By Eve Conant, National Geographic
Two words that don’t look tempting on a menu? “Swamp” and “rat.”
At least that’s the dark-humored consensus among a literal boatload of chefs cruising along a prehistoric-looking Louisiana swamp on a sweltering morning before the COVID-19 pandemic began, when locals were still socializing, not social distancing.
The two dozen chefs in this open boat are here at the invitation of local scientists who need their help saving Louisiana’s threatened wetlands. The “swamp rat” in question is the invasive nutria, which is chewing up so much land the state has placed a six-dollar (£4.40)-per-tail bounty on the rodent.