Pescetarian...healthy and humane, or not?!
And when it comes to health, the video said something about mercury levels in fish are bad for us, but I know that in certain types the level is very low. I can't remember the whole video so can anyone remind me or please ADD TO the information in the video about why else it can be damaging to my health? I have always heard that fish is generally healthy depending on the type you eat.
P.S. - Someone tell me why dairy and eggs are bad as well
Answers: I am currently a pescatarian, considering going completely vegetarian or vegan. I saw the video on goveg.com about 3 reasons to give up fish and I'm still not completely convinced...I mean is it evil of me to think about the fact that certain types of fish really aren't being harmed that much because there is a surplus of them...(I mean the ocean covers most of the earth)? Or should I consider the fact that they all feel pain and I should be more in harmony with them and go back to how we all used to be fruitarians and herbivores basically?
And when it comes to health, the video said something about mercury levels in fish are bad for us, but I know that in certain types the level is very low. I can't remember the whole video so can anyone remind me or please ADD TO the information in the video about why else it can be damaging to my health? I have always heard that fish is generally healthy depending on the type you eat.
P.S. - Someone tell me why dairy and eggs are bad as well
The numbers in the population bares no relationship to whether a fish is hurt or not. The two things are totally seperate.
Take 2 murder victims. Did the one in New York feel less pain than the one in Arkansas because of the higher population ?
Wild fish die by suffocation or crushing.
Factory farmed fish die by electricution.
Dairy:
Artificial incemination every year
Cows would naturally calve every 2-3 years. Dairy farms artificially inceminate them every 11 months. This causes excessive stress on the cows body, increses the chance of prolapse and generally "wears them out"
Protein enriched feed
The feed they are given is enriched with artificial growth foods. these are generally made with cattle meat protiens.
Bribe/feed caged carousels
These suck. They are large rotating carousels where the cows are caged in a space where they cannot move. They have "black boxes" on thier legs which communicate with the main operating computer. They are fed just the right amount of food depending on how much milk they gave yesterday. They have added growth food if thier production drops
One person can milk about 400 cattle on a carousel so there is no time for checking the animals health - they just milk them dry and kick them out.
killing bulls, excess calves and free martins at 1 week old
All bulls are killed at 1 week old, although some farms iin the UK started ( in 2006 ) shipping them to Continental Europe for veal again. They do not keep any back for breeding as they bring in new blood lines. In the UK we don't use dairy bull calves for veal anymore in country. They are either killed, or shipped out. Bull calves go to make low quality leather products such as cheap sofas.
They kill all free martins as there is a good chance they will be barren.
Strangly, they feed these animals with colostrum at birth to keep them alive, but then kill them a week later.
excess feeding to produce 60 lites of milk per day
The growth food is all designed to produce excess milk. Cows are naturally designed to produce about 15 litres. The european targets for 2009 are set at 90 litres, i don't think it need me to tell you if this is heading the right or wrong direction.
intensive rearing means low husbandry checks
As mentioned above, most automatic dairies have one milkmaid per session, thats it. I know a dairy farm with 1200 cattle and 3 employees. Tell me how they can ever check the cattle....
removing calves from mothers after colostrum feed
This is stressful, cows bawl for weeks for thier young, calling them to be fed. Obviously the calf cannot "run to mom" because its in dog food by now.
killing the cow at 7 years old
Cows can naturally live to 20 years old. Production dairy cows are killed after 4-6 births so are never kept after 7 years old.
Eggs:
The egg-laying population of hens is rotated every year - they are killed at 9 months old once production starts to drop. They could live to 10 years old naturally.
99% of cockerals are killed as soon as they are sexed - about a week old for hybrids.
Then there are the issues around barns, cages and the joke that is called "free range"
Egg laying cages - we have one near us, it is about 200 metres long, 8 rows high and 50 rows wide. In each 400mm square cage there are 4 laying birds. They sit there for thier 9 months miserable life, eating and drinking from conveyors, with thier eggs taken via chutes in the cage.
There are 3/4 of a million birds in that one cage system
Don't always believe the videos you see, try to get to see inside one of these commercial units yourself.
