HISTORY

For multiple generations, the owners of Iowa Rabbit has been in the livestock and farming business and serving restaurants, retailers, and home chefs throughout the United States.

History of Rabbit

Rabbit has been eaten around the world since around 1000 BC, when the Pheoencians reached Spain. There they found wild rabbits and started domesticating them. With further human exploration, these rabbits were spread around the globe. Rabbit cuisine is quite common in the Mediterranean, specifically Italy and France; these countries are recognized for the highest production and consumption of rabbit in Europe. Rabbit is very common in many of the dishes there and is consumed like Americans consume chicken. Rabbit meat had a later start in the United States. Rabbits "are helping win the war" proclaimed a Los Angeles Times article from 1943. Touted as a patriotic food during World War II, rabbits were raised by thousands of Americans in their backyards. 

Along with victory gardens, rabbits helped put food on the table when much of the nation’s food supply was shipped to soldiers oversees and ration stamps provided less at home. Today, rabbit dishes are most likely to appear on French restaurant menus, chefs with a passion for sustainability, urban farmers, and rural communities.

Company History And Passion

For multiple generations, the owners of Iowa Rabbit has been in the livestock and farming business and serving restaurants, retailers, and home chefs throughout the United States. We offer wholesome and flavorful rabbit meat that is grown in America’s heartland.  While our rabbit is from the heartland, Rabbit has a rich heritage of providing food to people throughout the world for hundreds of years and plays an important role this nation’s history as a healthy protein rich in flavor. We intend to preserve and promote this heritage for many more generations to come.