Kanga and camel is the way to go

[depakid]

KANGATARIANISM, people who exclude all meat except kangaroo, has been heralded as the country's exciting new food trend, but eco-savvy central Australians are prepared to go a step further. City newspapers and foodie magazines are swooning over the new wave of semi-vegetarianism that is emerging in Australia - Kangatarianism - excluding all meat except kangaroo on environmental, ecological and humanitarian grounds.

Kangaroo is often described as the ultimate in free-range, organic meat. Ellie Smith was a vegetarian for 15 years and the only red meat that has passed her lips is kangaroo.
She said: `I was considering eating meat again, a few years ago, but couldn't stand the thought of how badly livestock was treated. Kangaroo is killed humanely and is so much less destructive of the environment.'

Now Ms Smith classifies herself as a kangatarian, or jokingly, a vegeroo.

There is a belief that kangaroos are farmed. Not so. They are shot in the wild, according to the National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies.
Unlike bred-livestock, kangaroos have a minimal impact on the environment. Hard-hoofed animals like sheep and cows compact soils and spread weeds, while kangaroos require no additional feed, water or land cleared for them. They also produce a low level of greenhouse gas emissions.
But Jimmy Cocking, from Arid Lands Environment Centre, says many Central Australians are taking ethical eating to the next level.
He said: `More people are becoming ethical consumers of food and kangaroo has been the ecological alternative. But in places like Alice Springs, camel is one of the more ethical meats you can eat here in the desert.'

Mr Cocking regularly cooks up camel sausages at ALEC events.

He said: `There is great potential for cameltarianism to be the new semi-vegetarian food trend.' While soft-hoofed camels do not damage the environment as much as cattle, in terms of compacting the earth, their destruction of the native vegetation has been rampant, and they are currently being culled.
`With this camel cull we would like to see people eating camel, rather than them being shot and left to rot. We would like there to be a great Australian camel curry to deal with the issue,' said Mr Cocking.

ALEC is now in discussions with pastoralist Gary Dann, who runs a small-scale abattoir at Aileron, to try and increase the market for camel. `It's the healthiest meat in the world. Low cholesterol, Omega 6, Omega 3 and all from the cleanest desert in the world,' said Mr Dann, whose operation kills about 20 camels a week and supplies Charbray Meats in the Yeperenye Centre. The past two to three years have shown us there is no doubt that there is a market for camel.'

At eateries across Central Australia, camel is starting to appear on the menu, from the cheap and cheerful camel burger at Stuart Well to the slow-roasted sirloin with port wine and pepperberry juice at the Red Ochre Grill which is ordered by more than 20 people a night. Events such as the popular bush foods recipe competition held during the Desert Festival show that more locals are getting a taste for the feral food.

`Where we have an abundance of animals occurring unnaturally as ferals I think there is going to be a lot more people shifting towards that kind of meat eating,' said Mr Cocking.

More: http://www.centralianadvocate.com.au/article/2010/02/12/6235_news.html

[madokie]

1. And the 'roos don't fart much

shit you not thats what it says. They also produce a low level of greenhouse gas emissions.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Holy $#!%!! How did I know this was going to be a diet thread? nt