I find myself amazed, sometimes, when news stories gather a currency all of their own, far beyond the original subject that they report.
It’s been the case so far with the horsemeat scandal which has been seemingly everywhere in the media over the past couple of weeks. But where is the real scandal?
Since man first walked the earth, he has consumed meat... and veg. Any animal became fair game (no pun intended) to whatever suited his hunting instincts and, broadly speaking, that has continued to the present day.
Stories of the consumption of rare or wonderful species by the likes of Henry VIII are numerous; the ingredients for his Tudor Christmas Pie make for formidable reading.
Today the list of what mankind eats – regularly and without compunction or remorse – is quite astonishing too. On it you’ll find everything from emu and shark to kangaroo, frog and snail.
To that list can also be added a vast range of animals including cat and dog, depending on which country on the planet you’re considering.
And, of course, horse.
I must confess that I find myself rather bemused by the current furore, but it’s nothing to do with horses or our consumption of them.
In recent days it’s become apparent that not only is horsemeat a dietary superior to beef (it’s leaner), it’s also cheaper by weight. If you can detach yourself from the emotional aspects of the argument over whether to eat horsemeat or not, the factual justification for doing so seems pretty emphatic.
Undoubtedly, we, as “Les Rosbif” as we’re known across the Channel, are again a target for ridicule ... and without reference to the current Six Nations rugby tournament.
Shops dedicated to the sale of horsemeat are a norm there and regularly feature on the high street. Eating horsemeat is no more outlandish to the French palate than eating chicken. Or frogs or snails, for that matter.
The scandal is, of course, nothing to do what we’ve been eating unwittingly, instead it’s been about how horsemeat has been passed off as something else that we would otherwise be perfectly prepared to eat in this country.
That may or may not be proved to be as a result of criminal activity, but surely if the products of some manufacturers have turned out to contain up to 100% horsemeat and we have enjoyed them in blessed ignorance, then there is a case for reconsidering what we include in our diet.
Perhaps something that is part of the staple diet in one country ought to become part of ours here, especially if it’s been proven to be better for us than some alternatives.
It might even have a positive effect on animal welfare in this country.
What has really annoyed me in the past few days is the corporate pontificating that has come from some quarters of the retail trade. It certainly caught my eye when one chief executive was quoted with a massively “holier than thou” attitude, saying that it would be the public that would pay the price for the horsemeat scandal, but that the public would be safe from it with his brand.
Idiot! It’s the public that pays for everything, including the products stocked in his stores, as well as his salary and benefits package.
If horsemeat was ever to become a desirable item on our shopping lists, he would be pushing as hard as anyone to include it on his shelves and delivery lists.
The George Inn at Tiffield is selling horseburgers later this week and maybe they will become a reality for us here in supermarkets after all, but if they do I bet they’ll be called ‘gourmet chevalburgers’…
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