Eating Baby Animals: Should You Or Shouldn't You?

In his weekly food column for TIME, Josh Ozersky writes about "The Gastronomic Case Against Eating Baby Animals." The self-professed meat lover and founder of Meatopia takes an unusual point of view on the subject of consuming young mammals. While he acknowledges the hypocrisy of "the peculiar blindness of people who fawn over puppies and kittens and devour their barnyard analogs," he does not fall in the animals-are-too-cute-to-eat camp. Instead, Ozersky thinks we shouldn't eat baby animals because they simply don't taste as good as older animals. He claims:

If you want to taste what meat really is, then don't eat lamb: eat mutton. You already know how much better a great steak is than a thin, wan piece of veal, so wouldn't it follow that that steak would taste even better another year down the road? Food writer Jeffrey Steingarten is still talking about a 10-year-old draft ox he ate a couple of years ago in Spain.

One of the reasons that meats like veal and lamb remain popular is that other people disagree with Ozersky, and some, in fact, love eating baby animals. Spanish baby eels are considered a delicacy, and suckling pig is often considered a "special occasion" dish.

To further complicate the issue, there is also the morality angle to consider. Although there are farms that raise baby cows (and the like) humanely, thoughts of animal cruelty seems especially present when speaking of baby animals.

What do you think?

Quick Poll

Should we think twice about eating baby animals?

Yes, it's immoral to eat baby animals.

Yes, Ozersky is right -- they don't taste as good.

We shouldn't eat any animals.

No, it's fine to eat them.

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Comments

[OCPRIEST]

03:15 PM on 10/14/2011

In my oppinion it wouldn't be as selfish if we did not waste out tons and tons of meat a day. If people actually ate what they killed and didn't waste then there would be a better reason to kill baby animals. I think most humans like to believe our species is the only one worth caring about.

[620five]

04:26 PM on 10/08/2011

In 100 years the majority of humans will be vegetarians and/or will eat only in vitro meat. Mark my words.

[Brigette]

07:34 PM on 10/07/2011

I don't eat them because it bug me morally, which makes no sense, I know. I would love to swear off all mammals. They know what's happening, and pigs are actually cleaner and more intelligent than dogs. The problem is that I love steak. It not only tastes good, I physically feel better after eating red meat at least once a week.

[indiecratublican]

05:19 PM on 10/07/2011

I'm not Jewish, but I do admire their practice of making meat kosher. More specifically, I admire the :

""shechita," which means the animals are slaughtered without pain. Only those who are trained and qualified are allowed to slaughter kosher animals. Once the animal is no longer alive, another team of experts will examine the animal to be sure the animal is without illness, abnormalities or anything else that can be considered unsanitary." (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-kosher-food.htm)

I also like that : "Processed food must be prepared in the presence of a rabbi." -To me, having a "holy man" oversee the process means the animal is being respected- And since a rabbi or a holy man is often busy, having one there means the food is most definitely going to be eaten and not wasted, especially if one respects the process.

I also find that if the meat is inspected and cleaned so thoroughly then less meat-borne illnesses are likely to harm people as a result of eating the meat.

Although, I would definitely not limit myself to just "kosher meat" the practice is remarkable.

As for baby animals, I don't eat them, but I won't judge you if you do as long as you don't tell me about the slaughtering process- or as long as the animal didn't suffer, died swiftly, and was treated with respect.

http://www.koshernosh.com/what-is.htm

[alex thornton]

09:10 AM on 10/08/2011

You do realize then that the kosher method doesn't actually mean they suffer no pain, right? It's not uncommon for these producers to ignore Jewish law and cause more pain than typical methods. For example: http://www.peta.org/features/agriprocessors.aspx

[indiecratublican]

02:08 PM on 10/08/2011

I'm simply talking theoretically/idealistically, and how I assume more orthodox Jews practice this method. I'm aware that like all faiths and organizations and practices there will be and are deviations. Thanks for the link, even though I'm not too keen of Peta.

http://www.petakillsanimals.com/
http://rodeo.about.com/od/animalhealthsafety/a/petacattle.htm

[john649]

02:51 PM on 10/07/2011

everyone here is missing the reality, all these animals humans 'eat' have been tortured by their living conditions, genetically mutated so much they suffer incessantly until they are mercilessly whacked to death, but most humans don't care.

[profuse]

08:05 PM on 11/22/2011

Bleeding puritan...

[newliner]

01:30 PM on 10/07/2011

Interesting results: 54% voted no to eating baby animals or animals at all, 46% say it's ok or they don't taste as good. (at the time of this comment)

[Prince Enki]

11:16 AM on 10/07/2011

I could not agree more. It almost seems Kafkaesque the way some of the better known chefs on tv constantly fawn over the "exquisite taste of the young animal " while they grin and gleefully suck their fingers in a gross display of pseudo gastronomy. It only shows how backward we humans are when we don't see anything wrong with eating a baby calf or piglet that has been raised under conditions that would make the nazis look humane and then recoil in horror when a human baby dies as a result of abuse inflicted by parnets or strangers.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

08:04 AM on 10/07/2011

how about not eating ANY animals

[tomteboda]

06:50 AM on 10/07/2011

In what universe is tough, coarse mutton tastier than a supple lamb roast?

[john649]

02:48 PM on 10/07/2011

its called h e l l...thats what humans have created for innocent animals.

[tomteboda]

03:20 PM on 10/07/2011

An animal does not live in terror of its impending death. That is a crucial difference between human rationality and animal consciousness. If the animal's day-to-day needs are met, it is entirely capable of living a content life, and if it is killed with consideration to its pain and suffering at the end, it can die entirely humanely yet still be consumed.

[profuse]

11:31 PM on 10/09/2011

You sound like that crazy 30 bananas a day guy... Nothing in this world is "innocent". To believe we're above the muck is to believe we are separate from which we came; And that notion is completely naive.

[Stephen Thorpe]

09:40 PM on 10/06/2011

Eat them only if they taste good!

[hugatree]

08:29 PM on 10/06/2011

People who fawn over baby animals more than adults need to get over themselves. People who can't stand the idea of veal need to stop drinking milk.

[frank day]

09:32 AM on 10/07/2011

And go Vegan!

[profuse]

11:32 PM on 10/09/2011

Just say "no.

[WestOfTheMoon]

08:13 PM on 10/06/2011

Just say "no".

[mama likes mambo]

04:39 PM on 10/06/2011

Somewhere in the universe, there is an Alien blog asking if it's ok to eat baby humans, and the consensus would be "if they taste good". Also, Soylent green doesn't care about age, Soylent green is people, for people.......

[onionboy]

03:56 PM on 10/06/2011

What about baby carrots?

[Stephen Thorpe]

09:40 PM on 10/06/2011

Right and baby spinich.

Baby mushrooms and baby corn.

[onionboy]

11:25 PM on 10/06/2011

Broccolini.

[Max Shaw]

03:43 PM on 10/06/2011

If theyre tasty sure. lol.