Robin Speer
August 20, 2008
There’s an interesting story gaining some traction in Canada this
week.

According to Reuters, officials in India are encouraging people to eat
rats instead of rice to alleviate some food shortage concerns. But
that’s not the most intriguing part:

“Eating of rats will serve twin purposes — it will save grains from
being eaten away by rats and will simultaneously increase our grain
stock,” Vijay Prakash, an official from the state’s welfare
department, told Reuters.

Officials say almost 50 percent of India’s food grains stocks are
eaten away by rodents in fields or warehouses.

The story has been picked up by the Canadian media. Here’s some
commentary from Kevin Hursh that runs on the daily ag radio in western
Canada:

It’s estimated that nearly 50 per cent of India’s grain stocks are
eaten by rodents, either in the field or when the crop is being stored
in warehouses. According to a report this week by Reuters news...