The Giant African Snail (GAS) is on the mind and menu of agriculturalist Keith Laurie.
If you visit his Salters, St George home, he just might invite you to sample snail in garlic sauce or recommend you feed your livestock on the GAS and save the money you are spending on expensive soya beans.
Laurie says snail meat is full of proteins and the GAS is not the big agricultural or health threat some people think it is.
He told the SATURDAY SUN the GAS could not be eradicated from Barbados because it had spread too far and bred too prolifically, each snail capable of producing hundreds of eggs annually.
He complained that since 2000, when the snail was spotted around the island, scarce foreign exchange had been used to import poisons which had been applied by householders at rates way above the recommended level, causing concern about contamination of Barbados’ groundwater supplies.
He also charged that there had been a lot of misinformation regarding the “harmless GAS” to the point where the average Barbadian was terrified of them.
“The GAS has not attacked the 500 plants we were told would be decimated in Barbados,” he remarked. “The damage to agriculture in Barbados has been minimal.
“Snails have not attacked the major crops grown on the island. And snails have certainly not attacked humans; most Bajans can outrun all five species of snails found here.”
So what exactly can the people of Barbados do with these snails?
According to Laurie, the snails could be eaten or fed to livestock. He explained that he was involved in a project where snail meat was sent overseas to be tested for its protein level.
“The snail meat is very high in protein and its amino acid profile is of high quality that should be used to feed ducks, chickens, pigs, etc., replacing the expensive soya beans,” he said.
“I am expecting the results this week, the results which will tell us the amount of protein that is in the meal. We will then take the meal and feed it to some chickens to see what happens. The project is at infancy stage,” he said, adding that the ducks on his farm ate whatever snails they saw.
In addressing the costly damage the snails caused, Laurie countered by saying: “Rats cause millions of dollars of damage every year, why not eradicate rats?”
Laurie suggested anyone desirous of consuming snail meat purge the GAS on BA feed for three days to ensure they had no poisonous bait in their system.
Laurie cooked up a snail meal after the interview, but his offer of snails in garlic sauce was not taken up by the SUN ON SATURDAY team.
It didn’t stop him from enjoying the dish though.
