Cambodians eat rats to beat global food crisisRat meat has become such a popular alternative to other dearer meats in Cambodia that its price has increased fourfold fourfold Adjective 1. having four times as many or as much 2. composed of four parts Adverb by four times as many or as much Adj. 1. . As inflation pushes the price of beef beyond the reach of the poor, increased demand for rat meat has pushed up rodent rodent, member of the mammalian order Rodentia, characterized by front teeth adapted for gnawing and cheek teeth adapted for chewing. The Rodentia is by far the largest mammalian order; nearly half of all mammal species are rodents. prices. A kilogram kilogram, abbr. kg, fundamental unit of mass in the metric system, defined as the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram, a platinum-iridium cylinder kept at Sèvres, France, near Paris. of rat meat now costs 5,000 riel (69p) compared with 1,200 riel last year. Spicy field rat dishes with garlic are increasingly on the menu as beef costs 20,000 riel a kilo Thousand (10 to the 3rd power). Abbreviated "K." For technical specifications, it refers to the precise value 1,024 since computer specifications are based on binary numbers. For example, 64K means 65,536 bytes when referring to memory or storage (64x1024), but a 64K salary means $64,000. . Officials said rats were fleeing to higher ground from flooded areas of the lower Mekong Delta, making it easier for villagers to catch them. "Many children are happy making some money from selling the animals to the markets, but they keep some for their family," said Ly Marong, an agriculture official. "Not only are our poor eating it, but there is also demand from Vietnamese living on the border with us." He estimated that Cambodia supplied more than a tonne tonne measure of weight or mass; 1 tonne=1000 kg. See also ton. of live rats a day to Vietnam. Rats have long been eaten in poorer regions of neighbouring Thailand where fast food sellers are enjoying a boom in sales. Vendors say it is tastier than other meats and that rats caught from rice fields are definitely clean compared with those found in towns or cities. The animals are killed by drowning drowning /drown·ing/ (droun´ing) suffocation and death resulting from filling of the lungs with water or other substance. drowning, n asphyxiation because of submersion in a liquid. , before being skinned ready for cooking - poached poach 1 tr.v. poached, poach·ing, poach·es To cook in a boiling or simmering liquid: Poach the fish in wine. , fried, grilled or baked. This month, an Indian official said eating rats was a way to beat rising global food prices. Vijay Prakash, the secretary of Bihar's welfare department, said regular rat snacks would also translate into fewer rodents eating precious grain stocks, 50% of which are lost in the north-eastern Indian state every year to the creatures. Prakash wants to promote consumption of rat meat in homes, street stalls, restaurants and even five-star hotels. He said he was holding talks with prestigious hotels outside India to encourage them to put rat meat on their menus, but admitted his scheme had to overcome public prejudice. "Some socially deprived people in Bihar have always consumed rat meat. If they can eat rats, why can't the rest of the people?" he said. "This will help in mitigating the global food crisis. We are sure that it will work wonders." 
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