Why the push to stop wildlife consumption isn’t about wildlife
By Jazmin “Sunny” Murphy
The coronavirus pandemic has revitalized a debate that has plagued the global wildlife community for decades. Headlines urging entire nations and people groups to cease their consumption of wildlife are congesting news columns and wildlife journals everywhere, as research has now given credibility to the idea that the consumption of a bat is what jumpstarted the spread of the novel virus, Covid-19.
Despite the ignition of this discussion’s reawakening, I suspect that these arguments in support of a ban on wildlife consumption aren’t about wildlife at all.
One thing that has always been a distinguishing characteristic of cultures across the globe is cuisine. While Westerners shy away from dining on most invertebrates, many Eastern cultures view them as a delicacy, even a staple of the daily diet. Still, there are similarities to be drawn between these divides. Americans who grew up in Arizona, for example, will likely pay little attention to someone munching away at a scorpion. Sure, it may merit some Instagram pics and a giggle or two, but it’s not unheard of.
So why, then, does this same demographic recoil in disgust when a Cambodian, Laotian, or a Vietnamese person enjoys a mealworm or two?
Surely, we are not concerned about the wellbeing of the mealworm in these scenarios?
If we were, why wouldn’t we share the same sentiment for the poor scorpion?
What value does the mealworm hold that the scorpion does not?
Truthfully, there is no difference. At least, not in the bugs.
Americans eat all kinds of things. Apart from the standard beef and chicken that most of us enjoy, many hunters boast about having beheaded a rattlesnake whose meat they have stashed in a freezer for a hearty meal. Southerners share a common disdain for a dish that few of us understand the reason for its persistence: chitterlings, AKA “chitlins” (pig intestines). Although it’s not widely loved, it is still considered a staple of the African American subculture in the States. Frog legs, alligator, armadillos – the list of non-domesticated animals consumed in the U.S. goes on.
So, why this hostility toward cultures who eat wildlife native to their home country?
To many, the explanation is rather simple: xenophobia.
“..research has now given credibility to the idea that the consumption of a bat is what jumpstarted the spread of the novel virus, Covid-19”
Westerners are blissfully unaware of the drivers behind the prevalence of bushmeat consumption in countries of both the Global South and the Global North. Impoverished communities are faced with crushing socioeconomic divides that practically force them into the wilderness to hunt species most Westerners would consider “exotic” (and therefore more worthy of legislative protections) such African lions, for example.
These same political and societal pressures are behind wildlife trafficking as well – for many, these are the only methods by which they can make a living to support their families in the volatile political climates plaguing their homelands.
Apart from these issues, the matter comes down to the simplest factor of them all: preference.
There was a notable absence of worldwide calls to stop U.S. citizens from consuming pigs when the Swine Flu reared its ugly head.
Few are calling for the cessation of rattlesnake consumption, though many subspecies are facing declines. Western life revolves around the idea that we can sit on our judgmental butts and tell everyone else to acclimate to our way of thinking.
This time, it’s clear that we care little for the welfare of the animals, or even the phylogeny of the virus, at that. This time is just like any other time.
We’ve manipulated current events to fit our agenda: To force everyone to assimilate to the comforts of American ideology.