Good Idea From The Princess?

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24952823
I have never understood the whole horsemeat hysteria myself.

[ladybirder]

I'm moving away, or trying to, from eating meat at all so No, I wouldn't eat horse meat. But should it be up for debate as she suggests then I say Yes, why ever not?

[emmie]

i ate it once under the impression as advertised in the restaurant in Paris that it was steak, it wasn't according to our French friends afterwards that it was horsemeat. I did object that we had misled, as in the case of supermarkets passing horsemeat as beef. I am not sure if the lover of horses will approve of Princess Anne's remarks. But their treatment is often poor at the best of times, sad to say

[emmie]

fine, i agree that all horses should be treated with kindness and humanity, however we know that is not always the case.

[Brinjal]

Having owned horses all my life I believe in treating them humanely. Sanctuaries do not always look after them and they can't just be put to pasture to retire especially thoroughbred horses. I never sold on horses or my kids ponies. I would lease the out and when the person had no further use for them they came back to me. When the time came I put them down and usually buried them. When I no longer had a property to bury them they went for lion food. Whether they are eaten by humans or animal when they are dead is irrelevant it is how they are treated when they are alive that matters.

[emmie]

brinjal i do agree, better treatment when alive, looking at some of the cases in recent years, we know that isn't always the case. I would say that that surely if the animal is getting on in years it may not be edible?

[Wharton]

I wonder what corgis taste like :-)

[emmie]

you could always ask her Maj, i don't think her reply would be printable though

[Wharton]

"I like corgis but I couldn't eat a whole one"? :-)

[emmie]

i think you wouldn't get the chance to get it to a butcher shop, it would take your hand or leg off, they are quite nasty, nippy dogs.

[China Doll]

I'd have a go.

I understand that the hysteria was more about eating horse and not knowing you ate it, not necessarily about eating horse meat in general.

[jno]

I've eaten odd meats in southern Africa ("How do you like your meat, medium, rare, or endangered?") but never much liked them. So a nice fillet steak from CostCo will do me. But I think there are enough people around who'd eat horse to create a market for it, which would be necessary before HRH's proposal would work.

In general - yes, in a money-based society, people will probably look after things better if they're worth something financially.

[ganesh]

Why on earth does she assume that if we ate horsemeat that horses would be better cared for? What an absurd thing to say and everyone is just moralising about whether they would eat horsemeat or not. There are a lot of farmed animals such as chickens, that are still kept in appalling conditions so I don't get where she is coming from. I don't eat meat anyway, but if I did I don't see why horse is any different.

[emmie]

because one doesn't ride chickens but people do own and ride horses. I agree about the conditions of chicken farms, a lot has been done in recent years, a lot more to do though.

[ganesh]

So because you ride an animal you can't eat it?

[Stockethill]

Gosh andy-hughes, loved your 18 lettered word.

[emmie]

no of course not, if people want to eat horsemeat it's up to them, however
one shouldn't be sold horsemeat that is being labelled as beef, as in the recent scandal.

[LazyGun]

I have no qualms about paying for and eating horsemeat that is labelled as horsemeat, 3T. The "hysteria" you witter on about was because it was products labelled as being "beef" - Not "meat", or "mostly beef" - in which the horsemeat was found - so the consumer is left both unaware and out of pocket. And since this horsemeat was not controlled and regulated as being for human consumption, doubts should be raised over it's possible health impact.

The consumer should be rightly irritated at passing off and fraud by greedy bastards trying to pull a fast one.

I am all for selling horsemeat as horsemeat, if you can find a market for it, but I suspect the UK customer base is too sentimental - if however it is offered at a good discount when compared to, say, beef, then pragmatism may overrule that sentiment.

[ganesh]

Absolutely, the scandal over the horsemeat should have really been one of not knowing what is in the food you buy and supermarkets lying about their contents !Even if you eat meat, it must be hard to eat animals that you normally see as pets!

[emmie]

many horses that survived WW1 were left behind for the soldier to eat, the French were never going to turn their noses up, so sentimentality played no real part. As much as one loves horses, and plenty of people do, if it came to a choice of them or you, it would be horsemeat on the menu.