The UK has long had a taboo against the consumption of horsemeat,
and the emotional response of recent weeks demonstrated this taboo is
in no danger of waning, with the public outcry of horse content in value
meat resembling a mixture of horror and disgust. It's interesting to
wonder why we have this taboo. It's long been a staple of Europe and
Asia, and 30,000 year old cave paintings show the animal being hunted.
Some cite the Catholic need to distance the Pagan Germanic lifestyle
which preceded it, or simply the fact that a low feed-to-meat ratio and
the horse's value as a long-term working animal made it inefficient to
eat after intensive farming was invented.
No
doubt, there are sincere problems with our supply. It was provided as a
part of criminal activity, and is unlikely to have been held against
appropriate health standards. Nonetheless, there's a reason horse meat
is still enjoyed outside of England and the US. It's considered to be
both tasty and healthy, and is more popular than lamb or mutton in
Sweden, Belgium and France.
