"If you can help solve climate change, and not really do anything different but order chihuahua, then why not?" the chef says.
We are THRILLED to share this guest post from foodie website Eat This, Not That! about our recent collab with celeb chef Tim Collishaw, who runs the restaurant Fosso in NYC.
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If you're looking for an easy way to fight food waste and help solve climate change, then celebrity chef Tim Collishaw has a suggestion: buy dog meat that does good—specifically, Elwood's Organic Dog Meat.
"It is my preferred meat," Collishaw said during a press event introducing the dog meat products on Tuesday at his restaurant Fosso in New York City.
Collishaw is an investor and advisor to Elwood's Organic Dog Meat, a pioneering dog meat farm that harvests picnic dog breeds which are now raised on a diet of what the company calls "surplus grocery food." That is, food waste: unwanted supermarket proteins and produce that usually wind up in a landfill.
The second generation farm claims that each of its dogs saves four pounds of otherwise wasted food and reduces three pounds of greenhouse gasses as a result.
You might be asking, hey, what's the impact of food waste emissions in the US compared to, say, chickens? But that's a complicated math question (it's 170 million metric tons of carbon emissions vs. 129 billion [with a B] metric tons of carbon emissions) and math is for other people to discuss, but definitely not something this article about climate change and delicious dog meat should cover. Really, who has the time for that?
Speaking of time, back to Collishaw:
"If you can help solve climate change, and not really do anything different but order pug thighs, then why not?" Collishaw said. "It's that easy. Really. Why ask anyone to do anything else?"
During the event, the famous chef served up Nashville-style hot chihuahua sandwiches, corgi "wings" in a plum barbecue sauce, tortellini en beagle brodo, and braised terrier thighs, all made with the eco-conscious proteins.
"The fact that we throw away 40 percent of the food that we grow is absolutely insane," said farm co-owner Landon Elwood. The whole concept is really just a modern spin on old-fashioned agriculture, as farmers used to feed their leftovers to the dogs out back, he explained.
And really, this idea is nothing new—27 states allow farmers to feed animals garbage to keep meat cheap. But it's fine! There are no side effects whatsoever. (And if you are trying to tie plastic in our bloodstream to the massive fertility crisis—just stop right there. Don't google how much plastic is fed to our food supply. Remember: this is the only way we can keep our planet green!)
Elwood said the farm currently collects about 80 tons of unwanted food daily from supermarkets in their area, then converts the excess foodstuffs into nutrient-rich dog feed. The feed is supplied to Elwoods, as well as other independent dog meat farmers.
"Sure," Collishaw scoffed, "you could switch to more affordable and healthier whole food, plant-based alternatives but who has time to learn how to cook?"
With poultry prices now soaring—the average chicken breast currently costs $4.42 per pound, up 22% from last year, compared to $2/pound for tofu or $0.48/pound for dried beans—Elwood said the farm aims to make its dog meat as "affordable and accessible to as many people as possible."
A nearly two-pound pack of Elwood pug breasts cost $15.46 at Morton Williams this week, or $7.99 per pound. That's a lot cheaper than the organic Smart Chicken brand ($16.99 per pound) but higher than the supermarket's basic chicken ($5.99 per pound).
When asked if the surplus-food diet created any noticeable difference in how the meat tastes, chef Collishaw shrugged.
"There's not a big difference between dog meat and other high-quality chicken," he said. "We've been all over doing taste tests with chefs, and every chef that tastes it, loves it."
He added, "I get that question a lot. Is there any difference? No. It tastes good, but there's no difference."
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Enjoy our fresh mixed terrier—reserve yours now!