'MeatEater' host says wild game is 'the healthiest food' Americans can eat
As Americans continue to debate diets, calories and protein sources, Steven Rinella of Montana has a simpler definition of healthy eating: Go outside and get your food.
"The act of going and getting it is time spent outdoors," the cookbook author and host of the hunting show "MeatEater" told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview.
"It's time spent outdoors being physically active. Just the pursuit of the ingredients is some of the best exercise you can get."
That philosophy is at the center of a new boxed set that brings together two of Rinella's most popular cookbooks, "The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook" and "The MeatEater Outdoor Cookbook."
He believes food, fitness and time outdoors are very much connected — whether meals are prepared in a home kitchen, over a backyard grill or at a remote campsite.
Rinella said that wild game, although it isn't necessarily labeled as health food, may be the most natural form of clean eating available.
"I'd say it's the healthiest food," he said.
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Wild game "has powered human beings for tens of thousands of years," Rinella noted with a smile.
"I did not invent this," he added.
It's important that those eating game meat be sure to cook it at a safe temperature to prevent foodborne illness.
Guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) call for an internal temperature of at least 145° Fahrenheit for bison, veal, goat, lamb or seafood, 160° Fahrenheit for bear meat and 165° Fahrenheit for poultry.
Unlike conventional store-bought meat, wild game is naturally lean and fully traceable, Rinella said. In his household, that transparency is intentional, he said.
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"When we eat, we eat stuff where you look, and you can tell where it came from — that it grew out of the ground, that it came off an animal," he said.
Hunting and fishing, he said, bring built-in physical activity and time outdoors, elements he sees as essential to health.
"Getting our ingredients involves rigorous exercise and time outside," Rinella said. "I can never decouple those things."
That mindset extends to cooking.
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While wild game can be less familiar than conventional meats, Rinella said he sees that challenge as an invitation to cook with more intention.
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"If you're cooking wild game, and you don't like it, there's one of two problems," he said. "You're cooking it too long, or you're not cooking it long enough."
His recipes emphasize from-scratch preparation and adaptability, especially when working with lean proteins.
"You can't use the same chicken and beef playbook," Rinella said.
Much of that cooking happens outdoors.
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"It's a lifestyle of engaging with nature, being outside, being with people you love, being with your friends, being with your family and making food from the ground up," he said.
"That whole package feels very good. If you try it, you realize this is healthy living."