Australians love their kangaroos. They have taken to calling the critter the endearing name “Skippy” and feature it on the nation’s coat of arms. Global warming alarmists, however, want the Aussies to throw another Skippy on the barbie.
Why should Aussies eat their national hopping creature? To reduce global warming, of course.
We report. You laugh. Courtesy Bloomberg.com:
Skippy on the Menu as Australia Seeks to Fight Global Warming
By Michael Heath
Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) — The kangaroo epitomizes Australia, appearing on the coat of arms and dollar coin and starring in the TV series, “Skippy.” Now, a government adviser says Australians should eat more of the animals to ease global warming.
Ross Garnaut recommended last month that the methane-rich gas and burps from cattle and sheep, which contribute to climate change, could be reduced if citizens switched to kangaroo meat. The proposal sparked opposition from consumers, ecologists and the A$16 billion ($11 billion) livestock industry.
“I’ve never really felt inclined to eat Skippy,” said Carolyn Bristow, a finance industry worker in Melbourne who eats red meat two or three times a week. “It grosses me out actually. I don’t want to eat the coat of arms.”
Indigenous Australians ate kangaroo meat for 60,000 years before Europeans arrived. The settlers’ preference for beef and lamb has led to an industry with 86 million sheep and 28 million cattle, compared with about 34 million kangaroos roaming wild.
Methane, produced in the foregut of cattle and sheep, makes up 11 percent of Australia’s greenhouse emissions, while kangaroos produce negligible amounts, according to a study in the scientific journal Conservation Letters, by ecologists George Wilson and Melanie Edwards.
`Environmental Sense’
“It makes enormous environmental sense for us in this land to produce our food from the animals which belong here,” said John Kelly, executive director of the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia, which represents the A$250 million kangaroo-meat industry.
Removing 7 million cattle and 36 million sheep by 2020 and boosting the kangaroo population to 175 million could lower national greenhouse gases by 3 percent, or 16 million tons, a year, Wilson and Edwards say.
Garnaut, who held posts in government, diplomacy and business for more than 25 years, presented his final report on climate change to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Sept. 30. It sparked a flurry of newspaper headlines, such as a report in the Australian that included a recipe for spicy Thai kangaroo salad.
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I dunno, does kangaroo taste good? If it’s as good as venison, the Aussies are missing out already. Aside from that, shrug.
Maybe it would help the greenhouse gas problem by 3% if we all stopped eating beans! PHHhhhrrrtttt!!!
Actually Kangaroo meat is now sold in all major supermarkets and sales are increasing at around 9% P.A. on latest figures.
Kangaroo meat has unique health benefits and the main market is people who are interested in health and fitness.
It has very strong support amoungst athletes and bodybuilders, people wanting to loose weight and look after their health. From what we read about Americans not sure if you have any people like that there ( only joking).
Kangaroo also has some properties that appear to help reverse the effects of Diabetes and there is further research into that aspect scheduled for next year.
The animals are far better for the environment than cattle and sheep ( all Australian animals are soft footed as opposed to hoofed cattle & sheep) and don’t destroy grasslands and cause erosion the way cattle and sheep do.
All round it just makes better sense.
see http://www.naturoo.com.au for further information.
Cheers,
Craig
Thanks for the interesting info, craig. I’ve never seen kangaroo meat in any market, but I guess I have to look harder the next time I’m in an adventurous mood. The part about Aussie mammals being soft footed is particularly interesting, expecially given the fragile nature of most of the continent’s environment (arid lands are easier to despoil then more verdant ones - they don’t spring back as fast).
Unfortunately, I doubt such basic common sense facts will stem Mr. Landsbaum’s contempt. Some things, it seems, are ingrained too deeply.