The treatment of lobsters and whether or not it is right to prepare them as food is a highly debated matter that is continuously being brought up in our society. Lobsters are one of the most majestic and interesting creatures that our waters have to offer. These poor animals are becoming the victims of widespread cruelty due to over-harvesting and by the very inhumane methods of preparation that are used to cook these lobsters. The effects of these bad behaviors create much debate in the world, which extend to countless individuals. The overall cruelty that is demonstrated towards lobsters is damaging to both the lobster population and society’s reputation and these acts of brutality must be stopped.
Although the harvesting and preparation of lobster is becoming increasingly looked down upon by many, there still remain some benefits of the existing lobster industry. The practice of catching lobster and selling them in open markets is one of the oldest traditions that exist in the coastal towns of the New England region and the local people take great pride in the animal. The Maine Lobster Festival held every year in late July is a good attraction for tourism and is a staple for the midcoast region (Wallace 156). The lobster industry also brings in countless amounts of revenue to these coastal economies through marketing the actual product, hosting festivals, and even selling various types of lobster-based merchandise. There is good reason to believe that these towns would struggle greatly if the lobster industry goes away entirely. In addition to cultural and economic reasoning for support of lobster cultivation, arguments can be made that the preparation method of lobster is not inhumane at all due to the overall anatomical make...
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... debated topic whether or not it is morally okay for lobsters to be captured in the wild and later prepared as food is an ever-lingering topic that has sparked much debated, and will more than likely continue to do so. The lobster is being increasingly over harvested and this is leading to dwindling numbers. The boiling of these lobster and other methods of preparation are very disturbing and are viewed as extremely cruel. The harvest of lobster is becoming increasingly damaging to both lobster populations and the image of humanity as a whole and should no longer continue in our society.
Works Cited
Foster, Wallace. “Consider the Lobster.” Mercury Reader. Compiled by Marisa Carlson. Ed. Jancie Neuleib, Kathleen Shine Cain, and Stephen Ruffus. Boston: Pearson, 2014. 159- 177. Print
“The Luckiest Lobster.” Radiolab. WNYC Radio, 12 July 2010. Web. 27 April 2014
A lobster must shed its shell in order to grow. It takes about five to seven years for a lobster to become a legal size harvestable adult. Soft-shell is the term used for a newly molted lobster. A soft-shell lobster has a shell with room for growth. Soft-shell lobsters are not as full of meat because their new shell is larger than the muscle inside the body. The part not filled with its body’s muscle tissue is filled with water. Soft-shell lobsters may look big on the outside, but they have a much lower meat yield on the inside. Most adult lobsters molt from June to September depending upon location and water temperatures.
To most people, animals are merely things for us humans to use as we see fit, for food, fashion and etc. This opinion of animals is not only insensitive and apathetic but also false. In addition, scientists and philosophers are saying that we humans are avoiding the thought of animals feeling the same pain that we do. In "Hooked on a Myth" by Victoria Braithwaite claims that fish are just as much liable to pain as humans are and raise an much doubt about whether or not fish should be treated with more mercy. As human beings who're capable of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain such as suffering, it may be time to treat marine life with more compassion as we do with other animals. It's unacceptable to just unashamedly ignore that fish "more than simple automata" (14). I think it's important to take into account Braithwaite's argument to find more humane ways to lock up the approach with captured fish if we were to continue to apply them as most people do now.
As “Consider the Lobster” investigates the ethics of how one cooks lobster, it employs pathos while explaining the actions and reciprocations of cooking a lobster. As Wallace addresses the steps in which one cooks
The lobsters are complex creatures, as David Foster Wallace explains in the essay, and the people that are going to the festival are making this complex creature so easy to kill. Wallace is able to validate this argument by using their complexity of life and the simplicity of their death to show the paradox that the festival has created explaining, “Taxonomically speaking, a lobster is a marine crustacean of the family Homaridae, characterized by five pairs of jointed legs, the first pair terminating in large pincerish claws used for subduing prey” (Wallace 55). Then later explaining, “Be apprised, though, that the Main Eating Tent’s suppers come in Styrofoam trays, and the soft drinks are iceless and flat” (Wallace 55). This paradox that Wallace brings to the attention to his audience show that these articulate and graceful creatures are being disgraced by the festival goers by being served on Styrofoam trays and served with unappealing beverages. It is no coincidence that two things that are really explained is the anatomy of the lobster and how complex the makeup of the lifeform is and the simplicity of the death of the lobster. By explaining these two things in depth, he is able to show how ridiculous and unfair he feels that killing and eating the lobster is. Wallace also humanizes the lobster to bring the situation into a perspective that
"Consider the Lobster" an issue of Gourmet magazine, this reviews the 2003 Maine Lobster Festival. The essay is concerned with the ethics of boiling a creature alive in order to enhance the consumer's pleasure. The author David Foster Wallace of "Consider the Lobster” was an award-winning American novelist. Wallace wrote "Consider the Lobster” but not for the intended audience of gourmet readers .The purpose of the article to informal reader of the good thing Maine Lobster Festival had to offer. However, he turn it into question moral aspects of boiling lobsters.
