Jul 23 2013

WordPress Photo Challenge: Fresh Guinea Pig


I thought I’d be a bit different for this ‘Fresh’ challenge. I do have pics of fresh fruit and veg, as well as delicious looking drinks, but what about really fresh meat?

It doesn’t come much fresher than this poor guinea pig in a market in Ecuador.

DSCF0841

These fat ones were still happily running around in their pen, waiting to be chosen for the barbecue.

DSCF0667

This one’s luck had just run out. 😦

DSCF0845

To see more entries for the ‘Fresh’ challenge, just click here.

88 comments on “WordPress Photo Challenge: Fresh Guinea Pig”

  3. Like many of your readers, I love guinea pigs, and used to raise them. I had a hard time pressing like – especially with the last picture. I like my meat cut up into tiny pieces so I’m not reminded that it used to be alive.

  4. I have often considered becoming a vegetarian, but I agree it wouldn’t make any difference. I too try not to think of the animal from which my meat came from…

  5. oh, poor Guinea Pig. but but I wonder why this made me feel sad for the poor animal when I have seen a lot of real pigs in such a position. In the Philippines, they are called ‘lechon’. Quite tasty, too. 🙂

  7. Eeekkkk … I totally understand the culture. Hell, we eat animals that others consider sacred. One must do what one must do to survive and to have nourishment. I barely eat meat – maybe, once a week, an don’t really enjoy it. I’m just a little concerned about my nutrition so I muddle through.
    It’s still a GREAT post for the challenge. The pix’s are what counts not the content whether you agree or not.
    Toodles,
    Izzy

    • Thanks, Issy. Yes, you’re right. I don’t eat a lot of meat either, but I couldn’t give it up altogether. Have a lovely weekend. 🙂

  9. Pingback: Weekly photo challenge: Fresh | The (Urban-Wildlife) Interface

  10. I have a pet guinea pig growing up so it was hard for me to look at the last picture. Every culture have it’s way of eating food which is very unusual for some. There are some weird foods in the Phlippines where I grew up. As they say, “It’s an acquired taste.”

  14. Bit challenging eh? In more than one sense of the word.

    I remember reading about guinea pigs being eaten in Latin America years ago. I did wonder if I would end up starving or having to eat them when I made my much anticipated trip there (still haven’t done). I’d probably be able to manage without them tbh.

    I do think some of the reaction to eating guinea pigs are like the knee jerk reaction to eating horse and donkey. But these days it’s very black and white to me. If you eat animals/fish/birds, don’t criticise someone else for the ones they eat. Because the truth is, you haven’t got a leg to stand on for criticising someone else’s culture.

    If you don’t eat animals, you might be in a position to say ‘gosh, I couldn’t eat those cute furry little pets.’ But if you don’t eat animals, you don’t have that perspective anyway. One of your other commenters mentioned hypocrisy. I would say so too, but we all justify whatever we do. We don’t eat dogs or horses, but we eat sheep and cows. We don’t eat meat, but we eat fish and maybe chicken. You get the idea. (I don’t mean me personally because I’ve been veg for more than 20 years).

    Oddly I was thinking about a food post for this one too. Fresh out of the oven. Veg lasagna 😀

    • I think it’s very much a case of “When in Rome, do as Rome does.” We can’t judge another nations’ culture. I still couldn’t eat a guinea pig though. 🙂 Veg Lasagne sounds much more appetising. 🙂

  17. Odd to see what some have as a typical household pet in the states – eaten for dinner.
    I think I’ll pass… 😉

  18. Oh my gosh. I knew they ate guinea pigs in Ecuador, but forced it out of my mind. I used to have pet guinea pigs. I can’t imagine eating them. Yikes. Hope I don’t spot them when I finally go to Ecuador. It’s near the top of my travel list, but I may run amok trying to free them.

  21. Well, on the plus side it looks like they get a pretty good life. Plenty of friends and plenty of space. And they look pretty healthy from this layman’s point of view. More than can be said for a lot of animals that are bred for eating!

  22. I don’t see much difference from eating rabbits, which many do here. It’s all protein. I have more of a problem with beef or pork or chicken after seeing the feed lots they’re raised in and the documentaries on the way they are slaughtered. Quite sickening, that.

  23. Great shots…but oh, poor sweet little ones…My best friend had a guinea pig when we went to school together. Eating pets is not what I like. The thing is, that eating meat gets so much worse if I cannot take away the pictures of a cow’s beautiful eyes or a calf’s unsteady legs, or…Well, I’m sure I will end up a vegetarian sooner or later.

    • Yes, I also try not to think about the live animal. I don’t think that my becoming vegetarian would make much of a difference, so I’ll carry on eating meat. 🙂

  25. I guess I won’t send this post to my husband who still loves his guinea pig Gus from childhood. It is strange, I don’t eat ducks or lamb because I had them as pets. Now free range cattle abut The Holler. They are intelligent, communal, and we have formed a bond with them. How can I justify eating them? I can’t, but I still will because I always have. My friend Junko from Japan eats whale meat when she goes home, which I do not agree with. It is interesting how different cultures pick different animals as pets, and others as food. India probably is the most logical, not eating any animal. But then, what about plants? I love my plants and don’t want rabbits or anyone eating them. We humans are a strange tribe! Great post that brings the hyprocrisy of this issue into the forefront~

    • Thanks, Cindy for a very interesting comment. Who are we to judge another person’s culture? Reminds me of that Robert Owen saying. “”All the world is queer save thee and me, and even thou art a little queer” 😀

  27. Our sensibilities as humans differ across the world and this post admirably illustrates that. I keep Budgies as pets and I know that Aboriginal Australians used to value their young as a delicacy. In Zimbabwe locusts and Grasshoppers are enjoyed freshly caught & fried – me, I’ll stick with the Sadza ne Bhinzi! Now that’s upset the red-blooded meat eaters 😉

  28. We had the same experience in Ecuador and Tanzania. It’s an economical way of getting protein. Definitely fresh cuy. Great choice, Sylvia. 🙂

  29. Oh that’s really not nice. I used to keep guinea pigs when I was younger. Loved the little squeeks, burbles and whistles. They used to be genuinely pleased to see me when I went to their cage. Such affectionate little things. I guess I just don’t like to think of any of the meat we eat Sylvia. I couldn’t give it up but the older I get, the harder it is to face the facts about where this delicious steak or pork chop has come from. An interesting take on the challenge. 😉

  32. Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Fresh (Lambs and Sheep) | What's (in) the picture?

  36. I hadn’t realised they ate the LITTLE fellas! Better not show this to my granddaughters, bad enough their brother makes a point of showing them the rabbits which hang outside our butcher in the winter months! I don’t think they’d cope knowing people eat guinea-pigs as well! Great post for the challenge 🙂

  37. Oh good grief no! I am totally shocked AD! Gross! I can’t believe anyone could eat those cute little furries. Gosh, are they that hungry? 😆

    • So sorry, Sonel. I should have warned you not to venture here today. 😆 It’s a delicacy from the time of the Incas, if that’s any excuse.

      • LOL! Just pulling your leg AD. I know that there are people that eat all kinds of animals and I am quite used to see photo’s of it as well but I do promise you, if that was me taking that shot of the poor GP they wouldn’t have eaten it afterwards..hahahahaha

        Yes, the poor Incas had no choice hey. They weren’t so lucky to have all the choices we have today. 😀

  39. Your entry for “fresh” is absolutely fresh AND unique. I wonder if it tastes like chicken. If there were a prize for Best of WPC: Fresh, it would be awarded to you and your photos.

Comments are closed.