A new term for a long and storied tradition of eating roadkill. Personally, I prefer my meat unseasoned by vulcanized rubber or fiberglass, and un-marinated by radiator fluid, but whatever floats your boat. Waste not, want not.
9 thoughts on “Freeganism?”
Comments are closed.
NotClauswitz grew-up where cow-patties that dried in the sun were freely gathered too – and considers this form of free-jerkey is for the jerks. Want some pin-worms with that?
As with so many things, discretion is the better part of valor. I’ve been told this is common in Alaska, and guys up there keep a dedicated chainsaw filled with vegetable oil instead of bar oil, for breaking down moose. The key is freshness and temperature. Any temps over 70 degrees and the window of opportunity is narrow, but at winter temps, you’d be racing the clock to beat a freezing carcass. As long as you are careful not to keep any bloodshot meat, the danger of contamination is low- and that is no different than hunting. This is a good thing- meat is meat, and leaving good food in the bar pit to rot is a shame.
Roadkill moose and such in AK go to charity, generally speaking. People who are hard-up can get put on a list – when something appears, you get a call and you’re suiting up to go field dress it out at 3 in the morning, though some areas have dedicated volunteers for that task as well. Some meat may also go to food banks/shelters, depending.
I have eaten many road killed deer. Not all roadkill is roadpizza. Many are actually pretty much intact. The last roadkill deer I butchered died of trauma to the head and was otherwise unmarked. I do restrict my salvage to deer I have seen being hit by cars or to animals brought by the people who hit them. You can think what you like about roadkill but it provides wholesome food for folks like me, who are willing to butcher and preserve it. But then, what do know, I’m just an ignorant hick form the sticks. I’m sure all you city folks are lots smarter than I am.
I don’t look down on it, but it’s not something I’d do myself, personally. Much like I won’t eat squirrel, even though I’ve heard good things about squirrel. Sure, if I were hungry enough, but I draw the line at rodents.
When people think road kill they think flattened animals on the side of the road. They probably just changed the laws that allow you to keep a deer or other large animal you kill while in your car. In most cases you hit a deer, you call the police, and then they make a report of it or dispatch it if it is alive but unable to live a normal life. Like broken legs, massive head trauma, shattered rib cage, basically if you find the animal lying on the ground and screaming in pain it’s usually a good idea to put it out of it’s misery.
I would assume in Montana it changes the laws that make it illegal to take home deer killed outside of the hunting season, or something along those lines. Most of this “freeganism” stuff was probably made up by someone having a laugh. Or made up by the media peoples.
The last quote gets me. If its FRESH road kill, how exactly is it anything unlike hunting? Does the FDA really have to inspect ALL of our food? Sounds expensive, wasteful, and stupid to me.
I’ve had one ‘road kill’ deer, and it was one I hit myself, a really stupid young doe that ran out in front of me. I was already slowing down and laying on the horn. The impact busted her pelvis, but the internal organs were all intact. I waited there 45 minutes for a conservation officer to drive across the county to give me a tag for it and tell me I could shoot it myself to save him the paper work on discharging his firearm.
The meat was in every bit as good a condition as if she’d been shot with a shotgun slug.
I think in Michigan, the cops will give you a tag to take home a road-killed deer. My cousin in Alaska is “on the list” for the State Police to call in case of a road-killed moose; not all go to soup kitchens.
Same here in Minnesnowta…if we see a road-kill, just call the county sheriff or the Highway Patrol, and they’ll be able to issue a tag for the DNR to use in tracking it.
I’ve picked up a couple of road-kill deer over the years. The only problem is if they got body-hit…you have to get rid of all of the meat that was heavily bruised or the blood in it does something nasty to the meat. Most of the road-kill I’ve helped salvage were hit in the head or the front quarter, which means you lose that shoulder roast.
I keep a plastic tarp and a good knife in all the vehicles (except the motorcycle) just in case we get an opportunity.
I know some people who used to follow the Greyhound buses from Grand Marais down to Duluth, just to pick up fresh venison. The road runs mostly between the hills to the north and Lake Superior to the south, and the deer often come down to go to the lake. Roadkill is pretty common there.