Exotic Foods: Lychee and Dog Meat Festival

[SilenRose]

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience." - James Beard

I wrote a myTake a couple months back on exotic foods that focused on animals eaten alive. I was debating on whether to add this to the series of "Exotic Foods" since this will cover the consumption of dogs. According to sharecare exotic foods are defined as:

Exotic foods is a term that is applied to culinary items which are considered unusual, novel, or taboo from the perspective of an individual's native culture. To many people living in the United States, eating foods such as reindeer, camel, or guinea pigs may be considered exotic.

Food taboos exist in almost every culture. However, these taboos are never universally recognizable.

Dog's aren't rare but they have taboo title attributed to them when it involves the consumption of them. Now that this has been covered. Let's move on to the main subject. The Yulin Dog Meat Festival!

The festival is actually called the "Lychee and Dog Meat Festival" but is referred to as "The Yulin Dog Meat Festival". It is an annual celebration held in Yulin, Guangxi, China, that will be occurring towards the end of this month (summer solstice). As stated before the festival goers will join in the consumption of eating dog meat and lychees. For those of you not familiar with lychee it is a tropical and subtropical fruit tree native to the Guangdong and Fujian provinces of China. The fruit has an outside red pinkish color with a "delicate, whitish pulp" with a floral smell and a fragrant, sweet flavor.

The Yulin festival spans about ten days during which it is estimated that 10,000–15,000 dogs are consumed. According to Wikipedia, "The tradition of dog meat consumption began over 400 years ago in China. Many believed that dog meat would help ward off the heat felt through the summer months. It wasn't until recent years where the festival in Yulin began". As you may have already guessed the festival has been criticized by animal welfare supporters. Animal rights campaigners in China have acquired and handed in a petition with 11 million signatures calling for an end to the dog-eating festival.

I take no issue with the festival except for the fact that some of the dogs are killed inhumanely and have been abducted from their owners. Most of the dogs are farmed however and local residents claim the dogs are killed humanely. I haven't seen it for myself but some have claimed they've seen the dogs boiled or burned alive. I have seen photos of roasted dogs but that doesn't prove they were alive when it happened.

Supporters of the festival argue that dog meat is good for people and eating canines is no different from consuming any other meat. In a video I will post a reporter briefly talks to a woman who agree's with this sentiment. She mentions that dog meat is cheaper then pork and beef. And that cattle offers a better service then dogs provide.

In conclusion, I'm not here to judge but to share this information. Different culture, different practices. I didn't provide more images because of the graphic nature. As always thanks for reading! <3

#China #Yulin #YulinFestival #DogMeat #YulinDogMeatFestival #ExoticFood #Dogs

[Entruder]

I love Lychees but please please don't fucking butcher dogs for meat :(

[Tea-Spaghetti]

As a Chinese person I find this interesting. I hear dog is recently outlawed in China.