" the same logic with a rather horrid application.
vlad at May 12, 2008 12:21 PM
Also, some species that are endangered are a symptom of some other environmental problem. Bald eagles being a good example, where the solution was to stop using the pesticide DDT.
eric at May 12, 2008 2:03 PM
I made venison stroganoff last night and it was excellent! BF harvests 1 or 2 deer per season. Since it's free range, there are no "additives", the meat is lean and tasty, and you can make a variety of dishes with it - anything you can make with beef, you can make with venison. Saves money on the grocery bill, too.
Flynne at May 13, 2008 6:10 AM
Flynne - does he do the butchering himself, or does someone do it for him? I'd consider hunting for deer or elk myself if I had a way to do that part of it (or, rather, have it done).
brian at May 13, 2008 6:35 AM
Flynne, has bf ever made sausage with venison? I to up to Sturgis bike week often and my friend who works at Mt. Rushmore usually has some venison sausage we have for breakfast. Damn, that's good.
Brian, some guys do their own butchering, but it's probably better to let a pro do it, the do so much better of a job. Anywhere people hunt a lot, there's a local who know's how to butcher a buck. I've seen a few deer butchered, you just have to know a little of what you're doing.
Bikerken at May 13, 2008 6:47 AM
Brian, my friends and I butcher our deer ourselves by boning out the meat, but here in western Wisconsin there are dozens of places to take deer for processing, and they do a nice job of turning out steaks, chops, roasts, and ground venison. Some of them make summer sausage, bratwurst, and jerky also.
I imagine similar services are available wherever you would hunt deer or elk. Look for "Meat processing" or "Locker plant" in the yellow pages.
Axman at May 13, 2008 6:52 AM
Brian, he does the butchering himself, in the garage. He's got all the equipment, and has been doing it for years, so he's pretty darn good at it. I've had venison that wasn't properly bled and butchered, and it wasn't pleasant. BF just has a knack for it, I guess. Bow season starts in September, and rifle in November, but he prefers using his bow (a compound bow, of course). He's going for turkey today, the season opened last week; he has a friend who has property in either Redding or Ridgefield. The black flies got him pretty bad last week, 2 big welts on his neck, and one on his leg, but he's bound and determined to get his turkey. Wild turkey is excellent, too, but I've found you have to boil it longer than store bought turkey or chicken, to make the meat tender enough for a stew. It was so funny, last week he brought my digital camera with him, and he and his buddy were out on the property, in a turkey blind, they had set up a decoy. They heard a noise, and got ready to shoot, when up to the decoy, nose to nose with it, came a buck! Spikehorn, I think he said. Too bad deer season doesn't start until September, he would have had a great shot! o_O
Flynne at May 13, 2008 6:55 AM
Yep, Bikerken, venison sausage, meatballs, anything you can do with beef or pork, he's done with venison. We went to a game dinner earlier this year, and one of the guys made pulled venison, you know, like pulled pork? only venison, oh my gods, I thought I was in heaven! He gave me some when we left, and we heated it up and put it on hard rolls with a little gravey, gods! it was excellent! And I like cutting up medallions of it, and sauteeing it in a frying pan in a little butter, with garlic powder and cracked black pepper, with home fried potatoes and peppers on the side, dang! now I'm getting hungry! o_O
Flynne at May 13, 2008 7:00 AM
Leave a comment