Thursday, May 31, 2007

FISHY THOUGHTS



Eating habits. I am vegetarian. Well, not totally. I eat fish. So, fish as my occasional dish is what does not make me true vegetarian. However, this post will not be about my vegetarianism... it will be mainly about fish-eating thingies.

I do eat fish, yet there are some facts that are hard for me to accept. Of course, the fish has to be dead before one eats it. If it is already dead, well, then... I would eat it more easily. But there are some inns here that offer very fresh fish. Live fish are swimming in tanks, usually in front of the inns. The guests can see well how very fresh the fish will be in case of an order. When one orders it, the fish is caught, killed and so on... Thus, when one orders a fish, this eater actually determines one fish in the tank with death. This is what makes me feel uncomfortable. Well, yeah, it is a part of human nature. A part of Nature by all means. Nature itself. But still... it hurts me to determine a living thing with death. One moment it is out there in the tank, swimming, then one enters an inn and... that is the end of the fish. The fish was not caught and dead before. One's decision has determined its future. This is what bothers me.

On Saturday, I am attending Nanbudo seminar. Our club organizes it for members only; trainings outdoors, in nature. The registration for the seminar included a decision about the menu one would like to eat. We had this list of menu-options to choose for lunch. Among other stuff, there was grilled fish, too. It sounded tasty. Grilled fish. But then, these thoughts have emerged. If I would choose a fish now, I might determine one in this moment very alive creature with the end of life. I imagined a fish swimming somewhere. Now at the moment of my decision, the particular fish is alive, not aware of anything, not aware of my words... but when the orders will arrive to the inn, then... Alright, it might have been dead already. Frozen for some time. Or it will be dead by the end of the week anyway, either I order it or not. And one day, it will die for sure. But still... I rather do not risk to make a determination.

I guess these brief thoughts on determination with death reach far beyond today's fishy story; even further if explored and written more deeply. However, finally, I have chosen totally vegetarian menu.

3 comments:

Ulmiel said...

Heh, sem ti že kdaj povedala, da zelo rada berem tvoj blog? Ravno zaradi takih zapisov, meni so noro zanimivi. In ja, imaš point. Če bi vsi tako razmišljali, oz. tisti, ki imamo res radi živa bitja, bi precej skrčili naše jedilnike. Jaz pravzaprav ne vem kaj bi jedla, ker so mi rastline ravno toliko ljube kot živali. Hm ... ja. Vseeno zelo zanimivo razmišljanje.

Strinjam se tudi z akvariji v restavraciji ali trgovini. To smo imeli nekaj časa v Leclercu. Za jastoge in ribe, potem je pač kupec izbral, katero bitje si želi in so ga ubili. OK. Samo nikoli ne bom pozabila, ko je ena riba prodajalki ušla iz rok, padla na tiste bele ploščice in se začela premetavat na njih. Tako kruto je izpadlo. Najraje bi jo pograbila in odnesla domov v vodo, dokler se ne bi sama odločila umreti. Jap ...

Aelfsciene said...

Jaz tudi ne bi mogla s prstom pokazat na ribo - tole mi ubijte. Ampak v resnici ni kupovanje ribjih filejev v trgovini nic drugace - saj je vse pomrlo zaradi prehrambene industrije. Poleg tega sem kot froc sla ene 2x ribe lovit in eno veliko celo ujela.

Je pa res. da je cisto drug filing, ce je ne vidis umreti ... Se en razlog, zakaj jaz ne bi mogla ziveti na kmetiji, je prav ta, da ne bi mogla vsak dan futrati prasickov in kozlickov, potem jih pa cez cas pojesti. Ojej.

kaneli said...

Narelaime: Hvala za komentar in kompliment. :)

Ta Leclerc zgodba je žalostna... Seveda, tudi rastline so živa bitja... ampak do določene mere je treba ostat v tem naravnem krogu plenilca, oziroma v vegi primeru nabiralca, in plena. Ker sicer je že ogrožen lastni obstoj; samoohranitveni nagon pa je verjetno eden najmočnejših gonov.

Človek je že od nekdaj jedel meso, v enih predelih sveta zagotovo več kot v drugih. Le to je tudi v genetskem zapisu - stvar narave. Sam meni je hudo jest živali, da ne govorimo o farmah, načinu reje, vseh možnih umetnih dodatkih v krmi... itd. :S

Sicer sem slišala za zelo stroge vegetarijanske ločine. Vegani so itak znani, ne jejo nobenih živalskih beljakovin (niti jajc in mleka). Potem je pa še ena skupina, ki menda ne trga niti rastlin. Ko pade sadež na tla, šele takrat je za pojesti - ker ga je rastlina sama ponudila.

Btw, sadeži so tako ali tako namenjeni prehrani živali. Žival poje sadež in potem z iztrebki raztrosi neprebavljiva semena po širšem teritoriju. Pa rata džungla. Clever. ;)

Aelfsciene: Tudi o ribjih filejih in podobnih izdelkih sem razmišljala. Sam tiste ribe so že mrtve, ni več kaj. Niso umrle posebej zate, nisi bil ti tisti, ki si jim določil konec za na krožnik. Joj, backi, telički, kozlički in pujsi... meni bi bilo tudi preveč hudo. Ovce za mleko in sir bi pa redila. Kje na Islandiji, recimo... :D