Veggie StirFry

Set List:

Don’t Be Part of It – Howard Johnson

Gone Fishing – Consolidated

Rock Lobster – B-52′s

M. Ward – Fisher of Men

Quote: “When a human kills an animal for food, he is neglecting his own hunger for justice. Man prays for mercy, but is unwilling to extend it to others. Why should man then expect mercy from God? It’s unfair to expect something that you are not willing to give. It is inconsistent. I can never accept inconsistency or injustice. Even if it comes from God. If there would come a voice from God saying, “I’m against vegetarianism!” I would say, “Well, I am for it!” This is how strongly I feel in this regard.”  Isaac Bashevis Singer – Holocaust survivor / Author / Pulitzer Prize Winner / Vegetarian

- Wikipedia – Isaac Bashevis Singer

Main Topic – The Case Against Eating Fish

Just like learning a new sport, hobby or job – everyone who is learning about vegetarianism or animal rights is at a different level.  I know many people who eschew factory farms and insist on eating only grass-fed organic meat.  I applaud their effort to take a step in the right direction and encourage them often.  Of course on the other end of the spectrum, I know people who are 100% vegan or even raw foodists.  Their impact on the environment and the lives of countless animals is immeasurable.  Like most people I am somewhere in the middle.

One of those levels that people struggle with the most is eating fish and other marine life.  In today’s episode I shared some of the main questions or feelings people have around eating fish.  Below is a summary:

a) Fish are healthy to eat, right? – Contrary to what the industrial fishing industry would have you believe, fish are not very healthy.  Due to the excessive toxins dumped in our oceans by industrial, municipal and agricultural firms; fish are heavily laden with harmful chemicals.  Bigger fish eat smaller fish, so as you move up the food chain the bigger the fish you are eating, the more heavily concentrated the chemicals.  The PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) states that fish consumption is the single biggest source for mercury exposure.  With current stats showing that 1 in 6 childbearing aged women exceed the “safe” levels of mercury recommended by the EPA, each year more than 600,000 are born at risk of mercury-related birth defects.

In addition, fish are very high in protein.  High protein diets show a direct link to calcium deficiency and that leads to osteoporosis.  Keith Akers, author of the blog compassionatespirit.com notes that, “Eskimos, for example, take in 2500 milligrams of calcium each day in the form of fish bones, and suffer from rampant osteoporosis–worse than Americans suffer from. This is a consequence of their fish-centered high-protein diet.”  Clearly fish consumption does not lead to good health in humans.

b) What impact does fishing have on the environment?  Commercial fishing today consists of enormous trawling vessels with nets the size of football fields.  The fleets of these commercial vessels destroy entire ecosystems as they effectively “clear-cut”  our oceans in the same fashion as forests used to be.  The side-effects are staggering – one example an estimated 30 million tons of aquatic animals (damaged during the fishing process) are simply tossed back into the ocean as waste.  At the same time, the energy needed to sustain the commercial fishing industry results in fish consuming 50-100 times the amount of energy needed to produce an equivalent amount of plant-based food.

“Fish farming” or “Aquaculture” has equally baffling consequences.  Most factory-farmed fish are actually being fed “fish pellets” derived from the fish deemed inadequate to sell to restaurants or churned up to make fish sticks.  The farm fish are then also given dyes to make their flesh “look” the right color.  And finally starved to death to cut down on the amount of excrement (Salmon are typically starved for 10 days before being killed.

c) Nirvana sings it best, “Its ok to eat fish cause they don’t have any feelings.”  Of course, fish do experience pain.  Similar to all other creatures, pain is a primary learning tool and essential to their survival.  Scientists who study pain are in complete agreement that the fish pain response is basically identical to the pain response in mammals and birds.  Speaking on the subject of the Lobster nervous system, Dr. Jaren G. Horsley said, “As an invertebrate zoologist who has studied crustaceans for a number of years, I can tell you the lobster has a very sophisticated nervous system that, among other things, allows it to sense actions that will cause it harm…[Lobsters] can, I am sure, sense pain.”  Suffering is suffering – you wouldn’t boil a dog or cat alive in a giant pot, why is it ok to do this to a lobster?

Below are links to more information and sources for my material.

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)

http://www.pcrm.org/

North American Vegetarian Society – Article by Richard H. Schwartz

http://www.navs-online.org/animal_issues/fish_fishing/troubledwaters.php

CompassionateSpirit.com – Article by Keith Akers

http://www.compassionatespirit.com/fish.htm

I hope you enjoyed the show.  I know fishing is a very controversial subject – especially in our great state.  Please share your input in the comments and let me know if you would be interested in coming on the show to discuss this topic further.

Next week: recipe for hummus and discussion with special guest Monique from the Fuzzy Pawz organization!