"Broussard decided he could solve the water hyacinth problem by bringing in hippos to suck up the plants, “as the aquatic mammals are voracious eaters. But it went beyond that. Mooallem continued “the idea was that you could harness land that wasn’t productive for grazing cattle, like swamps and bayous. So you’d transplant the hippos into these environments that aren’t totally unlike where they live in Africa. You could suck up all the energy in what looks like a wasteland and turn it into meat.” In pay for all these hippos, H.R. 23621 appropriated $250,000 for their import, according to Scientific American — and a menu item known as “lake bacon” would have swept across the company.
And yet, you’ve probably never eaten lake bacon. That’s because Mooallem’s bill — despite having the support of Theodore Roosevelt — never made it into law. It failed to pass the House by one vote. As a result, we don’t eat hippo — and water hyacinth are still flooding waterways throughout the bayou."
http://nowiknow.com/why-americans-were-almost-hungry-hungry-for-hippos/
And yet, you’ve probably never eaten lake bacon. That’s because Mooallem’s bill — despite having the support of Theodore Roosevelt — never made it into law. It failed to pass the House by one vote. As a result, we don’t eat hippo — and water hyacinth are still flooding waterways throughout the bayou."
http://nowiknow.com/why-americans-were-almost-hungry-hungry-for-hippos/