Anyone for cricket, or brain, or bugs?
A CHRISTMAS dinner of huhu grubs, worms and calf brain doesn’t quite have the same appeal as a glazed ham or turkey.
But come the 25th, our plates should be laden with offal, insects and the unseemly if we want the best cuts to make the table in coming years.
Massey University sociologist Corrina Tucker says New Zealand needs to change its meat-eating habits as the fifth- highest consumer worldwide, or steak as we know it could disappear.
‘‘We are going to get to the point where we no longer can actually produce enough meat to meet the demand,’’ she said. ‘‘At the same time we are also going to need to seriously start to address the environmental impacts that go along with it.’’
Global consumer demand, increasing agricultural intensification and the widespread environmental problems from
are all intensification factors.
Tucker conducted pilot research in Palmerston North on consumption and production practices, including nose-to-tail eating and consuming insects as a protein replacement.
‘‘People thought both ideas were fantastic in theory but in practice said ‘it would make me want to vomit’, ‘ it’s gross’ and ‘I don’t think I could actually eat a bug or liver or brain’ – brains were really problematic, and dogs also,’’ she said. ‘‘They did talk about possum and rabbit, which we do eat already but to a really limited extent.
‘‘Those are things we are familiar with and there is that perception of environmental good that comes with it.’’
Tucker says consumption of in vitro meat, or laboratory grown meat, was a great talking point among research participants.
First created in 2008 from stem cells, most people weren’t keen on
contributing eating it unless fast food.
‘‘There was a lot of ‘yuck that’s disgusting’ and a lot of discussion around when does meat stay meat,’’ she said. ‘‘So on one hand, in terms of animal welfare, it’s good because you’re not killing an animal but then, what is it?
‘‘But it didn’t fit with the farming nation identity, the only way it was seen to fit in with our culture was in your chicken nuggets.’’
Tucker says New Zealanders are economically very reliant on meat – both in purchasing and exporting – making sustainability very important. ‘‘We eat a lot of meat, we’re in the top five consumers of
it
was
hidden
in meat per capita in the world,’’ she said. ‘‘But we don’t need to be eating the average 320g of meat a day which is quite a lot. That’s far more than we need.’’
Research participants reflected Tucker’s concerns and were keen to be sustainable with their meat intake. Tucker said it makes sense because the price of meat is going to keep increasing.
‘‘It’s simply because the price of resources and producing things is becoming more precious and more expensive,’’ she said. ‘‘ If people don’t start to think about those things anyway they might be forced to limit meat at some point in the future.’’