"A horse, a horse...

... my dinner tastes of horse." - the immortal words not uttered by the recently disinterred Richard III. Like my fellow blogger Viridis Lumen, I was shocked at Cameron's dismissal of the horse meat scandal, Cameron is quoted as saying: "This isn't really about food safety - it's about effective food labelling. It's about proper retail practice." and "there is no reason to believe that any frozen food currently on sale is unsafe or a danger to health".

Cameron deliberately misses the point in a piece of clever political spin that gives cover to the meat industry and the supermarkets. Claiming that horse meat is no better or worse for health than beef may be true but knowing about the provenance of food, especially meat, is the problem.


While I don't eat meat, I understand that some people like to. My problem with meat has always been the appalling treatment of animals by the majority of the meat industry. Not knowing where the meat has come from in terms of factory farming vs free range is bad enough, not knowing which animal you are eating demonstrates a appallingly dismissive attitude that deserves no place in society.

Getting our connection with the world right can be enhanced through food. Knowing where it has come from, catching, picking, growing, preparing and understanding it helps us connect with our environment. Eating random processed animal meat from a plastic tray does not.