Why Don't Americans Eat Reindeer?

Reindeer meat could’ve entered North American cuisine and culture, but our turn of the century efforts to develop a reindeer industry were stymied by nature, the beef lobby, and the Great Depression.

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FYI: We try to leave jargon out of our videos, but if you want to learn more about this topic, here are some keywords to get your googling started:

Reindeer - the smaller, (semi-)domesticated version/subspecies of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus)
Caribou - the wild, north American subspecies of Rangifer tarandus (Rangifer tarandus granti and others).
Wild reindeer - the wild, European/Asian subspecies of Rangifer tarandus.
Herding - bringing animals together into a group, maintaining the group, and moving the group from place to place
Rain-on-snow event - exactly what it sounds like! Rain that falls on snow, freezes into a thick layer of impenetrable ice over pastures, and causes mass starvation of reindeer (or caribou)
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Credits (and Twitter handles):
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Emily Elert, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg

Image Credits: Rangifer tarandus - Alexandre Buisse
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References:

Special thanks to Professor Greg Finstad of the University of Alaska Fairbanks for lending his advice, expertise, and patience to the making of this video!

Finstad, G. L. (2016). Personal Communication.

[Alien]

Some pizza delivery company in the Netherlands is actually promoting reindeerpizza's with real reindeermeat right now. I just ordered it so Rudolph will be on my plate tonight. :-p

[MinuteEarth]

If you think the last line was ridiculous, you should hear some of the other reindeer/meat puns that got away. (One of our writers kept trying to get us to use the phrase "quarter Donner with cheese")

[cobaltstar_]

Why the fuck would I eat an audible subscription?

[MinuteEarth]

Alright, so who feasted on Rudolph roasts, Blitzen burgers, and quarter Donners with cheese over the holiday??

[LeiosLabs]

You are what you eat. I want to be magic, so I eat reindeer because they are magic!

As a side note: Hamsters want to be young again, and that's why they eat their babies.

[jonnenne]

A company in Finland has a pizza called Berlusconi that has smoked reindeer meat and the pizza actually won some contest too.

[MaudeHerringsdaughter]

I tried reindeer in Finland. That is damn good meat. Better than beef.

[BillySugger]

One of the best steaks I ever had was a reindeer steak in Helsinki. Remarkably tender and succulent, it must have been well matured and superbly cooked as it's often tough and dry because of its low fat content.

[CephaloGD]

They made it ILLEGAL!? This is what's wrong with our government.

[Master_Therion]

Rudolph won't be on my plate tonight... I plan on having a Donner dinner with a Blitzen burger, seasoned with a dash of Dasher and a Vixen vinaigrette. Finally, I'll wash it down with a cup of Cupid. yummy

[SoffiCitrus]

I live in finland and we eat reindeer. It's good.

[emmalilliestam]

Fun fact: Swedish astronaut Fuglesang wanted to bring reindeer meat to the ISS. He wasn't allowed, because what counts as a delicacy here is seen as Eating Santa's Cute Animals in America, and Fuglesang's flight was during Christmas...

[MrEnte]

Why Don't Reindeer Eat Americans?

[SonicsTwinSonie]

I have eaten reindeer. It's common here in Northern Europe :/

[RedTriangle]

reindeer and moose is pretty common to eat here since they are native to Norway. Pretty good. It's not a weekly thing though, it's a seasonal food.

[haakon]

I live in northern Norway, and we regularly eat reindeer meet. Right now we're drying salted reindeer hearts till easter, which tastes delicious <3

[topilinkala]

It's not just americans it's also british. Finn's tried to introduce reindeer in UK as the most ethical freerange meat there is and no buyers: We don't want to eat santa's reindeer. FY!

[davidrust]

I've had reindeer: it's really rather tasty!

[davidmartin]

Show the industry that the feed conversion rate is higher in Reindeer and we will all be eating them in a few years.
The Beef conversion rate is just too high.

[jmiquelmb]

They need to market themselves better. Why not use Rudolf as a mascot? I'm sure American children would love to eat their favourite Christmas great mammal