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bugs, Cooking, Dining Tips, food, Humor, insects, marijuana, News, pigs, Pork, pot, spiders, weed
Washington Pigs Get the Munchies
Did Your Last Pork Ribs Tickle Your Fancy a Little More Than Usual?
Did you and your friends ham it up a bit after dinner? Do you get the giggles when you think about your breakfast bacon? Perhaps not yet, but just listen to this. In Washington state, the excess stems, roots and leaves of marijuana plants are being turned into pig food! Well, it’s currently being trialled, anyway. And it seems the appetite-enhancing effects of the marijuana plants are working wonders on the study pigs. Four pigs who spent the last four months of their lives eating weed waste wound up 20 to 30 pounds heavier than their six litter-mates at slaughter.
I’m sure there’s a cautionary tale in there somewhere, but I’m prepared to wait and see. I reckon it’ll be quite a while before your Sunday Pot Roast is pork.
Scorpion Scaloppine, Tempura Tarantula, Crumbed Cockroaches. . .
Hold on! I’m as fond of alliteration as the next person, but not when it comes to a menu — at least not a menu which features entomophagy — that is, the (intentional) ingestion of insects. I’ve written about this before. I acknowledge that two thirds of the people in the world eat bugs (by choice), and that insects are an important source of protein and other nutritional elements. I recognize the value of edible insects, the eating of which is an excellent idea, and one that will no doubt spread as food sustainability becomes an even larger issue. In fact, I can’t say anything negative about the (intentional) eating of insects. Except “Yuck.” Dana Feldman reported recently in Reuters on the Third Annual Bug-A-Thon at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Hollywood. . . a function showcasing insects as a sustainable food.
How’s this for a nice starter?
Then perhaps a nice stirfry with some silkworm pupae…
I know I’m a wuss, but I can’t imagine myself getting hungry for this:
According to Bug Chef David George Gordon, to prepare Tempura Tarantula the spiders are first frozen, then defrosted, and the abdomen is cut off and the hairy bits singed with a lighter. The remaining spider body is then dunked into batter and fried. “You just have to brown it up for a couple of minutes. Then I add my secret ingredient, a pinch of smoked paprika for flavor. The best part are the legs.”
It was said by one intrepid taster to taste like shrimp tempura. Nevertheless, I won’t be having what she’s having. MM
The Meandering Matriarch 
I think you are in a special place, in that you have the opportunity to bring together bugs and the claimed medicinal benefits of some varieties of hemp foliage.
We know (or should) Tasmania is a major producer of opium poppies, also for medicinal use.
You, on the other hand are a chook fancier and egg producer.
So, Tasmania is on the record for encouraging primary producers to support the drug industry.
What we need is a budding entrepreneur (with a clean criminal record) to obtain a Tasmanian hemp cultivation license for the purpose of :
. Feeding the upper foliage to chooks, to encourage weight gain (and a new taste sensation for rubber chook consumers).
. The development of hemp dependent caterpillars, which could be smoked and offered as a compliment to the famous Tasmania Smoked Salmon.
You more I think about it the more I see you as the answer and catalyst to solve the commercial loss of the Tasmanian wood pulp industry.
You have the chooks. You have the vacant land, acces to water.
Have a go. You are on a winner.
Do it for Tasmania.
I’ll need a manager. Are you interested in the job?
That sounds like a good business case! Make a partnership with a nearby winery and we will flock to visit. I think a white would go best with this sort of menu. (Actually, I think I something stronger would be better. Some herbal flavoured moonshine would be in order.)
I’m with you! Perhaps one of our products could be our own fermented bug brew… Something else to think about. Are you interested in investing?
Busy for a while joining the St. Petersburg 310th birthday celebrations, followed by a cruise on the Rhine/Moselle to Basel.
Any birthday celebration with a “0” in it is special and deserves attention.
t00 true. Enjoy!!!
Bugs – what Caitlin said, Ewwww!
Stoned pigs – animal cruelty
Protein is protein, in theory. But in practice… eww!
The butterfly shaped cracker is a disturbing touch.
A current discussion regarding depressive illness has brought forth some opinion that marijuana (usage) over time can enhance/strengthen, supressed/mild depression and lead to a level of depression which requires treatment and (carer) support.
Something to consider when consuming pig flesh of any kind.
Food safety needs a lot more attention than we give it now.
Indeed. So far it isn’t even known whether the meat from weed-fed pork would carry any residual effects of the pot. My guess is, the only effect will turn out to be the appetite-enhancing one. Now that would be depressing! MM