Baby food

Last week, I discussed an article from The Conversation regarding the advances in meat preservation (refrigeration and canning) in the Victorian era that led to much greater meat consumption in England (and, presumably, elsewhere).

The author noted that there was a bit of push back against imported meat, however, which included this rumour:

In my archival research, I’ve even discovered concerns that boiled human babies were entering the food chain.

By coincidence, I've noticed two other reference to baby eating recently in Netflix shows I've been watching:  Fargo (season 3, which is very eccentric), in which a Russian bad guy talks about parents eating babies during the famines; and The Alienist, with a serial murderer writes a ranting letter about filthy foreigners eating babies.(Or was it kids generally?  I could be wrong there..)

This is a topic of which I know little.  Googling it comes with various bits of information of some interest:

*  some sites note it as a form of the old Jewish blood libel.  It's sort of funny how the rumour was easily transferred from Jews to Christians as the villains.  From a 1976 article:

How come with Christians it became specifically babies?  And then, with Christians, the accusations became of Jews using the blood of children, not babies.   All peculiar, how it changed over time.

*  As for Russians and famine - there are plenty of horrible photos on line, but it would seem anyone (children in particular?) was at risk of being eaten, not specifically babies.

*  More recently, it's the Chinese in particular who have been in the firing line, in significant part because of a stupid performance artist who had photos taken of him eating a fetus, leading Snopes to run an article "Fact Check:  Are human fetuses 'Taiwan's hottest dish'?"  (Most people doubt it was a real fetus in the pics.)

Apparently, this story did a big sweep through tabloids back in 2001, leading to Taiwanese officials complaining to a Malaysian publication:

Government officials have filed a complaint with a Malaysian weekly tabloid that published an unsubstantiated story that an unnamed local restaurant had served human fetuses and the bodies of babies to its customers.

The publication has promised to publish a correction in its next issue.

But there are many other stories on the 'net - usually from tabloid-ish or otherwise unreliable sources - claiming that Chinese doctors eat aborted fetuses for good health (or sexual virility!) 

I have complained before that one big thing that really needs to change about Chinese culture is its stupid belief that eating certain animals gives particular vitality or health benefits.   If people there would spend less time interested in consuming rare and endangered animals for illusory benefits, maybe they would also stop being targetting for rumours of fetus eating, too.

Anyway, this is an unpleasant topic.  Moving on...