It’s called rabbit—or bunny, if you’re an animal rights activist or 5 years old. Rabbit has been showing up on restaurant menus with more regularity over the past several years, thanks to its full flavor and versatility. (It really does taste like a supersavory chicken.) In early 2014, Whole Foods offered half of its 382 US stores the option of selling rabbit. It’s available in a limited number of stores. Since then, protests by animal rights activists, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the House Rabbit Society, have been staged at nearly 50 stores nationwide, as some accuse the chain of being “bunny butchers.” As Whole Foods considers this assertion (if, indeed, the store is—spokespeople were unavailable for comment at press time), we invite you to consider the nutritional claims of rabbit compared to those of other popular meats. As far as sustainability, raising rabbits takes less space and feed than raising chickens, pork, or beef. In fact, you can produce 6 pounds of rabbit meat for the same amount of food and water it takes to produce 1 pound of beef. Not to mention, most rabbit farmers are small producers, many of whom don’t use antibiotics or toxic pesticides.
