WorldMozaic - Venezuela Asks Citizens to Eat Rabbit to Overcome Crisis.
The Venezuelan government launched a program to consume rabbit in an effort to tackle the food and economic crisis.
AFP news agency reported, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appointed Freddy Bernal, as head of the Venezuelan Government food program. To his citizens, Maduro explained, the government will program massive rabbit breeding to meet the needs of meat that is now a luxury in Venezuela. "Rabbits have been shown to produce high animal protein, because rabbits breed like a rabbit," Maduro said jokingly.
Meanwhile, Freddy Bernal urged Venezuelans to consume rabbits for the program to succeed. "Rabbits are not pets," Bernal said. "Two and a half pounds of high-protein, low-cholesterol rabbit meat, to be served on the dinner table," he continued in a television program.
It needs to be explained, Freddy Bernal, for having had a bitter experience introducing rabbits among the poor in the slums. The rabbit is not to be slaughtered, but stroked and kept as a pet. "We have a culture problem, considering rabbit as a funny animal and not a consumed one."
Meanwhile, the rabbit consumption program sparked protests by opposition groups. Henrique Capriles mentions, Nicolas Maduro's joke is not a funny one. "Maduro thinks the Venezuelan people are stupid," he said.
The economic crisis of Venezuela is getting worse. According to the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, Venezuelan inflation has reached 720 percent. This means that low-paid Venezuelan citizens can not afford to buy meat, which price of a kilogram meat equal to 10 percent of their salary. A survey conducted early in 2017 showed that 75 percent of Venezuela's population lost an average of 8.7 kilograms due to nutritional deficiencies because of the economic crisis.
The Venezuelan government launched a program to consume rabbit in an effort to tackle the food and economic crisis.
AFP news agency reported, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appointed Freddy Bernal, as head of the Venezuelan Government food program. To his citizens, Maduro explained, the government will program massive rabbit breeding to meet the needs of meat that is now a luxury in Venezuela. "Rabbits have been shown to produce high animal protein, because rabbits breed like a rabbit," Maduro said jokingly.
Meanwhile, Freddy Bernal urged Venezuelans to consume rabbits for the program to succeed. "Rabbits are not pets," Bernal said. "Two and a half pounds of high-protein, low-cholesterol rabbit meat, to be served on the dinner table," he continued in a television program.
It needs to be explained, Freddy Bernal, for having had a bitter experience introducing rabbits among the poor in the slums. The rabbit is not to be slaughtered, but stroked and kept as a pet. "We have a culture problem, considering rabbit as a funny animal and not a consumed one."
Meanwhile, the rabbit consumption program sparked protests by opposition groups. Henrique Capriles mentions, Nicolas Maduro's joke is not a funny one. "Maduro thinks the Venezuelan people are stupid," he said.
The economic crisis of Venezuela is getting worse. According to the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, Venezuelan inflation has reached 720 percent. This means that low-paid Venezuelan citizens can not afford to buy meat, which price of a kilogram meat equal to 10 percent of their salary. A survey conducted early in 2017 showed that 75 percent of Venezuela's population lost an average of 8.7 kilograms due to nutritional deficiencies because of the economic crisis.