Have you all seen that show?  This guy travels around the world to various exotic locations, where he samples the local cuisine.  As you might imagine, the gourmet meals in places like Uganda, Bolivia and Iceland include things we do not typically eat in the U.S. 

This has got me thinking about food and culture.  In the U.S., there are only a few animals that are eaten regularly.  There are a bunch of animals that we have access to in the U.S. that we do not eat, or at least most of us don't.  Yeah, there are still some people out there eating possum and squirrel, but you can't buy that at your local grocery.

So my first question is, why do only eat a small number of animals?  And how was it determined that in the U.S., for example, guinea pigs are pets while in South America, they are dinner?

Something else I've noticed from watching this show is that in many parts of the world, when they butcher at animal for food, they eat the whole things.  All the organs and stuff.  How come we don't normally do that in the U.S.?  Is it just that we are rich and spoiled?  We can afford to waste large amounts of food and don't need to eat every bit of an animal?

And finally, I was aware that insects were eaten in some places but apparently they are considered good food in lots of places.  Instead of M and M's, people are popping a few grubs.  Why don't we eat insects in the U.S?

My & My Husband watch him all the time!  some of the things he eats??? OMG!!! LOL!!!  and i also saw that one with the Guinea Pigs!  On A Stick in fact! hahahaha!!!  that was weird!!!

Hi Kelly,

 

I love that show, and the one with Anthony Bourdain (No Reservations) .. I fantasize about traveling the country and trying all of those exotic foods and places and such, man what a life that would be, what FUN!

then I remember that rooster penis soup might make me dump and I just go back to watching him instead. haha

 

Americans used to eat all the parts of the animals (scrapple, pig intestines, tripe, etc) when it was a necessity, in some regions the poor still do.  Oh hell, I love scrapple who am I kidding and we (husband and I) make well over 100K a year combined.  I think our love of money and luxury have made it almost a stigma to eat and enjoy the "lower cost" or "lesser cuts" of meat.   

My family had a restaurant growing up, so my daddy made us try everything, I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to trying foods, but I'm still a country girl at heart and in this economy I'm surprised that more people haven't turned back to the lesser cuts of meats to survive on.

 

We should be eating those insects, they are protein bombs! lol

 

 

I'm sure money is a factor in eating every part of an animal.  I wonder when we decided which parts we would eat and which parts we wouldn't, though?  I mean, the organs are usually very high in nutrition, at least some organs.  And in many cultures, at least some of the organs are considered the best parts of the animal.  Like the eyeballs.  And if we ate eyeballs of cows in the U.S., I would think they would be pretty expensive since each cow only has two.  I mean, you can get how many hamburgers out of a cow?  But only two eyeballs.

Maybe the fact that we don't hunt or raise our own animals to eat, and we don't butcher them ourselves.  It might cost a lot if we had to buy eyeballs but if we owned the cow and were butchering it ourselves it would not cost anymore to eat the eyeballs along with the hamburger.

I bet you wouldn't dump on rooster penis soup.  It probably don't have much sugar in it.

I watch him every once in a while. I just had to laugh when he did the episode for Minnesota. cmon.....venison, leutifisk, wild rice, and a goober burger? that's normal food. lol well....maybe not leutifisk...... I have been to the restaurant that the goober burger was made, My Sisters Place in Grand Marais. they have delicious food and if your there with your sister you get your picture on the wall.

 Kelly, I just stumbled upon a book while looking through my local library's free Kindle downloads.  It looks like the author addresses some of the questions you asked.  Check out The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food - before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food, when the nation's food was seasonal by Mark Kurlansky.   It seems pretty interesting to me. 

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

 Upon further research, it looks like there is another book on the same topic, written before Kurlansky's.   America Eats!:  On the Road with the WPA-the Fish Fries, Box Supper Socials, and Chitlin Feasts that Define Real American Food by Pat Williard.