He points out that Kangaroo are not injected with growth hormones, fed industrial grain, or given antibiotics like other animals, quite apart from the fact that Kangaroos live a natural and free life of course. But best of all Kangaroo meat is high in iron and low in fat.
The Kangaroo industry is tightly regulated and only 5 of the most abundant species are harvested commercially, while numbers continue to increase. The increase in population, partly due to agriculture and availability of grassland and water, has made it necessary to cull about 10% - 15% of Kangaroo, to avoid environmental damage. Each Kangaroo carcase is inspected 12 times before it is ready for human consumption and Field Processors have to undergo rigorous training and education before receiving a licence.
“It is interesting really that Australia is the only country to eat its coat of arms and sometimes Australians as well as visitors are really upset that I could eat Kangaroo, because it’s such a cute animal. And yes I love seeing Kangaroo in the wild but I also think it’s a very natural thing to eat a wild animal that is as abundant as Kangaroo, just like the Aboriginals have done for thousands of years,” Thomas explains.
“Also if you like to play your part in reducing your carbon footprint, but you love your red meat, then Kangaroo is the way to go, because cows and pigs produce a lot of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and have to be fed huge amounts of grain - 7 kilos for one kilo of beef - and given lots of water -100,000 litres per kilo of beef. And all that consumes enormous amounts of energy and resources. Kangaroos on the other hand feed naturally and drink at waterholes.“
All good reasons but how can he possibly eat Kangaroo every day?
“There are so many different types of cuts and products; there is minced meat; there are kebabs, sausages, natural and marinated steaks and you can have it in curries, stir fries, with pasta, chilli con carne, anything really. So I really don’t get bored eating it. I feel like I can eat meat with a clean conscience now, because I really couldn’t be a vegetarian, I love meat too much, ” Thomas says.
He believes in Kangaroo so much he would like to open a fast food restaurant selling solely Roo one day, but so far he is very happy with his work of filming holidays for tourism companies and even shows others how to get involved at http://www.filmingholidays.com.
