Last year,the Shambala festival made headlines by going meat-free. This year, it relaxed the rules for a feast of grey squirrel skewers and crayfish. Should the rest of us follow suit?At Shambala festival, or during the hottest bank holiday on record,peace and love is approximately to turn sour. I am standing next to author Louise Gray, who is here to talk approximately wild alternatives to mass-produced meat. The cricket brownies are baked; we absorb been skinning squirrels and marinating them in satay, and then decided to unwind by checking out a punk-reggae band in a nearby tent. That is when the singer announces his feelings approximately her presence there. “Last year this festival was 100% meat- and fish-free. Now they’re saying we should eat pests and squirrels,” he spits. “It’s 2017. whether you’re still eating the dead bodies of animals, you need to check your fucking privilege.” The crowd cheers. I am worried we are approximately to be ethically eaten alive.
In the wake of The Ethical Carnivore, and her award-winning account of the year she spent eating roadkill and animals she had killed herself,and investigating abattoirs, Gray received death threats and abuse. Images spring to mind of balaclava-clad activists chucking red paint and righteous invective. “whether it comes down to it, and I am not with you,” I narrate her, gallantly.
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Source: theguardian.com