My kingdom for... a leek?

The horsemeat-in-burgers scandal has been running for a couple of weeks now but today's headline caught my attention as I made my way to another meeting at the soon-to-be-opening Surplus Food Cafe.

The discovery of substantial amounts of horse in beefburgers has occasioned a good deal of debate about why these animals are not considered acceptable as food in many countries in the West. 'We' eat cows and sheep but not horses or goats, we eat rabbits and pigs but not squirrels or guinea pigs, and these conventions seem arbitrary.

Another discussion has revolved around the fact that the contaminated burgers are the cheapest, so-called value lines, aimed by supermarkets at people who can't afford a better quality product. (The ASDA burgers referred to in the above headline cost £1.75 for 8, believe it or not. Would anyone seriously consider buying them unless forced by poverty?)

There's another issue that's pertinent though, which is why do we need to eat so much meat and can we continue to do so? I am not advocating vegetarianism (my views on meat-eating are contained in a comment on this blip if you are interested.) But we cannot afford the land (and the destruction of forests) for raising meat animals, nor the use of land to grow feed crops, nor the profligate use of antibiotics and other drugs to keep them healthy...and so on, if the population of the world is not to run out of food.

The menu we will be offering in our cafe will not be vegetarian but will be 'meat-lite' if you like. Part of our remit is to demonstrate a sustainable diet and to show that it's possible to stretch a little meat to go a long way. Our gathering today was for the team that will be working the Wednesday shift: chef, sous-chef, front of house and prep room worker (all volunteers). To focus our minds, the surplus food forager (she who collects the outdated perishables from shops and suppliers) produced today's haul. Well, it wasn't much: a few limp leeks, some packets of beetroot, an onion or two and a head of garlic. Borscht would be their obvious destiny but discussion ensued on whether we'd be able to use bones for stock; and if butchers were prepared to give us bones would they meet food safety requirements; could we describe them as 'meat with bone' for the necessary record keeping?
Will fish trimmings be acceptable and how can we source them?
What about eggs: producers are not allowed by law to sell any with soiled shells but will we be allowed to use them?
A local cheese producer offers mis-shapes to pig farmers - can we have them instead?
And so on.

When the old wartime Waste-Not/Want-Not ethic meets present-day hygiene standards there are bound to be differences of opinion and some inventive thinking is required. One thing is certain though, discarded horse burgers will not be on our menu.