Hot off the grille Is California ready to legalize cuisine?

by Ben Christopher CALmatters

Let’s get the jokes out of the way first. Committee, not everyone in the room “Meals under wheels.” was won over. “Bumper crop.” Judie Mancuso, founder of the “Gravel-tenderized .” animal rights advocacy group Social Chances are state Sen. Bob Compassion In Legislation, argued we Archuleta has heard most of them. The “should be protecting the animals, not Los Angeles County Democrat has a worried about hitting and eating them.” bill advancing through the Legislature Other groups have raised concerns that would allow Californians to that the bill could enable poaching, “salvage” recently deceased wildlife jeopardize traffic safety and lead to from the sides of the state’s roads and food-borne illness. highways. The eyebrow-raising (and For decades California law has for the squeamish, stomach-churning) banned hungry drivers from pulling effort has been the butt of “many jokes over to gather bumper-battered wildlife. here in the Capitol and even in my That’s for safety reasons, but it’s also own hometown” of Pico Rivera, he an artifact of the state’s strict hunting acknowledged. laws. If you want to take a out of But jokes aside, he insisted, “This the wild (or off a highway shoulder), bill is dealing with very serious issues.” you need a deer tag. No exceptions. It would allow outdoorsy and culi- Even so, Archuleta and a coalition narily courageous Californians of wildlife conservationists to engage in a very and hunting advocates particular form of road- For decades want to make that side dining, so long as exception for only they apply for a state California law a handful of big, permit after-the-fact. has banned hungry meaty animals Proponents say that drivers from pulling including deer, wildlife and highway and wild pigs. (With regulators could over to gather apologies to squirrel then use the data bumper-battered connoisseurs, all to identify roadkill wildlife. other critters are off hotspots and help reduce the menu.) human-wildlife collisions. Under the proposal, It would make California the state would launch a pilot the most populous of a string of program in 2022 that would allow states—including Western ones such as people who accidentally hit one of Montana, Idaho and Oregon—to permit those animals, or come across one on such highway harvesting. the side of the road, to cart the animal For progressives, there’s the added home as long as they apply for a free selling point of not letting good meat permit within 24 hours. Applicants go to waste—an argument that has could file their permit on an app that won over many environmentalists and would also include information on how even one of the most zealous of animal to properly dress the carcass and avoid protectors, PETA. foodborne illness. They would also be While roadkill cuisine may not allowed to “dispatch” animals that have yet be mainstream, it appears to have been wounded, but not killed. joined the ranks of bug eating and At the request of California Highway dumpster diving as a counter-cultural Patrol, interstates are exempt. Ω dietary choice once associated with extreme poverty—but now earning the respect of eco-conscious foodies. CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media While the bill has no formal opposi- venture explaining California policies and politics. An unabridged version of this story is available at tion and has unanimously cleared the newsreview.com/sacramento Senate’s Natural Resources and Water 05.16.19 | SN&R | 13