Organic, free-range dairy and eggs are fine and perfectly humane. It's not like cows just roam free if we're not milking them. As for pescetarianism, fish are killed in the least humane way out of any of the animals. For instance; would we ever throw a live calf into boiling water? Nope. I'd eat a grilled steak with a better conscience than I would eat a fish that had been suffocated to death or a lobster that had been boiled alive...
Well, it may be healthy, but the fish apparently do feel pain when pulled out of the water. And the fishing boats and equipment they use do damage the underwater ecosystem.
As for dairy: Dairy cows are repeatedly inseminated, kept constantly pregnant, and their calves are taken away from them. Remember, a cow has to be pregnant to produce milk, just like any mammal. Female calves evenutally join mom on the dairy line; male calves become veal, a particularly cruel food. Cows are fed hormones to encourage excess production, antibiotics to stave off infection or to treat infections caused by constant milking, and steroids.
As for eggs: There are two "strains" of chickens: "Broilers," who are kept for their meat, and "layers" who don't produce much flesh but lay eggs. Male layer chicks are useless because they don't produce enough flesh to be profitable and they don't lay eggs, so they are killed at birth, either by grinding alive or being tossed in the garbage to suffocate. Hens are kept in battery cages, with several hens crammed in one small cage. They do not have even the space to move a wing. Oh, and to prevent them from taking out their rage on each other, their beaks are seared, which sometimes impairs them from being able to eat.
And when production declines, in both cows kept for their milk and hens kept for their eggs, the animals are killed. Dairy cows typically become hamburger, while the battered bodies of the hens typically go into low-cost pot pies or soups.
I stopped eating turf meat over a year ago but if I were to eat meat again I would certainly only purchase and eat meat with the certified humane logo. The "Certified Humane Raised & Handled" program is an inspection, certification and labeling program for meat, poultry, egg and dairy products from animals raised to humane care standards. I only purchase eggs that are "certified humane raised and handled."
It all depends on why you are going vegan. If you are an ethical vegan then you most likely belive that taking eggs and milk from sentient beings that cannot offer you their milk or eggs is wrong. Additionaly, we are the only animals on earth that drink the milk of a different species.
Any animal that has sensation should not be killed. Fish feel pain, dairy cows are forced to be pregnant until they no longer lactate then they are killed, male baby chickens are thrown live into dumpsters because they are viewed as unproductive since they don't produce eggs (and yes this happends to free range as well).
The good stuff in fish can be found it other foods as well. Do an internet search for the movie Earthlings. This should help you make your ultimate decision. There is also a great podcast called veganfreak radio. It's got some great advice.
Good luck, I really hope you go vegan.
Fishing, is actually really bad for the environment. Look at many of the environemtal websites. http://www.grist.org.
Fishing also kills other sea animals, because they get caught in the nets.
Dairy and eggs' - I suggest buy the book Skinny Bi!ch. It answers many if the questions you are asking, but it doed in a funny and everyday language way. If you do not mind few bad words here and there, buy skinny bi!ch. - it answers all the questions you are asking.
Healthy? Yes, in moderation. Humane? That's up to the individuals views.
As far as the video goes, take it with a grain of salt because propaganda like that is always filled with opinions and half-truths as opposed to verifiable facts. Remember, the point of the video is to coerce. Just like all of those PETA videos that are filmed in foreign settings, they are misleading to the American public because our meat isn't imported. There is no connection there. These organizations will say ANYTHING in an attempt to coerce you.
Fish is very healthy in moderation and I love it beinga part of my healthy flex vegan diet. Mercury levels can be a concern, but a lot of fish are farm raised now so there is no concern for most of it. Humane? Well, Peta would like you think owning a dog is inhumane so you can be the judge on that. Propaganda fuels ignorance. Do your own research. Sounds like you would make an excellent flexitarian vegan. We are the best out of all of these lots.
Hi Tru,
It will be easier for you to stick with if you do it because you believe in it, than because someone told you.
Our oceans are overtaxed. The sea can't handle what we've done. So we turn to farmed fish and most of them are improperly raised. For instance farmed salmon is so poorly raised its meat is not pink like wild salmon. It's grey. So they dye it.
Dairy and eggs are bad for us all the way around. 1 egg is 70% your RDA of bad cholesterol. Dairy is responsible for a multitude of ills. Check out the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine for genuine articles on all the health problems caused by dairy.