The Christian Science Monitor reports
Nashville residents who dropped by their local Arby's beginning [the week of November 2] could try the restaurant's limited-time-only venison, or deer meat, sandwich, which the fast-food chain debuted in commemoration of the beginning of deer hunting season.
[...] Many of the Arby's locations that are selling the sandwich are located in more populous or urban areas rather than rural areas where one might expect people to hunt. But Evan Heusinkveld, the president and CEO of the Sportsmen's Alliance, tells The Christian Science Monitor that the urban population is exactly the group that should have the opportunity to try venison.
"Many people who live in the country either have their own freezer of venison or know somebody who hunts", he says, "Selling to city dwellers is exactly what the hunting community would love to see."
While Arby's venison is sourced from farm-raised deer in New Zealand due to USDA rules against serving wild-harvested meat, it will still give customers a taste of what they're missing. The sandwich features a juicy venison steak, crispy onions, and juniper berry sauce.
Arby's venison sandwiches will be offered in just 17 locations in six states (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Georgia) during deer season, with the promotion ending the Monday after Thanksgiving.
So far, the company says the sandwich has been a big hit.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 06 2016, @11:15PM
Farm raised, and wild game taste entirely different.
Grass fed sheep fetch a premiium at market, as opposed to grain fed. Grass fed cattle don't fetch much of a premium, except in a few small markets. I know that tame rabbit has a taste somewhat like soap. Catfish tend to taste a bit bland when raised on commercial feed.
I'm fearful of farm raised deer anyway, because a number of them were afflicted with a cervid variation of mad cow disease. http://www.mad-cow.org/99feb_cwd_special.html [mad-cow.org] It's not just farm raised big game either, apparently in areas where they feed the wild game, some of them have contracted the wasting disease.
I'll take my venison wild, please, and fresh off the hoof.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 06 2016, @11:32PM
Wild deer have chronic wasting disease as well.
From what I've read about on the topic, the deer prion protein is unable to convert the human version to the pathogenic form directly. In the lab, the pathogenic deer prion protein can convert the cow version, then the cow version can convert the human version to pathogenic. As long as you stick to whole cuts (not a ton of nervous tissue) and stay away from the brain, I wouldn't worry about catching a prion disease.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 07 2016, @12:15AM
Just FYI, farm-raised in New Zealand means grass-fed. Also there has never been a case of mad cow in NZ cattle.