But are all animals made of meat? According to the 19th-century anthropologist Peter Lund Simmonds. the answer is yes. In his delightful 1859 treatise The Curiosities of Food or the Dainties and Delicacies of Different Nations Obtained for the Animal Kingdom, Simmonds described over a thousand forms of edible animal flesh. Among these delicacies were pickled elephant toes, baked coffee rats, and the tongues of sea lions.

My grandson Ryland, however, does not share this view. When he was 5-years old, I tried to convince him that because we are animals, humans are also made of meat. When he said, “That’s not true, Grandpa!” I asked him to make a list of creatures he did think were comprised of meat and a list of animals that were not. He placed cows, pigs, chickens, and, for some reason, monkeys (with the exception of Curious George) in the meat category. Dogs, cats, elephants, chimpanzees, and Big Bird, however, fell into the “not meat” group.