Getting “A Head” of Yourself

Getting ‘A Head’ Of Yourself

An article in Wednesday’s Dining Section of the Times discussed something many people would likely be averse to: eating heads of animals. The focus was on a trend currently seen on the menus in Chinese cities whereby “the heads of rabbits, ducks and fish have become popular items.”

Makes sense to me.

Back in the day when I was vegan, I would have been appalled.

But thirteen years later, the last eight of which have been Paleo with no plans to stop, it now seems strange to not eat the whole animal.

A friend of mine, well versed in Native American culture, shared that it would be commonplace to kill an animal, give thanks to it, and the gods, for providing for their own lives and that of their families, and then use every last part of it.

One thing that has remained of utmost importance to me throughout my own trials and tribulations of trying different ways of eating has been the sourcing of animal protein from reliable sources, and not wasting any of it.

I’m the biggest advocate of making double at dinner so as to have a ready made lunch to go the next day; containers to go with half my meal from any given restaurant is also the norm for me as I hate the mere idea of wasting meat.

So, assuming one isn’t vegan and one does eat flesh, why would it make sense to only eat skeletal muscle and discard the rest? Is it just the idea that frightens people?

Look at it this way: if you’ve ever eaten a hot dog or bologna or commercially prepared sausages or burgers, you’ve probably already eaten far worse than the head of an animal.

Nose to tail eating not only makes sense from an ethical standpoint, it works for nutritional benefits as well, as organ meat and marrow are packed with vitamins and minerals not found in skeletal muscle in as high an abundance.

Now… get thee to a plate of brains!