Eating Roadkill is Now Legal in California

On Sunday October 15th Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill No. 395 which allows people to take home animals they kill while operating a motor vehicle in California. This scenario is played out exactly in the memorable scene from the 1993 classic The Beverly Hillbillies:

Senate Bill No. 395 is yet another push by California lawmakers to eliminate waste wherever possible. The bill states that “Each year it is estimated that over 20,000 deer alone are hit by motor vehicles on California’s roadways. This potentially translates into hundreds of thousands of pounds of healthy meat that could be used to feed those in need.” [Senate Bill No. 395 Section 2(b)]

While this bill may sound like a ridiculous joke at the surface, it is actually quite logical and a should eliminate a good amount of perfectly salvageable waste. “It is the intent of this act to make available to Californians tens of thousands of pounds of a healthy, wild, big game food source that currently is wasted each year following wildlife-vehicle collisions.” [Senate Bill No. 395 Section 2(a)]

This is only a test program by the state, but it seems like a good idea and one we fully support.

Have a roadkill recipe? E-mail it to brien@chefbrienobrien.com to be considered for feature on this site!