Jack FiallosIt’s organic, right?
Americans will spend $62 billion on their pets this year, and apparently a growing portion of that is for extremely classy kibble. NPR recently reported on the local, fresh dog food trend, including a “farm-to-bowl” canine chow made from wild blue catfish (an invasive species) as well as one using gourmet beef, chicken, and yams:
Two years ago, Jake Dickson made headlines as one of several New York City butchers selling high-end, locally sourced dog food. Dickson’s pet chow is a blend of farmers market veggies and leftover meats that don’t make it into the premium artisanal cuts he sells at his Chelsea Market shop.
Feeding Fido with locally sourced meats and vegetables can get pretty pricey. Dickson’s fancy feast will cost you $10 per quart, about enough to feed a 100-pound dog for a day. That translates to $300 a month, for those of you keeping score. Even so, Dickson says about 100 customers each week pick up the gourmet grub.
It is “quite expensive,” he says …
No shit, Sherlock. Those of us who don’t spend $300 a month on our OWN food find this KIND OF INSANE. “Why not just pass along leftovers and scraps from your own local diet to your dog? Seems a lot more efficient,” asked one commenter. Anyone who’s had images of hollow-bellied African kids burned into their brain has to wonder what makes the rejected “premium artisanal cuts” unfit for, say, a local food bank.
There’s also the “WTF, dogs will eat ANYTHING” camp, summarized by commenter Craig Rheinheimer: “We wouldn’t want an animal that eats its own feces to ingest something dangerous like an antibiotic.” But for those who spend batshit crazy amounts of coin on their furry friends, the sarcasm may be lost entirely.
