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Australians told to eat more kangaroo as population hits double that of humans

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Re: Australians told to eat more kangaroo as population hits double that of humans

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Why? Here in Australia the meat isn't very popular despite supply, gets used mostly in pet food (and the leather is used as well). I'm sure we'd happily export it to anyone interested, why would Cali ban it?

California bans all sorts of things. Foie gras, wood stoves, apples from some other states in the union, reference to a nationally recognizable sports team, allowing animals to have sex within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship[0], driving in a housecoat (but only if you're a woman)[citation needed], and the eating of any frog which dies in a frog race (really).

"apples from some other states"

How does that work? Is it for worry about pests, or insecticide use? I thought the US Constitution prevents a state from banning products from another state.

I looked in the online California Code at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml but found no mention of "housecoat" or "house coat". I also found nothing relevant for "robe" or "robes". Could you point out the relevant law?

The section on frog jumping races is at http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xh....

It appears to be in place to allow frog-jumping contests while preventing the frog-jumping contest from being used as a way to get other other laws related to the capture and use of frogs.

Quoting http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/06/local/me-frogs6 : "After a thorough legal review, the lawyers discovered a provision tucked into the California Fish and Game Code in 1957 that basically exempts "frogs to be used in frog-jumping contests" from general wildlife rules."

Mark Twain's story about Calaveras County may be the reason behind that law.

Re: Australians told to eat more kangaroo as population hits double that of humans

#32
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also worth saying that kangaroo in Australia is a bit like deer in the US: city people think the animal is a bit magical, country people think it's a bit of a pest; some people hunt it for food; you can buy the meat in some butchers but it's not in the diet of most; and occasionally it's culled because of population explosion. The only real difference is that the deer is not a national symbol.

Not sure why you're being downvoted, because as a lifelong resident around deer, afaik everything you've said is reasonable, if not true. I live in a rural'ish area with a decent deer population [1] . Most residents see them as endearing, while a minority see them as pests. Go a bit farther out into more rural (but not boonies) areas where people do more serious (but still personal scale) agriculture on their propert…

I'm within the city limits of a large city in the northeastern US, and I've seen deer on lawns. And since they spread deer ticks over wide ranges, and those ticks spread Lyme disease, they're definitely more than just an agricultural pest. We killed or drove away all the wolves, so now the deer proliferate.

Re: Australians told to eat more kangaroo as population hits double that of humans

#33
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also worth saying that kangaroo in Australia is a bit like deer in the US: city people think the animal is a bit magical, country people think it's a bit of a pest; some people hunt it for food; you can buy the meat in some butchers but it's not in the diet of most; and occasionally it's culled because of population explosion. The only real difference is that the deer is not a national symbol.

Not sure why you're being downvoted, because as a lifelong resident around deer, afaik everything you've said is reasonable, if not true. I live in a rural'ish area with a decent deer population [1] . Most residents see them as endearing, while a minority see them as pests. Go a bit farther out into more rural (but not boonies) areas where people do more serious (but still personal scale) agriculture on their propert…

Kangaroos are also generally timid, although there are exceptions. I'd had some chilling moments happening across big males and getting stared down. "Ok, bye"

Re: Australians told to eat more kangaroo as population hits double that of humans

#34
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't "lamb" a young sheep? How can it be tough and old? Sheep meat is mutton. Makes a lovely curry.

Not the animal, the meat. The meat has been butchered and then left out too long. For some meats, aging in this way improves the taste or texture - Not so much for lamb.

Thanks!

Re: Australians told to eat more kangaroo as population hits double that of humans

#35
post #30
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gamey'ness is usually bad meat. People say the same about Lamb. It tastes "gamey". That's because you are eating tough old lamb. I bet it's the same for kangaroo. If it's very lean I would add some fat to it. Pork fat :) I bet that would make a killer sausage.

we call kangaroo sausages kangabangers - havent heard of anyone mixing with pork though

Interesting, most sausages use pork fat to keep the meats from drying out. If you don't use pork fat what kind of fat do you add to the kangaroo meat to keep it moist in a sausage?

Also, haha I love the phrase "kangabangers". Sounds like an outback criminal gang. "The kangabangers shot and killed two today."

