Um.

For (literally) years, there have been periodic stories in the media about how the US is fixing to lift the ban on haggis, which is Scotland's national dish. Today, NBC is running another such piece, as Britain's environment secretary is scheduled to meet today with US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to discuss lifting the ban on haggis' key ingredients, which have been banned since 1989 owing to "mad cow disease."

And this is the way the story is pitched on their front page:


What the absolute fuck?

There are a bunch of things that bother me about that headline, not least of which is that it's a story about how haggis could be a key export to the US for Scotland, and here's our media calling it "disgusting."

But also? It's just bad reporting, in the sense that haggis isn't any more "disgusting-sounding" in the way it's made than sausage (cooked in casing) or in its ingredients than meatloaf (meat plus grain). Here's a chance to actually demystify haggis, and instead NBC is calling it disgusting right on the front page.

I get that haggis isn't for everyone, even all meat-eaters. (Personally, I quite like it—it's basically just like a spicy crumbled meatloaf.) But no food is for everyone.

And, clearly, there's a difference between an individual person thinking haggis is "disgusting" and one of the US' major news outlets calling it "disgusting" right on its front page, on the day a Scottish secretary is visiting the US to advocate on its behalf.

It's a small thing, but this isn't the sort of US greeting anyone should get.