Rabbit meat has not become one of the main sources of human meat, and it is also affected by many factors. Let's discuss it briefly here.
What is the nutritional value of rabbit meat? Every100g of rabbit meat: calories102kcal, cholesterol 59mg, protein19.7g, fat 2.2g, carbohydrate 0.9g. ..
Every100g beef: calories 125 kcal, cholesterol 84 mg, protein19.9g, fat 4.2g, carbohydrate 2.2g. ..
Every100g of chicken: calories167kcal, cholesterol106mg, protein19.3g, fat 9.4g, carbohydrate10.3g. ..
Pork per100g: calories 395 kcal, cholesterol 80mg, protein13.2g, fat 37g, carbohydrate 2.4g. ..
From the above main nutritional indicators, rabbit meat is comparable to beef and superior to chicken and pork. If you are a bodybuilder who gains muscle and loses fat, rabbit meat is definitely one of the best choices in terms of nutritional value. However, nutritional value is not the only factor that determines which food will become our main meat.
There are thousands of birds, animals, flowers and plants in the world, but few of them can really become the main source of meat for human beings. Most animals and plants, including rabbit meat, cannot become the main food for human beings, which of course involves many reasons. The following views are just a sentence from Yuhang Army for your reference!
Reason 1: Rabbit meat failed to become the main meat, which may be the result of human long-term choice of the main meat source. Human's choice of staple food is influenced by natural laws and has its inherent logic. Jared, an American scholar, explained this choice in his book Guns, Germs and Steel-the Destiny of Human Society.
Cattle, sheep and pigs, as the main meat sources of human beings, are mostly herbivores or omnivores. Why is this happening?
Because the cost of raising carnivores is higher. Carnivores need to eat herbivores, and humans must provide them with herbivores, so the cost of feeding goes up. It is better to breed herbivores directly.
In addition, raising herbivores should also consider the personality characteristics of captive animals. For example, antelopes are sensitive in character, and even in captivity, they are more likely to cause commotion and escape. However, after human captivity, most cattle, sheep and pigs become docile and easy to reproduce.
Third, human beings may need to consider the meat rate when choosing meat. The same is to catch an animal or raise an animal, of course, hoping to get more meat. At first, the meat production of wild rabbits may not be high.
Judging from the above three selection conditions, rabbits are definitely not high enough in the initial list of human flesh substitutes.
The second reason: the cost and benefit of raising rabbits are not as good as that of cattle, sheep and pigs. The first is meat production. Yu Hangjun checked the meat production of major carnivores at present, as follows:
The meat yield of pigs is about 70%~80%, that of cattle is about 35%~50%, and that of sheep is about 40%~55%.
What is the meat yield of rabbits? At present, the number of specially bred meat rabbits can also reach 40%~50%. However, many people who have had experience in raising rabbits believe that the meat production of rabbits will be much lower than that of cattle, sheep and pigs. In addition, the internal organs of rabbits are not liked by most people, which further reduces the consumption of rabbit meat.
Secondly, the difficulty of breeding. Compared with cattle, sheep and pigs, the feeding process of rabbits may need to be more detailed. For example, rabbits eat soaked pig grass, which is easy to have diarrhea and even die.
The third is the market size. Let's look at a set of data:
In 20 18, China will produce 54 million tons of pork, while China will import pork from abroad. In 20 14 years, the total output of rabbit meat in the world was only 2 million tons.
In 20 12 years, the per capita consumption of rabbit meat in China was less than 0.4 kg. In 20 18, the per capita pork consumption in China was 40 kg, and in 20 19, the average annual beef consumption in China was 5.95 kg, and the average annual mutton consumption was 3.76 kg.
It can be seen that the market size gap between free meat and pork is very wide. Because the market is not attractive enough, the small market scale further limits the commercial production of rabbit meat.
Reason 3: Influenced by the traditional concept of diet. Rabbit meat has not become the main meat, which is also related to cultural traditions. For example, in China, the consumption of rabbit meat is mainly concentrated in Sichuan, Chongqing and Guizhou. Spicy rabbit head and rabbit meat hot pot are famous dishes in Sichuan. But in other parts of China, it may not be so popular, and at most it is in a state of "eat or not eat".
In some places in southern China, there is even a saying that "women are not suitable for eating rabbit meat" on the grounds that "rabbit meat affects fertility" and giving birth to children will lead to "rabbit mouth" (that is, cleft lip and palate). In Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, even fewer people like rabbit meat.
Of course, consumers will also consider the price when buying meat. A catty of beef is about 50~60 yuan, mutton is about 80 yuan, pork is about 40 yuan, and rabbit meat is more than 80 yuan. An unpopular meat, which costs more, is definitely not good for people's table.
Finally, let's talk about the taste. Some people think that rabbit meat is not delicious, but others think that rabbit meat is tender and different. Because rabbit meat is not popular, most families are not good at cooking rabbit meat, which further reduces the attractiveness of rabbit meat. However, Yu believes that on the whole, the taste of rabbit meat does not constitute the main reason for its "not becoming the main meat", but at most it is a secondary reason.
Dietary tradition, market scale and long-term choice of human beings are the reasons why rabbit meat has not become the main meat of human beings. Perhaps, for rabbits, this is their luck!