# Giving roadkill to food banks - how is this a thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 5, 2024, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298 "2024-08-05T21:58:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/21 "2024-08-05T23:00:23Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You are missing the vast majority of human history when people didn’t have “prompt refrigeration” and survived eating meat that was a few hours old just fine. ??? 🤔 I am not a hunter nor a butcher, but I’m baffled why there’s no mention so far in this thread of the need to “hang” a carcass after slaughter/field dressing and before butchering. If you eat meat that’s just “a few hours old”, you’re getting the rigor-mortis version. I suppose if you kill an animal and immediately hack off a slice to cook right away, you can dodge some of the toughness, but AFAICT it’s absolutely standard to age a dressed carcass for at least a couple days, and up to a couple weeks, between killing and butchering, at temps slightly above freezing. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/22 "2024-08-05T23:04:53Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > If you eat meat that’s just “a few hours old”, you’re getting the rigor-mortis version. Rigor mortis is a passing phase that lasts only a few hours. My point is that people always have eaten meat that was _more_ than a few hours old outside of a refrigerator. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/23 "2024-08-05T23:05:24Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > My point is that people always have eaten meat that was _more_ than a few hours old outside of a refrigerator. Oh. True, true. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/24 "2024-08-05T23:08:44Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I am not a hunter nor a butcher, but I’m baffled why there’s no mention so far in this thread of the need to “hang” a carcass after slaughter/field dressing and before butchering. I didn’t mention it specifically, but that’s what I was referring to when I said that it was much fresher than the meat city-folk eat. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/25 "2024-08-05T23:08:51Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Freshness isn’t the only concern. How do you determine on the roadside that the animal didn’t have parasites or an infection that could taint the meat? I’m legitimately asking. Well, sometimes when you butcher the animal you can see parasites… but more often you can’t. Which is why game meat should be cooked until well done, to kill any parasite that might be on board. Don’t eat game animals that died of natural causes. Don’t eat animals that even if killed by collision with a vehicle are wasted, covered in sores, or otherwise clearly unhealthy. Part of butchering/inspecting a game animal you’ve killed is looking for signs of disease in things like the lungs. Can you be 100% sure? No. Guess what - the meat you buy at the store isn’t 100% guaranteed to be safe, either. That’s why you get recalls of meat from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/26 "2024-08-05T23:15:52Z")
All wildlife have parasites and diseases. All. Of. Them. Hanging deer is not done in Arkansas except to clean it. The blood is drained, it’s immediately wrapped and frozen. If you live in a colder climate during the season YMMV. Cooking kills the bugs(except prion). Then you’re eating cooked bugs and worms. Yuk. Not me. You bring me some venison I’ll be glad to cook it for you. But I ain’t eating. It’s all for you🙄 I like my meat to have that nice purple stamp on it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/27 "2024-08-05T23:21:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I didn’t mention it specifically, but that’s what I was referring to when I said that it was much fresher than the meat city-folk eat. But I mean, you don’t want your meat “fresh” in the sense of not adequately aged, right? I would far rather eat beef or venison from a carcass that was killed two weeks ago (assuming proper dressing/hanging/butchering procedures in the meantime) than one that was killed two hours ago; I need to be able to finish chewing it sometime today. 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/28 "2024-08-05T23:21:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > City folk might think country attitudes are weird, but the feeling is absolutely mutual. City folks are people who don’t have road-flares in their trunks, right? I used to think those were standard, like spare tires and jacks. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/29 "2024-08-05T23:29:07Z")
Huh? I’m in the country. No roadside flares in my car. I have a roadside light. Came with the emergency kit in the car. So last century 😀 ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/30 "2024-08-05T23:30:19Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > City folks are people who don’t have road-flares in their trunks, right? I used to think those were standard, like spare tires and jacks. I live in a largish city and both our cars are equipped with flares, fire extinguishers, etc. Just seems like common sense. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/31 "2024-08-05T23:34:23Z")
