A warning from the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) about the consumption of “wild meat” in the face of the global coronavirus pandemic outbreak could compel large numbers of Guyanese to set that particular preference aside at least for as long as the virus persists. Conceivably, the FAO’s refrain could even have a telling impact on what, the Stabroek Business understands, has become a growing local industry.
“People should not handle, slaughter, dress, sell, prepare or consume meat that originates from wild animals or livestock that are sick or that have died from unknown causes,” the FAO advisory declares, adding that “wild meat or uncooked dishes based on the blood of wild animals should not be consumed.” The warning, which appears in a recent FAO advisory titled “Q&A: COVID-19 Pandemic – Impact of Food and Agriculture” can “put some people out of a regular business,” opined a Georgetown restaurant owner who described the sale of cooked wild meat as “a side hustle” for some eating houses in the city. In another invited comment on the recent FAO advisory, an East Coast Demerara businessman, whose entrepreneurial pursuits include wild-meat ‘distribution’ told this newspaper on Monday that news of the FAO’s warning had come as a surprise to him. “I didn’t know that before now,” the businessman, who declined to be named in the story said. “It means that people in the wild meat business will definitely take a hit. It has been a good business for some people,” he added.
