(Newser) – When Congress lifted the ban on funding horse meat inspections, no one exactly cheered, because Americans find the idea of eating horse meat “gross.” But maybe it’s time to get over “our national revulsion” against the stuff, writes Josh Ozersky in Time. For one thing, since horse meat is so unpopular, it would be cheaper than most other meat—meaning that “the poorest Americans could eat fresh meat more frequently."

And though some might argue that those Americans should eat healthier foods, like vegetables, instead, Ozersky points out that horses are “leaner than practically any red-fleshed animal you can name,” and thus “better for us than the meat we currently eat.” Sure, there’s an animal-rights-based objection, but the horses are going to be slaughtered anyway—whether in the US or, possibly more cruelly, in another country—and there’s a way to do so that is “relatively humane.” Plus, we slaughter millions of cows and pigs, and only an “arbitrary and irrational attachment” causes us to find it distasteful to treat horses the same way. (Read more horse meat stories.)

