We of course have our usual patchwork of different local and state laws, and I believe it is outright banned in some parts of the country
But overall, federally, I believe it’s more of an issue that there’s so little demand for it that no slaughterhouse for horses has bothered to open and go through the necessary USDA inspections and such to process horses for human consumption.
I believe, if you really wanted to, you could go slaughter a horse yourself and feed it to your friends and family and be totally in the clear, but if you try to sell that horse meat anywhere you’d have the USDA beating down your door (not a lawyer, don’t go feeding your friends horse based on my understanding of the issue)
As for the cultural reasons that Americans don’t want to eat horses and why it is outright banned in some parts of the country, I can’t really comment on that. I’d eat a horse and wouldn’t feel the least bit bad about it.
In the US it’s seen as taboo to eat animals that provide labor or companionship to humans, it’s almost like a betrayal. This includes horses, donkeys, dogs and cats.
The Tongans around here used to eat l, and probably still do, eat horse. I was working graveyard with a guy and he offered some of his food. Turns out it was a horse meat dish cooked in milk to tenderize it. It was sweeter then beef, wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great either. At least cooked like that.
In the US at least it’s sort of a legal grey area
We of course have our usual patchwork of different local and state laws, and I believe it is outright banned in some parts of the country
But overall, federally, I believe it’s more of an issue that there’s so little demand for it that no slaughterhouse for horses has bothered to open and go through the necessary USDA inspections and such to process horses for human consumption.
I believe, if you really wanted to, you could go slaughter a horse yourself and feed it to your friends and family and be totally in the clear, but if you try to sell that horse meat anywhere you’d have the USDA beating down your door (not a lawyer, don’t go feeding your friends horse based on my understanding of the issue)
As for the cultural reasons that Americans don’t want to eat horses and why it is outright banned in some parts of the country, I can’t really comment on that. I’d eat a horse and wouldn’t feel the least bit bad about it.
Apparently you guys slaughter quite a lot of horses, but you probably just export the meat, mostly.
In the US it’s seen as taboo to eat animals that provide labor or companionship to humans, it’s almost like a betrayal. This includes horses, donkeys, dogs and cats.
It used to be found in a lot of cheap canned dog food, but now most dogs eat better than I did as a kid.
The Tongans around here used to eat l, and probably still do, eat horse. I was working graveyard with a guy and he offered some of his food. Turns out it was a horse meat dish cooked in milk to tenderize it. It was sweeter then beef, wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great either. At least cooked like that.