Alea iacta est

The Other White (or Red) Meat

Pupils taught to eat whales

JAPAN has introduced an education program into primary and secondary schools to teach students to eat whale meat.
Almost 60,000 whale meals were served at 280 schools during the program's first three months in the Wakayama province, south-west Japan.

The program has proved so successful, education chiefs are considering making it national.

"We'd love to expand to all over Japan because it's part of Japanese food culture," said education board spokesman Tetsuji Sawada.

" We want to tell our children, 'this is part of your culture', and we want to protect it."

Heh. If it's cultural, I guess we have no cause to complain...

Naga principal Makoto Taniwaki has enthusiastically taken up the education board whale lunch program because: "I want my students to know the (cultural) value of whale meat".

Many of his students had never eaten whale meat until its inclusion on the school menu.

Fried whale has proved the most popular so far, but schools are also serving whale schnitzel, whale meat on spaghetti, whale meatball soup, sweet and sour whale and whale hamburger.

Hell, put it in a meat pie, and now you're talking!

Inside the Naga school cafeteria, Yuri, 17, trying whale for the second time in her life, notes "it tastes like chicken".

"My parents were really surprised when I told them we could order a whale meal at school and my mother wants me to tell her what it tastes like," she said.

The education board believes whale meat is a healthy choice for growing bodies.

"It's a good source of protein, it's low in calories, has less fat than other meats and less cholesterol," Mr Sawada said

Well, who can argue with that?

Posted by Quentin George at June 26, 2005 09:04 AM