Blueberries were on sale at City Market the other day. It’s not something I can normally afford, on my food budget, but I decided to splurge.
Back at home, munching my little treat, I noticed that each blueberry had a slightly unique flavor. Some were more tart; some were sweeter; some bland tasting.
I wondered if people are the same way? I mean, do we all taste different, if properly cooked and served?
I don’t expect to find an answer, even with access to Wikipedia and a myriad other informational websites. And people don’t generally discuss it on social media, for some reason.
What you can easily find, on the internet, is documentation of various species engaging in cannibalism. Lions. Bear. Fish. Snakes. Amphibians. Insects. Slugs.
The praying mantis is the poster child for situations where a certain romantic event usually concludes with a meal. Females mantises often eat their male partner following sex, and as a result, they experience improved fecundity, overall growth, and enhanced body condition. For the female. (The male experiences something very different.)
A study on the Chinese mantis found that cannibalism occurred in up to 50% of matings. So if you’re a male praying mantis, you’re, like, rolling the dice. But maybe the female has reasons for her decision? I will let the reader imagine what those might be.
Just to be very clear, I am not advocating for humans to adopt praying mantis behaviors. But I think there’s a compelling case to be made for a certain type of cannibalism.
Some of the last known cannibalistic tribes live in Papua New Guinea, where some tribes (historically) ate a family member who had died, as a sign of respect. Why let a loved one’s body be eaten by worms and maggots, when it could be eaten by the people who loved him?
I would not be opposed to having my body treated that way, if there were actually people who loved me. As things stand at the moment, the job would be left to my cat, Roscoe.
But the compelling case I want to address, concerns warriors killed in battle.
Certain tribes in Papua New Guinea believed (or maybe, still believe) that the spirit of an enemy warrior, killed in battle, would haunt the victorious party unless the enemy’s body were eaten by the victor. Sort of a sign of respect, for the person you killed. And as personal protection from a potentially evil spirit.
My point in bringing up this religious belief is a bit complicated. I don’t know, one way or the other, if it’s true that an enemy killed in battle can haunt you unless you eat them. We do know that soldiers often return from war, haunted by a mental disturbance labeled “PTSD” by psychologists. Could this be the victim’s spirit, disturbing the survivor’s mind?
Your guess is as good as mine.
But there’s a much more practical reason for reviving this type of cannibalism.
Let’s say, we made a new rule that a person had to eat anyone they killed.
What would happen to the wars now taking place around the globe? What if Russian soldiers had to eat any Ukrainian killed? And Ukrainian soldiers had to eat the Russians?
I’m thinking also of Palestine and Israel. And Sudan… Myanmar… Yemen… Haiti… Pakistan… Mali…
And mass shootings at American shopping malls, and high schools.
How long does it take to eat a person? I mean, we’re not talking about a light snack. A healthy person weighs, what… 150 pounds? 200 pounds? A typical serving of beef hamburger is like, a quarter pound. At that rate, it would take me over six months to eat someone I had killed in battle.
Instead of spending my time fighting, I would spend my time eating.
Tell me that wouldn’t make the world a better place.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.