Get Familiar With The New Definition of “Eating Wild”

Remember back to the days when “eating wild” meant dining on something pops likely brought home from his hunting trip—something like a pheasant, some venison, perhaps even some duck or rabbit?   Remember, too, how some folks developed an aversion to certain wild fare because of the sensed “gaminess” they claimed tainted their taste pallet?   Was it really all that long ago that wild meant…well, wild?

Apparently so.   There’s a new breed of “yuppies” (so-named because I’m not in touch with the current moniker for this group) that thankfully still sees the virtues of eating meat, but not just any meat.   Moreover, their idea of eating something “on the wild side” is eating a cow, a pig or a lamb that has been organically raised.   That’s right…forget the unconscionable thought of eating an animal that spent its life doing anything but feeding on the open range.   Furthermore, forget the fact that this critter might have been cared for by a doctor of veterinary science to ensure it received the necessary medications to live a healthy life.   It’s not organic if it wasn’t raised by the producer free-range and drug-free.

A perfect example of this new health conscious philosophy of “eating wild” can be found at the web site, aptly named, www.EatWild.com.   Now don’t get me wrong here…I’ve lived on a farm my entire life and the benefits being espoused of raising livestock in this manner is beyond reproach.   That’s how I feel livestock should be raised, as well.   I guess my problem is more so with the people who embrace this lifestyle and then do so for some contradictory reasons.

Take for instance these comments from an article in City Pages, a Twin Cities based weekly tabloid paper:

“My mom bought a [factory-farm produced] pork tenderloin (she lives in Wisconsin and does not share my critical eye) and it actually smelled like piss! I couldn’t believe it—my family was just chowing down. I couldn’t say anything, of course (my family already thinks I’m unbearable when it comes to food, ah, issues when I visit), so I had an extra helping of mashed potatoes…”

Okay, now for those folks at home taking notes I believe the aforementioned quote describes the modern day “gaminess” aversion that some folks develop when eating meat.   And I bet you believed this situation only appeared with improperly handled venison…well think again!!

“Thousand Hills is a great example of the next wave beyond organic: Not only are they local (all their farmers are within an hour’s drive of the processing plant in Cannon Falls), and not only are the animals raised humanely, mostly outdoors, on non-scary feed without antibiotics (you can read their protocol yourself at www.thousandhillscattleco.com), but the whole company is based on the idea of promoting perennial grassland. Perennial grassland, of course, is also known as a prairie, and is what much of the land around here is meant to be, and it’s a good, good thing. It’s what prairie voles, owls, hawks, moths, foxes, and all need to survive….”

So, then why not just eat venison, pheasants, grouse, wild turkey, stream-caught trout, and the like?   To the best of my knowledge most of these critters spend ALL of their days growing up outdoors.   They’re raised humanely because, well…they are free-roaming animals choosing the lifestyle they want to live.   They are completely organic in the sense that they have no added chemicals or drugs embodied in their physiological structure.   Heck, unlike cattle that are raised and virtually all make it to the slaughterhouse, with a deer this critter at least has a fighting chance to live out its days without ever being consumed by a human.   What could possibly be more fair or “organic” than that?

Truth is many, and I’m not going to stereotype by saying all, folks who purport to eat organic tend to have a deep hatred toward us sportsmen for the way we choose to live our life by “eating wild.”   Maybe it’s the fact we derive some sort of primordial pleasure from the act of slaughter that gut punches them into such disdain for what we do.   Yet, when you compare the final results the foodstuffs that we both put into our mouths are the very same products they desire to consume for their own lifestyle.   Why doesn’t this compute?

Somehow the comparison of our end product gets lost when this group of do-gooders realizes that guns and other inherently dangerous devices are used for the purpose of sport.   This absurdity is completely overshadowed by the fact that the tools of our trade not only kill wild animals, but sometimes they also kill people.   Hence, we shouldn’t have them let alone expect to be allowed to use them to harvest the precious creatures from the forest floor.

When folks begin to think that “eating wild” is synonymous with eating a pasture-raised steer it reminds me of just how mixed up this world has become.   It wouldn’t be so bad…except for when you consider that every so often this same person gets an opportunity to step into a voting booth to make important decisions on our future.   That, my friend, is when all of us sportsmen will begin to suffer from their utter ignorance and their convoluted notions of how they believe life should be lived.

2006 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.