As a food blogger, I think it is an appropriate topic of discussions, and a timely one too, to talk about what type of foods that you wouldn't eat for ethical, moral, religious, cultural or just humane reasons. As we are all people from different backgrounds and beliefs, it is something to ponder over what type of foods that are acceptable to us, and what are not acceptable. I hope to get as many feedbacks as possible on this topic, so please leave your generous comments ok.
To get the ball rolling, here's a list of the type of foods I shun in general due to various reasons:
- shark's fin soup : This dish, ever so popular amongst the Chinese, is just plain wrong in my opinion. The demand for this dish is contributing to the decline in shark's population. Not to mention that it's also a cruel practise. I've been a consumer of this in the past, I admit, during my younger and ignorant days, especially during wedding dinners. But now that I knew better, I no longer care for it.
- dog meat : I don't even know where to begin on this one. As far as I'm concerned, dogs are PET. They're companions for humans. Not for consumption. They're called man's best friends for a reason. Again, the Chinese, along with many Asian countries, are proponents of this. Once, I watched a documentary where an Asian lady brought a basket full of live cute puppies into her kitchen, where she casually pick of the pups and place it on the chopping block. And then, she position the puppy belly up and, using a large butcher knife, slice the animal's belly open and start pulling the innards out while the pup is STILL alive!!!!! That visual haunts me until this day, people! It's true. Not only that, but I've also heard another cruel practise by dog-meat lovers where they would beat and torture the poor animal to death before cooking them. They believe that this would make the meat tastes better because the greater blood circulation or flow in the dogs during the beating process actually makes their meat more delicious. Now I'm not a violent person, but reading about something like this makes me want to hurt someone real bad.
pork : I know some of you would label me as a hypocrite because I still eat pork. However, my pork consumption has declined greatly, and I normally would not order something with pork in it unless there's no choice. I've been to a few pig farms and slaughterhouses during a short stint as a market researcher for animal feeds. Those little piglets are very very human-like in their behavior! And the way they keep adult pigs, OMG, it's pure torture people! The cage where these poor animals are kept in are so small they can't even budge an inch, let alone move. And they are being fed and fed until they're big and fat enough to be slaughtered. And here's the worst part: to those who have never witness a pig slaughtering, trust me, that's a jarring experience that will stay with you for the rest of your lives. The scream, the flow of blood, the long and torturous death...Now I can't say that I've sworn off pork forever. I still eat it form time to time, but eventually, I do intend to stop completedly
insects : eating insects are very popular in many countries. If you go to Thailand, you can buy fried grubs and scorpions form roadside stalls. I don't eat these because I personally don't like insects, and eating them is something so gross that my stomach just couldn't digest. I know a lot of people like such delicacies, and I respect that. Insects are supposedly to be more healthy and nutritious than meat, sooo..enjoy it if you like them.
turtles and toads : one word : disgusting! Those who likes them said the meat have health-boosting properties. I'm sure they are the same people who say the same thing about tiger's testicles and monkey's brain.
Fois gras :This dish, more popular amongst the Western populace, is made from duck or goose liver. Its literal translation from French is FATTY LIVER. There have been much controversies focusing on the cruel, force feeding practise that some farmers employ to make the poor birds' liver more palatable. Under such practise, the bird are being fed continuously until their liver grow so big, it occupy almost two thirds of their internals. Can you imagine the pure torture the duck or goose have to endure through this? Just imagine if your own liver grows so big it takes up more than 50% of your body...Try imagining that!
Hmmm.....no comment?
ReplyDelete