I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/32 "2024-08-05T23:38:25Z")
Knowing a lot of hunters in Minnesota and Wisconsin I know the cost of processing the meat by a butcher is not cheap. If they are donating the meat to food pantries who is paying the cost of the processing? The state? The pantry? Donated services by the butcher? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/33 "2024-08-05T23:41:56Z")
This food bank > **[Cooking Roadkill for the Homeless & Needy — OK Whatever](https://www.okwhatever.org/topics/wtf/cooking-roadkill-for-the-homeless)** > > A handful of programs around the country serve roadkill animals as food instead of letting them go to waste. says they handle the butchering themselves; I take that to mean that they have a butcher or butchers on staff ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/34 "2024-08-06T00:00:36Z")
I’ve shot and ate 3 elk and eaten parts of many others, mostly quite rare. If I had a head-strike hit on an elk or deer in my truck I wouldn’t hesitate to take it home and butcher it. Those seriously worried about parasites should look at the hunting statistics. Hunters “harvest” hundreds of thousands of animals each year and there is no epidemic of prion disease or parasites. That non-farmed salmon you just bought? A wild animal. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/35 "2024-08-06T00:02:26Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > with the farmed animal the interval before it goes into refrigeration is much shorter, is it not? Refrigeration doesn’t bring decay processes to a total stop. It just slows them down. Meat from an animal that took a few hours to get to a refrigerator isn’t necessarily less fresh than meat that’s been refrigerated for weeks. I’ve hit a deer and, not being equipped to field dress it on the spot, donated it when the police officer who responded to the scene asked me whether I wanted to donate it. I’m also happy to eat venison; and would be happy to eat moose, but we don’t have any around here. I don’t expect the food banks are providing “mystery meat”. I expect they provide it labeled as venison or moose or whatever, just as if they provide farmed meats they’re labeled as pork or beef or whatever they are. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/36 "2024-08-06T00:13:19Z")
Hell, spare tires aren’t even standard. Last three cars we bought just came with a can of fix-a-flat and an air compressor. And, come to think of it, I’m not even sure any of them came with a jack. I do remember buying one for the latest car. I can’t remember about the other two. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/37 "2024-08-06T00:29:04Z")
[This story](https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/113971?m=false) from University of Montana Journalism is from 2014. It discusses some of the issues involved with “Feasting On Roadkill” _“Montana passed a recent law allowing people to pick up dead animals on the side of the road and eat them. Producer Madelyn Beck’s story goes there.”_ ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/38 "2024-08-06T00:33:28Z")
Interesting thread. This reminded me of a discussion I had when I was on a photo vacation in Newfoundland. Restaurants, hunters and food banks can all apply for a license there which allow them to donate/sell (in the case of hunters) and accept (in the case of restaurants and food banks) wild game. Roadkill rules seem to vary from place to place. If it’s just killed, I don’t see it as being all that much difference from being shot. Just err on the side of caution for it. I’ve eaten hunted meat at people’s homes and in restaurants. Never got sick from it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/39 "2024-08-06T00:44:18Z")
Every state’s game commission is different. Pennsylvania’s are strict, Ive deal with them. A guy I know, but do not like, hit a deer a few winters ago. Ruined a headlight but only struck the deer’s head. He pulled off the road, quickly gutted the animal, and got it into his truck’s bed. He took the deer home and hung it from his porch roof (not an uncommon sight around here). But it wasn’t deer season. He skinned it and did a crude butcher job. Meanwhile, a neighbor reported him. Game commission came and cited him for taking a deer out of season. The fact he’d hit it didn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298/40 "2024-08-06T00:45:34Z")
To me, and believe me I’ve ‘butchered, cleaned, watched gutting, seen vats of blood’ so much wild meat it’s kinda sad, it’s the yuck factor. The yuck yuck yuckiness. I can’t even tell you the smell, the cleaning the silver skin, the scraping fat, the hair, fins, scales, skin plus the obvious worms and veins. There’s no way I’d eat that shit. Even tho’ apparently I can cook it well. Add the fact it was hit by a vehicle, then you have large blood clots and bone shards. Nope. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-roadkill-to-food-banks-how-is-this-a-thing/1005298.md?page=3)