Bull fighting

[damian 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by barok:
I don`t eat meat, dairy, eggs, chicken, fish, none of it.

I saw you eat fish.

FISH KILLER!!

[barok 0]

db`s right, I`m a low-down dirty rotten fish killer.

 

When I came to Japan, I had this idea that fish was everywhere and unavoidable. I also had this notion that because most of it was ocean fish, that it was cleaner than the lake fish that is back home.

 

Nowadays I`m not so sure about both of my earlier ideas. Seems Japanese people eat more meat than fish, and it also seems that the oceans are just as dirty as the lakes.

 

I don`t mind the killing of animals for food. I see it as the natural course of things. I do object to keeping animals in tiny, smelly cages or pens for most of their lives, shooting them up with hormones, etc. on and on and on. Did you know that animal cruelty laws don`t apply to those animals designated for food production ? Anyways, off the soapbox.

 

As fish live freely until they are caught and killed, I don`t really see it as a moral problem. In the states, I don`t eat `em cuz they are soooo freakin` polluted, that even the USFDA (US Govt. Food and Drug Administration) advises against eating fish more than twice a week. Over here I thought I`d give it a go. No big deal, I could go either way.

 

Not sure how long I`ll be in Japan, but Japan has alot of Italian food, lot`s of noodles, and alot of tofu, and tofu products, which make it easy for me to eat

 

And admittedly, I have relaxed my standards by alot, I don`t shun ramen, even though there is plenty of pork in the soup, I just don`t drink the soup. I am a veeery bad vegetarian these days, but like I said, it is difficult here in Japan, and I am trying to enjoy myself here, and not stress about food all the time. when I go back, I`m right back on it.

[frannyo 2]

Did you know that animal cruelty laws don`t apply to those animals designated for food production ?

 

>>> Is that so?

[Goemon 0]

Interesting related article in the NY Times today:

Animal Welfare

 

Seems that some of the big food companies (being led by McDonalds )are bowing to pressure and attempting to improve the conditions of the animals...before they slaughter them.

[Goemon 0]

Barok, that fish you were eating in the US or here in Japan was probably from somewhere else (unless you caught it yourself). Here's another article from the NY Times: Imported Fish

 

Quote from the article:

"Today, 76 percent of all seafood consumed in the United States is imported, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service, a government agency; only Japan imports more fish. From 1992 though 2001, imports to the United States increased from less than $6 billion to nearly $10 billion...Australia has doubled the amount of fish it sends to these shores in the last 10 years to 16 million pounds, said Beth Goslin, the business development manager for the Australian Trade Commission. This increase in imports reflects the growth in fish consumption in the United States ·from less than 10 pounds a person 50 years ago to more than 20 pounds now."

 

Seems like Australian fishers and fisheries have pretty strict standards for quality. Any Aussies can confirm/deny that?

[mikazooki 0]

i too have concerns over the state of fisheries and my consumption of fish... so i have decided to not not eat chicken, with the intention of eating less unsustainably derived fish. although since i made the decision i havent found any particular need to start eating chicken.

 

here is a quote from a list of things of things u can do by world watch:

 Quote:

• Eat less meat. Crowded factory farms contribute to food-borne illness and pollute water supplies. And meat production is grain intensive: 7 kg of grain go into 1 kg of beef; 4 kg for pork; and 2 kg for chicken. If eating meat, buy it from local, small-scale organic farms

currently the increasing consumption of meat is placing a heavier burden on deforestation and land degradation world wide, and industrial feedlots pollute local soil and river systems.

 

add to this the conditions many of these animals live in in the feedlots - as well as hormones, in the chicken barns they raise the feeding trays as the chickens grow, so smaller less marketable chickens starve - and there are plenty of reasons to reduce meat consumption.

[sam_casper 0]

mmm... y to vegos still be expected to eat fish??

 

i always get asked, (im a vego) do you eat seafood??

 

no... its meat...?!?!