Today we have the lovely and very funny blogger from Diet Schmiet - when she sent me this blog she was worried it might be in poor taste but I say it’s perfect and raises an interesting point for the meat and non meat eating among us. As I can’t answer right now I’ll just say – I’ll try anything once.

When Rebecca contacted me about this guest post, she suggested that I include a bit of local flavor; me being a blogger from Down Under and all that. I suspect she had visions of me writing about jogging on our pristine beaches; swimming atop colourful reefs; or perhaps hiking through luscious rainforests.

However… on pondering on a theme for today’s post something literally jumped out at me, as it’d been on my mind for a day or two (having been lodged there after reading a tweet from a virtual friend).

In choosing this topic I am possibly alienating Weight Wars’ vegetarian readers and fans of the 1970s Australian TV show Skippy. But, as I am an intrepid blogger, I will venture undaunted into unchartered territory.

Source: www.sharetv.org

You may have already guessed where this is heading but I should seriously warn vegetarians to avert their eyes now for fear of being traumatised by today’s topic.

I’m a self-confessed lover of meat. I grew up on meat and three-vege (if all three veges were potato that is). The thing is however that – if I actually liked or ate vegetables – I could be a vegetarian.

You see, I’m a bit fussy when it comes to my meat. I have a slightly weird aversion to things with bones, so can’t / won’t eat chicken legs, ribs, chops and the like. And when buying meat, I prefer to buy it pre-cut from the supermarket in little sealed packages. Basically I don’t want to have to touch it. And yes, I do realise the irony… that I love meat, but if it looks even vaguely like it did when it was alive I won’t eat it.

Worse still, I actually suffer from the ‘ugh’ factor. Many years ago when visiting my grandparents in the far west of the State, I saw a cow killed and was unable to eat red meat for the remainder of my stay.

And, while I can stomach the concept of ‘mainstream’ animals (cows, sheep, fish and chicken) I shudder at the notion of some international cuisines or delicacies: rabbit, for example. (And I’m seriously not ‘touching’ frogs’ legs – in any sense!) Blech!

Many years ago when I lived in Africa my diet was devoid of meat for long periods of time. I was served the occasional scrawny chicken at work functions and very occasionally braved a butcher for something that was sworn to be beef and not donkey.

I was excited when travelling in Zimbabwe with friends and we came across a large steakhouse of sorts… but once inside I shuddered at much of the menu: zebras, giraffe, rhinoceros and the like (ie. those beautiful creatures we were paying a fortune to see in the wild).

I was shocked. Horrified. Until one of my friends reminded me that WE did the exact same thing in Australia. It was then the mid 1990s and at that stage, really ‘edgy’ restaurants used to serve up crocodile and kangaroo meat. Blech again!

Fast forward lots of years and I now regularly see kangaroo meat in supermarkets. I avoid it in the same manner I avoid offal. (I pretend it doesn’t exist and avert my eyes.)

Source: www.kangaroomeat.net.au

However, kangaroo meat is becoming increasingly promoted as a ‘meat of choice’ here in Oz because it’s high in protein and very low in fat. My extensive research (aka Wikipedia) unearthed some details about the limited harvest allowed by professional hunters with only minimal outcry by animal activists.

A very health-conscious Twitter friend eats kangaroo several times a week and regularly tweets about it – sharing pictures and so forth. Given its availability on mainstream supermarket shelves and increased appearance in recipes, it’s being accepted by more and more everyday Aussies.

I don’t really have a position either way on others’ consumption of kangaroo meat. But I’m afraid I just can’t do it. And not because they’re one of our national icons and appear in our coat of arms. I can’t eat kangaroo for the same reason I should (in fact) be a vegetarian. And for the same reason I couldn’t eat rabbit or crocodile; or rhino or lion… it’s the visual; the image of a furry creature bouncing about the countryside would continue to haunt me. So, even though I know it’s healthier than some of my other choices, I just can’t bring myself to do it.

Of course I’m conscious of my double (triple?) standard by continuing to eat other meat (because, while pigs may be ugly, sheep are kinda cute!).

So I’m wondering, do others find themselves drawing a line with regards to what they will, and won’t, eat?