Grey Squirrel the Next Green Friendly Dish?
By NunoXEI • May 19th, 2008 • Category: Blog
It’s low in fat, low in food miles and completely free range. In fact, some claim that Sciurus carolinensis – the grey squirrel – is about as ethical a dish as it is possible to serve on a dinner plate.
The grey squirrel, the American cousin of Britain’s endangered red variety, is flying off the shelves faster than hunters can shoot them, with game butchers struggling to keep up with demand. ‘We put it on the shelf and it sells. It can be a dozen squirrels a day – and they all go,’ said David Simpson, the director of Kingsley Village shopping centre in Fraddon, Cornwall, whose game counter began selling grey squirrel meat two months ago.
‘People may say they are buying it because it’s green and environmentally friendly, but really they’re doing it out of curiosity and because of the novelty value. If they can say, “Darling, tonight we’re having squirrel”, then that takes care of the first 30 minutes of any dinner party conversation. I see it remaining a niche. There’s not much meat on a squirrel, so I’d be surprised if farming squirrel takes off anywhere some time soon.’
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NunoXEI is Co-Founder of TheGreenRocket.com and self proclaimed internet-surfing-guru. You can find his personal blog at NunoXEI.com, the home of his podcast, The Lowdown, his comic-related properties and his webcomic, Republic Domain.
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Meat is meat I guess.
I wouldn’t try it tho…squirrels are cute.
Going to university in the city of Waterloo, I had seen my share of squirrels hordes on campus so it’s hard for me to NOT see them as rodents thus creating a physchological revulsion at the idea of eating one.
That being said–of course I’d eat one. If the meat tasted good, well then, students at University of Waterloo could spend more money on beer and fill a hunger craving with a little exercise chasing the squirmmy little guys while they’re at it!