Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Let them eat rat!


Pearls of wisdom from the rising powers of the 3rd World:

Eating rats is the best way for rich and poor people to solve the global crisis of rising food prices, an Indian official said Wednesday as he unveiled his plan to put rodents on menus.

M
mmmm.... My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Regular rat snacks would translate into fewer rodents eating precious grain stocks -- 50 percent of which are lost in the northeastern state of Bihar every year to the animals, said Vijay Prakash, secretary of the state's welfare department


If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em!

'This will help in mitigating the global food crisis. We are sure that it will work wonders," Prakash told AFP. "It will save half our grain, and will also reduce villagers' dependence on food stock."


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.

"Rat meat will make up nutrition deficiencies among villagers, since rats are a major source of protein," Prakash said.



B
eing the "Citizen of the World" that I am, I can't figure out if Rat is good enough for a billion Call Center and Help Desk Workers, why isn't it good enough for millions of savvy Yankees.


7 comments:

Michele said...

Maybe it's some kind of Jonathan Swift satire. Probably not though.

Anonymous said...

This from a country that serves horse on the lunch menu in public schools. Why am I not shocked.

Yiddish Steel said...

No, Michelle. This magic carpet-riding haji is serious. All of us should give up eating steak and switch to rat so the 3rd world can somehow afford a steak to eat.

Anonymous said...

Just stopped by to say "HI" I've been in cognito for a while but glad to rejoin the blog world. Hope you have had a tremendous summer.

-Murphy

ptg said...

Rodent flesh isn't bad, the problem is that there isn't much meat on a rat. If you fatten them on grain for a while it helps, but even then, one isn't enough for a meal.

Like squirrels, they are hard to skin without getting fur stuck to the meat. Most beginners will use up more energy cleaning a rat than they will derive from the few morsels that will result from their efforts.

Michele said...

That's why you order them from street vendors. In one of those rectangular paper dishes with the red checks on it and some ketchup on the side.

Anonymous said...

hmmm....suddenly taking up an eating disorder seems like a very attractive option ;-) ...