Reconsidering the Food Value of Wild Animals

(from "ISANA" No. 8, 1993)

Yoshihiro Hayashi
 Professor University of Tokyo


Many who hear about whale meat working wonders on curing atopic dermatitis may take such stories with a pinch of salt. Perhaps they are reminded of the popular belief among the Japanese that the dried powder of the habu, a poisonous snake common in Okinawa, has a rejuvenating effect. To be sure, the Japanese have a reverence for wild animals and feel that consuming their flesh offers some kind of magical strength.

With regard to whale meat, however, the situation is rather different. Discoveries at various archaeological sites suggest that whale meat has been consumed in Japan since primitive times. Furthermore, after the acceptance of Buddhism in Japan, which prohibited the consumption of flesh from four-legged animals, whale meat became an important source of protein. It has only been in the last decade that whale meat has become scarce; but this, of course, from a historical perspective, is a mere blinking of the eye.

Unfortunately, however, people tend to have short memories. Since the emergence of humans and their forebears about a million years ago, hunger has been a constant problem. We are apt to develop diabetes because our bodies are built to withstand food deprivation, but we are not designed to cope effectively with an excess of nutrients.

Nonetheless, we tend to be oblivious to the importance of food production in this era of overeating, which is of course a mere instant in the total history of mankind. As for whale meat, its extreme scarcity may eventually make it as valuable as the dried powder of the habu snake.

How can we prevent this from occurring? The answer may lie in attracting attention to its importance and usefulness. Fortunately, whale meat is a good foodstuff and is able to prevent many adult diseases: it is tasty and rich in iron and polyunsaturated fatty acids. I have also heard of cases, although they may not have been scientifically explained, where children who develop allergic reactions to animal meat, fish, eggs, and beans show no hypersensitive reactions to whale meat. This fact verifies the importance of preserving the diversity of available foodstuffs.

Those who promote the consumption of whale meat and the meat of other wild animals used to be criticized as though they were the main enemies of environmental health. Nowadays, however, this simplistic view is being replaced by an increasingly positive interest in the utilization of surplus wild animals, while conserving the environment. It will be possible for us to continue using wild animals for food as long as their reproductive capacity as biological system is considered. This is an opportune moment for reconsidering, from a broader perspective, the value of the meat of whales and other wild animals as foodstuffs.

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