Jan de Heem painting, “Still Life with Lobster” is an oil painting with a bright red lobster that catches the viewer gaze into this beautiful dinner from the late 1640s.The color scheme used in this painting is analogous since it uses relatively close hues. In the painting, the lobster is on a silver platter but it has been left untouched. Surrounding the focal point of the painting is luxurious fruits including grapes, cherries, peaches, berries, oranges, and a half peeled lemon. To the left of the lobster is an overturned silver goblet. This particular style of painting is known as a vanitas form of painting. The artist is using a luxurious left over meal to show even the most expensive desires of the world doesn’t last for eternity. The
However, the Boiling Crab has already penetrated the market in California with the proper level of price. The restaurant business cannot charge the price far more different than the others because in the same level of restaurant, the clients will focus on the range of price before choosing it. Moreover, the Boiling Crab is the seafood, so the market price of seafood, such as shrimp, lobster, crab is very fluctuate depended on how difficult to find each item at that time. As you can see from the Boiling Crab menu, these items will be charged according to the market price at that time. Referring to the appendix 1, I compare price of food from many restaurants with the same kind of food, but it turns out that the level of price is pretty much the same between the Boiling Crab and the Kickin’crab.
The state of Maine is a huge tourist spot known for it’s rocky coastline and seafood cuisine, especially lobster. Annually, the state holds the “Maine Lobster Festival” every summer, and is a popular lucrative attraction including carnival rides and food booths. The center of attention for this festival is, unsurprisingly, lobster. The author of the article “Consider the Lobster”, David Foster Wallace, mainly uses logos and pathos, and explores the idea of being put into the lobsters perspective by describing how the cooking process is done and informing us on the animal’s neurological system in a very comprehensible way. He effectively uses these persuasive devices to paint a picture for the audience and pave way for the reader to conjure
I believe David Foster Wallace’s aim for writing this piece was to explain his reasoning for killing and eating animals and to understand other people’s views on the issue as well. This is apparent throughout the writing. Wallace starts out by giving his personal description of the Maine Lobster Festival. He describes how it takes place July 30th through August 3rd, thousands of people come to the festival every year, its broadcasted on live television by CNN, and about 25,000 fresh lobsters are eaten over the course of the festival. Additionally, he goes into the biology of the lobster such as the scientific name and evolution. Leading up to this, he states the question for writing this piece, “Is it alright to boil a sentient creature alive for our gustatory pleasure” (p.9 Wallace)?
Christopher McCandless, a young American who was found dead in summer of 1992 in wild land in Alaska, wrote in his diary about his moral struggle regarding killing a moose for survival. According to Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, Chris had to abandon most of the meat since he lacked the knowledge of how to dismantle and preserve it (166-168). Not only did he have a moral dilemma to kill a moose, but also had a deep regret that a life he had taken was wasted because of his own fault. He then started recognizing what he ate as a precious gift from the nature and called it “Holy Food” (Krakauer 168). Exploring relationships between human beings and other animals arouses many difficult questions: Which animals are humans allowed to eat and which ones are not? To which extent can humans govern other animals? For what purposes and on which principles can we kill other animals? Above all, what does it mean for humans to eat other animals? The answer may lie in its context. Since meat-eating has been included and remained in almost every food culture in the world throughout history and is more likely to increase in the future due to the mass production of meat, there is a very small chance for vegetarianism to become a mainstream food choice and it will remain that way.
Commercial whaling has essentially seized on the clear claims of such, but Japan and other nations are ever so slightly getting closer to that boundary. “We should remember in our dealings with animals that they are a sacred trust to us.
To fish or not to fish is a personal choice. The fact that the oceans are being overfished is a growing concern for individuals, organizations, and governments throughout the world. In this paper I want to discuss the effects of overfishing on the restaurant industry, and possible solutions to solve the problem. Fishing is an ongoing source of food for people around the world. In many countries it is a food staple in their everyday diet. In more modern societies eating fish has become a sensual experience, and not just for the wealthy. It hasn't been until population explosions in the last century that the demand for seafood has led to more effective fishing techniques and technologies. Now the demand for popular fish like the salmon, tuna, sea bass, cod and hoki, which is the key fish in McDonalds filet o' fish, is diving wild populations to dangerously low levels. The methods used to catch the amount of fish demanded by the industry do not leave sustainable populations in the wild. In an attempt to preserve the fish population, governments have set limits on the minimum size that may be harvested and how many of each may be taken. Boundaries have been set up saying which areas can be fished and which ones should be left alone. A number of smaller fisheries have gone out of business because of the limits imposed by the government. This leads to even less fish being harvested and brought to market. Therefore the amount and varieties of fish at markets are smaller and can cause shortages for wholesalers and restaurants. Some restaurants will no longer have the variety on their menus that they used to enjoy. If a restaurant thrives on its seafood menu they may be unable to cope with the shortages and will go out of business. In the ...
Overfishing is a harmful practice, that will eventually lead to the collapse of aquatic ecosystems, if it’s not dealt with promptly. Overfishing emerges from the combination of our over consumptive society mixed with the great profits that come from hauling in a good catch. The consumers demand for fish in Japan seems to be at an increasingly high rate due to the enjoyment and cultural values that arise from sushi and other traditional dishes involving seafood. Approximately 23 percent of Japan’s protein intake comes from the ocean, and as a nation consumes 7.5 million tonnes of seafood annually. CITATION
Michael Pollan presents many convincing arguments that strengthen his position on whether slaughtering animals is ethical or not. He believes that every living being on this planet deserves an equal amount of respect regardless of it being an animal or human, after all humans are also animals. “An Animal’s place” by Michael Pollan is an opinionated piece that states his beliefs on whether animals should be slaughtered and killed to be someone’s meal or not. In his article, Pollan does not just state his opinions as a writer but also analyzes them from a reader’s point of view, thus answering any questions that the reader might raise. Although Pollan does consider killing and slaughtering of animals unethical, using environmental and ethical
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