I know he has a reputation of 'fearlessly-eatsitall' to maintain, but to state that eating puppy meat is no more objectionable than eating pork. "In principle, but not in practice, I have no objection to a high-welfare organic puppy farm." seems to go a step too far. Or have I fallen into his trap?

> Or have I fallen into his trap?

Possibly the headline trap :)  I was shocked when I read the headline in the Telegraph this morning too ut on reading the article the full quote shows a much more considered statement

>Asked whether he would try loin of Labrador or cat liver, he told the Radio Times: ''Not unless I was on the point of starvation.

>''In principle, but not in practice, I have no objection to a high-welfare organic puppy farm.

>''You can't object, unless you also object to the farming of pigs. It's an artificial construct of our society, a cultural decision, to make pets out of dogs and meat out of pigs.

and I am not sure you can argue with that.

It is, perhaps, also worth noting this was in response to being asked whether he would eat it.  I suspect the interviewer had rather more of an agenda that he had in this instance.

It does seem to be a bit of a "storm in a tea cup " with the sole intent of whipping people up into a lather over nothing, I also notice Hugh will have a new book and tv series out soon....hmmm, as they say, any publicity is good publicity.

From what I gather - he said he would only eat it if he was starving - it is the principle that we object to eating dog but not pork - after all piglets can be charming too.  It is after following a vegetarian diet for a while - the press love things like this to get people going.  Dog is on the menu in the east after all - I doubt they have high-welfare organic farms!

> any publicity is good publicity

Hit it on the head there Celli

Personally I  agree in principle as I see no difference to one kind of meat to another -if you eat meat why should there be a difference between pig, dog or human? Now the logistics of it are of course very different (killing the animals for meat, rearing them for it -even if I contradict myself there I can live with people doing it with farm animals but I couldn't live with them doing it with dogs), I just don't see why one type of meat would repulse people but not another. It's all dead bodies after all and to me all just as unthinkable and repulsive to eat. But no, rearing them for it -no way.

> I also notice Hugh will have a new book and tv series out soon....hmmm, as they say, any publicity is good publicity

Of course.  Hugh does not seem to shy away from publicity but then that is part of the territory in publishing. 
However, in this instance it seems to be the newspaper that has attempted to make it more shocking.
They could, for instance, have headlined it "Hugh would not eat puppy unless he was starving" .

>I  agree in principle as I see no difference to one kind of meat to another

As I understand it there is more of a health risk with the meat from carnivores than herbivores.

Here's Hugh's statement, showing that as usual the papers have made a mountain out of a molehill:
http://www.rivercottage.net/of-pigs-and-puppies

I thought that was a well considered article, and I have to say, I agree with him.

Ditto.

I did see a feature on TV (Korea I think) that showed a farm breeding dogs for the table and the dogs were kept in quite good 'farm' conditions and there were lots of waggy tails and relaxed looking dogs.

I felt it was not for me to say that they should not be farmed for food if it was done humanely.

The farmer when questioned viewed his own pet dog quite differently.  I could understand it as I used to keep and show Rabbits and I could quite happily make a distinction between my show/breeding stock and the youngsters that were destined for the freezer and I was only in my late teens early 20's and learn how to dispatch buns and prepare them fro the table.

I feel the same about hen's, my own are more pets than anything else, and will be with me until they die of old age, but I have no problem eating chicken, as long as it's been humanly reared. I used to struggle to understand how some cultures could keep dogs as pets but eat them too, until I kept hens.
The biggest problem for me with dog/cat eating is the horrendous cruelty that seems to go along with it, who could forget those photo's of dogs and cats crammed into cages, and thrown from the back of a truck, breaking bones and left to suffer until their times up, but I don't suppose the treatment of other farm animals in those country's is any better

Is it Asia where they revere the cow and us lot are mad for eating them??! Guess it's good ole culture clash again!!

Again with others that as long as humanely reared don't know if I have the right to say no don't eat it! Can understand the differences between pet and "farm reared" being different, hopefully when we finally sell I would love to rear some lambs and go on to eat them, knowing they had a good life.

We keep guinea pigs as pets yet they are eaten in.....oh let me think, nope it's gone!! But they literally just grab them up and eat them. Geography is not my strong point.

Peru! I seem to remember hearing with guinea pigs they cover their fur in some sort of clay when they cook them, to make it fall out.

I think they were domesticated in order to be eaten. Guinea pigs that is.

>I seem to remember hearing with guinea pigs they cover their fur in some sort of clay when they cook them, to make it fall out.

I thought that was hedgehogs?

I was definitely told it was GPs JG, but it could be either! :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_pig#As_food

65 million eaten a year in Peru! Wow. Didn't realise you could eat them in New York though! Mine will stay safe here with their vegetarian owner LOL.

I believe it was not uncommon to eat them here during the war, at least that is what the older Rabbit keepers told me when I was in rabbits.  though Rabbit keeping for meat was encouraged more, with a ration available of grain for each doe if meat was supplied to the butcher. 

My own chikldhood/young adulthood butcher, told me that there is virtually no difference between a cat and rabbit carcass and you always checked to see the kidneys in situ on rabbit to ensure it is one.  Rabbits have one kidney lower than the other, where cats have the parallel.

I remember my grandad buying rabbits and insisting on the head being left on.

>I was definitely told it was GPs JG,

Marianne, you are not the only one that recalls the way you cook them, so I'm pretty sure we remember correctly.  However, I am told that the ribs get caught in your teeth!  :-(   I believe they are very thin bones.  In all my years showing them, I never did fancy tasting one.

But then, I am one of those people that can't eat anything that I've named.  I remember walking out of my parents dining room when I saw goose on the plates!

We ate guinea pig in Peru and that was just skinned and roasted in  a clay oven. I know it's a cliche, but it tastes a lot like chicken, it's quite a mild flavour but very picky to eat with all the little bones. Alpaca on the other hand is absolutely delicious :)
I can eat my own animals as long as I know they are food when I get them. My ewes were big woolly dogs and I could never have eaten them but the lambs they produced were lovely and tender ! My last pair of pigs were named salt and pepper, following on from sage and onion, just so that I don't lose sight of their eventual role in life.
I tell myself that the animals live as good a life as I can give them whilst they are here and feel no real guilt at eating them

Thank you ladies Peru!!!

To be honest freezer is running a bit low at the mo and I could do with a few GP's in the backgarden!!

The things you do to avoid asda trolley dash!!

I think if I raised my own livestock I would feel ok eating them, if it was a pig or similar, and feel better about it than buying one off a shelf where I don't know it was raised well.

I think that's the famous hedgehog dish :-)

Is that rolling them in clay and cooking on the campfire, some sort of gypsy dish or is that just a myth.
reading this reminds me that I shoud go back to being veggie !

sadly for the hedgehog it is true, at least according to my great friend and mentor who says he was served a strange but tasty dish which was later said to be our friend the hedgepig