I’ve just cooked a lasagne for the family tonight. Not a hint of horse-meat, so it’s a lasagne rather than a lasagneigh! It’s healthy, made from low fat mince with low Shergar content too. The horse-meat scandal has been an unbridled disaster for the supermarkets, that has made many of us hoof it to the local butchers instead.
Why the furore over eating horse? I’ve knowingly eaten some interesting meat over the years – Alligator in the U.S. (tasted like chewy chicken) and Forest rat in Niger (tasted like chicken with claws), so I have no problem eating horse meat if that is what is on the menu.
There are three main issues in the whole scandal. Firstly the fraud – somewhere down the food chain someone is lying about what goes into the meat. Secondly our obsession with eating cheaply and quickly, with meat at every meal, means we can be eating “mystery meat” that was pressure washed off the bone. Thirdly our food is travelling a long wasteful way to get to us.
God hates dishonest measures – that’s in the Bible! Our food processing plants and supermarkets need to learn that. Eating in Bible cultures was far more social, simple and fun too. Families gathered together to eat and talk. Jesus gained many followers talking over meals. So let’s eat slower, together and talk about life, enjoying good food with family and friends.
By Andy Moyle, The Gateway Church