A new shop has opened in my neighbourhood – all glass and aluminum, with a bright red sign proclaiming “Republic of Chicken.”
Made me happy for the chicken, as a species. Because of modern poultry farming, chicken is plentiful; the cheapest meat. More and more people are eating chicken, and the species is also surviving a lot better.
When I was a boy – the 60s – chicken was a luxury. During my annual holidays at home, in the mofussils of Bihar, I would often take a .22 rifle and go out along the canals in search of jungle fowl (who were attracted to the water). Whenever I did manage to get one and bring it home, everyone was overjoyed; there was a hearty feast.
Today, living in the “Republic of Chicken,” no one has the incentive to hunt for jungle fowl. The market works to protect the wild of the species too.
This logic of using free markets and “animal husbandry” to allow “endangered species” to survive has already worked with crocodiles and emus. In China, there are many tiger farms supplying the need of tiger bones for traditional medicines. If there were more such farms, tiger bones would be cheap, and the incentive for the poacher would be close to zero. Wild tigers would survive.
This logic should be extended across the board to all “wildlife” in India. There can be deer ranches – and venison for dinner. There are lots of other birds apart from chicken that can be reared for the table. We hardly get any turkey in India, but I was told that emu farming has begun.
In India, those who eat meat have nothing to choose from except for mutton, chicken, pork and beef. In Europe, I had a venison steak at an Ikea store; you get partridge, quail and pheasant; and rabbit; you get wild boar; and I was told about a pub that served kangaroo steaks imported from Australia. Crocodile meat jerky is widely sold. Order yours here.
The point worth noting is that the market helps the endangered species to survive.
Now go tell that to the evil western environmentalists who do not want poor people living in Indian and African jungles to make economic use of wild species. They signed a Convention Against International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
They imposed a ban on other species crossing the road that the humble chicken crossed a decade or two ago.
And talking of the chicken crossing the road: here are some great laughs. Ho ho ha ha remains the best medicine.
And for more contrarian views on environmental issues, here is my good friend Christopher Lingle’s excellent piece in today’s Mint against the pseudo-science behind the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): Pachauri & Gang.
Cure your mind of the dreadful paranoia these “government scientists” have fostered. Read Cris’ piece.
i asked a mason once what they did on a Sunday, the only day-off labour has. We watch tv and eat chicken, he told me. This, of course, is in Goa where chicken is very popular. I don't know whether the migrants in the city eat chicken. i doubt it.
ReplyDeleteOne migrant from Rajasthan I know who runs a tea shop in Delhi's Vasant Kunj cooks chicken every Sunday for his wife and family.
ReplyDeleteI also visited a shanty town in central Delhi the other day that had five or six vendors selling dressed and cut chicken in wagonloads for all the poor people to buy for dinner. They did not buy the whole chicken - just the number of pieces they required.
I sincerely doubt whether people from such an income group would ever have eaten chicken regularly in the 60s and before. If at all they ate chicken, it was the straggly birds they kept in the village home.
Though your argument is cleverly presented, I think that all issues can not always be best determined by market forces.
ReplyDeleteWhat would happen if the tiger was put on free market? In fact , despite the ban but because of lax regulation, the market forces have decimated a huge thriving population leaving behind a minuscule one trying to survive against all odds. India is poised for a giant leap in consumerism so it would not be possible to rear enough species to cater to such a burgeoning market. Even if a small proportion of the population decides to consume more, the demand in absolute numbers would be staggering (Pl. refer Rama Bijapurkar's we are like that only....).
I think that the "evil" environmentalists also have another axe to grind! Man is a thinking animal and when other food substitutes are available, he can if he wishes, show a little mercy on the defenseless animals and birds.
Disclaimer: I am not an evil or a holy environmentalist and I do not share my tea/bread/whiskey with them. I only disdain generalizations.
It is very ironic that Turkey is not available in India because I heard from a Turkish friend of mine that in the country of Turkey, the bird Turkey is referred to as "India".
ReplyDeleteTalking about meats, another friend of mine offered me Antelope jerkey the other day, made from Antelopes that he had hunted. I did not eat them, (I am very selective about the meats I eat), and found out that I had made the right choice from others who ended up eating it.
As usual, good post.
Sridhar, if your friend "hunted" the antelope in India - he'd broken the law. While Indian antelope (Blue Bull/ Nilgai) and wild boar may be shot (in certain states) to protect ones crops, it is not permissible to consume the meat of any animal shot in this manner, in fact the carcass is to be deposited with the authorities who are then supposed to destroy it. In India all forms of hunting for meat or sport are expressly banned.
ReplyDeleteComing back to the point Sauvik made in his post, you might be interested to note that while farmers are free to raise exotic game bird species like Japanese Quail etc, they cannot legally raise Indian species like the Partridge, Chukar, Quail, etc. since all of these are covered by the Wildlife protection act. The logic of farm bred game birds lessening the poaching/ netting pressure on wild birds seems to have escaped our lawmakers.
Interestingly enough, "Indian" wildlife can be found in far greater numbers in places like USA & Australia than in India. In these countries private breeders & feral populations thrive to such an extent that there are year round hunting seasons on many such species (Blue Bull, Axis Axis, Chukar etc.).
Cheers!
Abhijeet