Could You Learn to Eat the Whole Animal?

Hi Nicole -- I'm so happy that you hopped on over to Greenwala. I saw your article on Green Planet last week and enjoyed it so much that I tried to search the site for other posts you've written but kept coming up empty. I hope you post more of your articles here! Anyway, I don't want to repeat the comment that I left under your original post but I do want to say that I really appreciate you daring to cover such a "risky" topic. I'm sure that there are quite a few people who are diametrically opposed to the concept of nose-to-tail consumption, whether it offends their vegetarian sensibilities or it just grosses them out. In spite of that, animals are killed every day as part of an "industry" that shows little sign of slowing down. Instead of us wasting their parts, I think that it is very "green" to use the entire animal. I recently read that animal guts can be used as a bio fuel, and even with that, it's better than just tossing the unwanted bits in a landfill. As I said in my Planet Green comment, I am not a vegetarian but I'm not a crazy flesh gobbler either. I go really light on the meat and could probably easily live as a vegetarian but just haven't officially gone down that road yet. In spite of that, I don't think that it's fair for anyone to judge other people's lifestyle choices if they reflect a reasonable level of eco-consideration. The very notion of sausage came about in an attempt to use as much of the animal as possible. What was once viewed as an exercise in economy (back in the day) is now perceived as being "green". Whatever the case, if a person is a meat eater, I believe that it is far more respectful to the animal that was sacrificed to utilize as much of it as possible. This, coming from someone who tends to get teary whenever she sees a squirrel or deer flattened on the road.

Have I seen this discussion before? I think I commented last week about this somewhere on Greenwala already, but maybe I'm hallucinating. Yes, I totally agree with Elizah. What's the point in taking an animal's life if you're not gonna use the entire thing? Maybe vegetarians think that's cruel to say, but waste is waste, right? We'd be doing the animal a huge disservice by eating the best parts and chucking the rest. I can't imagine personally eating some of the internal organs or eyeballs though -- hope I'm not grossing anyone out. In other cultures (like in Asia) that's common and I take my hat off to them. It's much more practical.

This article really makes me want to reassess my attitude about meat consumption. I've been one of those people who throughout the years has unfortunately wasted a lot more edible meat from a chicken or turkey than I should. Basically, that's as "nose to tail" as I ever want to get, and I've been awful about what I've dumped in the garbage. I don't know why I can't get past the dark meat factor and all of the jiggley fat and skin, but those things make me want to gag. I've been stepping up my efforts to be a more environmentally responsible consumer, so I don't know why this part of the puzzle didn't click in my head until now, but you've helped me to see the light. Even if I can't bring myself to eat the dark meat on a chicken, it makes no sense for me to toss it since it is a valuable resource. I don't know why I never thought to feed it to my cat, or stick it in the food processor to chop it up finely and then hide it a pile of vegetables for my dinner (maybe I could trick myself to like it that way?) but after reading everyone else's comments, I think you're all right. Animals are sacrificed for our consumption. The least we can do is honor their gift by using it as completely as possible. But I don't care what any of you say...there's no way that I can make myself eat bird skin and fat!! What the heck should I do with those parts rather than throw them in the garbage? Would my cat eat them without tossing them up on my couch two hours later??

Hi Nicole,

Great article and so eyeopening because we have the potential of being a wasteful society. In the refrigerated section of many ethnic markets, I have seen packages of various pig parts, chicken feet, ox tails and other hard to identify items to be used for soup stock. I think it is just terrific. My dogs have eaten pig's ears, hooves, beef tendons (a favorite) and while I have seen cow nuzzles (their noses) that is something I can't moooooove myself to purchase. Please post some more articles! Thanks so much ~