Eat Rats to Solve World Food Crisis
August 19, 2008 · Print This Article
An Indian official says that he has the ultimate answer to solving the world’s food crisis. Vijay Prakash, secretary of the northeastern Indian state of Bihar, wants to put rats on food menus. According to Prakash, regular rat snacks would result in fewer rodents eating grain stocks – plus, you know, rats are packed with protein. And just look at that photo - doesn’t it make your mouth water?
From Breitbart.com:
Prakash’s plan promotes consumption of rat meat in homes, street stalls, restaurants and even international five-star hotels.
He said he was also holding talks with prestigious hotels outside India to encourage them to put rat meat on their menus, but admitted his scheme had to overcome public prejudice.
“The only issue is how people react to rat meat, but I think it will not be a problem,” he said.
“Some socially deprived people in Bihar have always consumed rat meat. If they can eat rats, why can’t the rest of the people?” he said.
Members of the Mushar community and some other impoverished groups have traditionally eaten rats in India.
Call me crazy, but somehow I just don’t see this catching on in most areas of the world, especially the United States. Something tells me that rat fritters and the rodent filet sandwich would be the least popular items on the McDonald’s menu. We could certainly all benefit from eating a wider variety of foods, but rats are probably not the answer to the food crisis.
But, hey, it’s the Year of the Rat – and as you can see on this National Geographic video, residents of the West African country of Togo have been doing it for ages.
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Nasty!
On the other hand… A friend of mine went vegan when he read an article that suggested there was no difference between drinking cow’s milk and rat’s milk. Harder to milk maybe, but they are mammals, and their milk is for their own babies, not for us.
And I am certain it tastes just like chicken.
Hey, I bet we can get the rats clean with that green toothbrush!
In New Olreans Lousisana (and especially the rural parts of Louisiana) there are HUGE (twice the size of a large cat) rats like that. We called them warf rats, but they officially called Nutria- and oh my gawd there are fesitivals where there is nothing but a billion ways to eat them! BBQ, in Gumbo, in pie, on a stick, with red beans…. you name, they cook that rat up down in the Bayou ! (Ahk!)
Not such a bad idea if you think about it. Here are some other alternative foods.