Re: Australians told to eat more kangaroo as population hits double that of humans

#36

Kangaroo is one hell of a pest in Australia. It's a native, which made it illegal for the general populace to hunt in the early 2000's (this doesn't apply to Australian Aboriginals). Non-Aboriginals who want to hunt them have to go through tedious multi-day "ethics" courses on about how you should and shouldn't hunt them, and even after that your options are limited and the process is ridiculous. Unfortunately this h…

Being Australian living in Central Australia, we havn't had an issue until this year, 2 of my friends have nearly had their cars totaled by kangaroos. Hunting licenses should be a lot easier to obtain.

Re: Australians told to eat more kangaroo as population hits double that of humans

#37
post #6
post #4

I've been living out here in Australia for about a year and a half now. It really is a delicious meat, though it's so lean that your options for how to prepare it are pretty slim. I've found that mince is the easiest to work with by far. Kangaroo tacos are really delicious. Burgers with it are decent too. It's very close to beef in taste, just a slight bit bloodier tasting.

I agree, minced is the way to go otherwise it tends to be really stiff, perhaps slow cooking could solve the stiffness problem but I've never tried. Roo burgers are the easiest solution and can be found at any Aussie supermarket or butcher.

Marinated roo steaks are pretty good. The marinade balances out the extreme lean-ness.

Re: Australians told to eat more kangaroo as population hits double that of humans

#38
post #26
post #2

It's worth pointing out that this isn't some hypothetical. Kangaroo meat is available at most grocery stores and butchers, it's fairly cheap, and quite delicious. It's the red meat I buy most often.

Fairly cheap... but still more expensive then non steak beef, pork or chicken. I would eat a heap more of it, but its often ~ $16 a kilo when I can get chicken breast for $8

The price seems to have gone up considerably in the last 5 years. We used to eat kangaroo steaks and burgers regularly, but now we only consider it if it's on sale.

Re: Australians told to eat more kangaroo as population hits double that of humans

#39
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

California bans all sorts of things. Foie gras, wood stoves, apples from some other states in the union, reference to a nationally recognizable sports team, allowing animals to have sex within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship[0], driving in a housecoat (but only if you're a woman)[citation needed], and the eating of any frog which dies in a frog race (really).

"apples from some other states" How does that work? Is it for worry about pests, or insecticide use? I thought the US Constitution prevents a state from banning products from another state. I looked in the online California Code at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml but found no mention of "housecoat" or "house coat". I also found nothing relevant for "robe" or "robes". Could you point out the relev…

> How does that work? Is it for worry about pests, or insecticide use? I thought the US Constitution prevents a state from banning products from another state.

I have no idea, but this is at least the guidance. https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/factsheets/BringingFruitsVeggi...

That said, I'd like to be clear in not knocking all laws of this sort, for example laws about citrus are obviously informed by: https://californiacitrusthreat.org/

> I looked in the online California Code at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml but found no mention of "housecoat" or "house coat". I also found nothing relevant for "robe" or "robes". Could you point out the relevant law?

I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that I could not find it. I've seen it printed in so many places that I started to believe it without seeing the exact wording of the law. In fact, the only code referencing 'woman' in the Vehicle Code is about ownership.

Re: Australians told to eat more kangaroo as population hits double that of humans

#40

Random fact, not all kanagroos are a pest some are endangered. Most of their meat is not for the western taste buds. The steak part is on par with beef. But then it gets pretty gameie pretty quick. Environmentalists have eaten kangaroos (often without eating any other meats) for years so this is not a new idea. It's in most supermarkets. Camel is another pest that was sold commonly for a while, but seems to have stop…

> Most of their meat is not for the western taste buds

I live in Australia. Kangaroo is very common and popular. It has been for farmers since the settler days andin my generation its made its way to the city. Fun fact there used ro be a breed of dog (never made official) for hunting kangaroos. Also many supermarkets have a camel option or 2.

And as far as I know the only endangered kangaroos are tree kangaroos. These are super rare and look like a cross between a possum and kangaroo. Others maybe someone can add?

I think the biggest issue is if they opened up hunting again would be to make sure people know the difference between a wallaby and a kangaroo.

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