Sounds right to me
Bookworm on Jul 06 2006 at 7:48 pm | Filed under: Uncategorized
I’m a carnivore, but a guilty one. That is, I appreciate that, in order for me to enjoy my sauted chicken breast or grilled burger, some animal had to die. Long ago, as a result of an article I read (New Yorker? New Republic?), I decided to aim for meat that came from animals that had been humanely raised and humanely dispatched. The theory behind this approach is that animals, unlike humans, do not suffer from existential anxiety. The cow doesn’t interrupt its cud chewing periodically to bemoan its imminent journey to the stockyard, nor is the chicken too worried about decapitation to peck and scratch in the farm yard. Animals live in the moment. However, any given moment in the animal’s life shouldn’t be a moment of pain or fear — emotions we know all mammals experience. That is, chickens and pigs shouldn’t be confined to cages only inches larger than their bodies, nor should cows got to slaughterhouses awash in the blood and echoing with the cries of those who preceded them into death.
With that philosophy in mind, I was actually pleased to hear about Whole Foods’ new philosophy regarding lobsters — even though I don’t eat lobster myself (too rich):
SOON the Supreme Court may be forced to consider a thorny question it has hidden from for too long: Does the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment protect shellfish?
Okay, perhaps not “soon.” The issue hasn’t gone to appeal. And, it’s not–yet–technically the subject of any state or federal litigation. But last month the Bobo supermarket chain Whole Foods announced that it would no longer be selling live lobsters or soft shell crabs from in-store tanks. They concluded that the practice was inhumane.
The company’s press release was quick to point out that it would still be retailing frozen lobster and crab products (products–as in flesh.)
Whole Foods based its decision partly on the dubious conclusion of a 2005 European Union report that found lobsters feel pain and learn. The rest of the equation was their finding (noticing, really) that when sold live, lobsters–natural loners among decapod crustaceans–can be transported and stored one on top of another in cramped tanks for up to six months before final purchase. Earlier this year Whole Foods’ Northeast and Atlanta stores briefly installed “condos” in their lobster tanks: short sections of PVC pipe that the lobsters could snuggle up inside of in privacy. But it wasn’t a comprehensively humane solution. Dropping live sales, the company switched to a vendor that dispatches the creatures right off the boat, in just seconds, with a pressurized metal tube.
Amy Schaefer, a Whole Foods spokesperson, summed up the corporate thinking: “Lobsters are going to be caught and going to be eaten . . . [what we're] trying to do is create a supply chain that treats the animals with respect and minimizes unnecessary pain.” [Emphasis mine.]
Just call me Ms. BoBo — ’cause I agree with the Whole Foods’ approach to raising and slaughtering animals. And for those in touch with their Bible, in which God gives man dominion over the animals (Genesis 1:26), I think with that God-given power goes a responsibility to act as humanely towards the animals as possible.
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8 Responses to “Sounds right to me”
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I have no clue about the right answer to this lobster question. My only comment is that a few years ago my family visited the Lobster Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine. A man there told us the brains of lobsters are so small that the lobsters have no sense of direction or pain.
That may be true. I have this dim memory that Sweden conducted a test on lobsters and discovered that they have almost no higher cognitive functions. Nevertheless, if I were to eat lobsters, I’m all for a swift death. I’ve always felt sorry for them sitting in those dank tanks.
BW, some time ago you put me on to “The Dog Whisperer” TV show which has become one of our favorites. Although Caesar is obviously a dog lover, as are we, he cautions that people not anthropomorphize them. They aren’t human and treating them as if they were children confuses them.
Watching the dogs respond so positively when they are rehabilitated and
allowed to return to their innate canine behavior is proof positive that Caesar’s absolutely correct that there are no bad dogs, only mis-handled ones.
That said, we absolutely shouldn’t be deliberately cruel to any creature, but assigning emotions to lobsters doesn’t allow them the dignity of what the are, i.e., creatures without higher functioning.
Genus alert, chickens aren’t mammals.
Haven’t touched veal for decades and we always buy our eggs from local farms where the chickens are free to roam around. I whole-heartedly agree that being a carnivore doesn’t mean that animals can’t live a comfortable life up to the moment of their quick and humane demise.
I heard an interesting argument a while back; everyone who eats meat should see an animal slaughtered–just to realize that meat comes from an animal as opposed to those really nice sterile white styrofoam trays covered with saran wrap that we get at the supermarket. The individual went on to say that the supermarket packaging is a ploy to make people forget exactly where the meat is coming from and that if people actually witnessed the kill, that they would be less inclined to eat meat. Well, as it turns out, I saw a pig slaughtered a couple of months back (quickly) and boy was it ever tasty! I’ve also ate at a steakhouse in Australia where the walls were covered with pictures of happy cows on a farm–only to discover that the owner would actually point out which cow you happened to be eating at the moment. It was a tad disturbing but still a rather amusing anecdote.
Finally, with regards to lobster, while I haven’t really had an issue with the tanks they’re kept in (as they aren’t usually there for long periods,) I do make a point of putting them in the pot while the water is cold and then raising the temp to boiling as opposed to just dropping them into boiling water.
Aack, Erp, you’re right about those chickens. You’d think I’d remember, considering how much I don’t like birds. Growing up in the City by the Bay, school lunches were always followed by dive bomb attacks from scavanging seagulls. It left me with a deep distaste for those beasts. Still, no matter my personal feelings about them, I don’t want them to live or die miserably for my convenience.
Kevin, your story reminded me of my cousin, who grew up on a farm. My Dad loved telling about his visit to the farm, when she was about 4. He watched her playing with the most darling little goat. They were frolicking wildly. Then, suddenly, she hugged the goat closely to her and said, “Little goat, I love you so much. And we’re going to have you for dinner tonight!”
We have a farmer’s market close by and they sell the free-range chicken and beef and I have to say that they have much better flavor than the poultry and beef you find in the regular grocery store. The Amish and Mennonite communities have really prospered from the rest of us wanting free range and organically grown. It’s funny that just the other day, I read a snippet about the demand for organic is so high the farmers can’t keep up. I think we don’t see the shortage because we have so many Amish and Mennonite in the area. (Oh, and some areas in southern Ohio seem to be a mecca for misplaced hippies who want the co-op organic farm life.)
Oh, and I don’t buy lobster at the store, but I certainly have it or crab when we go to visit my in-laws in Florida!
I’m a carnivore. My four beat up incisors tell the tale. Lobster is nice, but… I hate eating any food that requires so much time to extract the meat. I feel like I’m in the cave beating days where you have to get the food out as quick as possible before the Jackals and competitors take it away from you.
Squid, fish, might be good, I’ve tried them out. But… squid takes forever to chew and fish takes forever for me to debone. I can’t just munch them down like steak.
Please. There is no way to harvest a lobster that doesn’t involve setting traps for them. So forget about being humane after they’re hauled onto the boat. At least in a tank they are alive. Buy a live lobster and it stays alive until you cook it. What’s more natural than that?
By the way, lobsters should be steamed, not boiled.