Posted on 02/08/2007 10:56:12 AM PST by LJTailor1
Whole Foods, the Austin, Texas-based natural foods grocery chain, decided to take a stand against the unethical and painful treatment of crustaceans. Last June the chain said they would no longer sell live lobsters and crabs.The Whole Foods ban would apply even to the crustacean capital of North America: The State of Maine.
But today they rolled back that rule with some stipulations.
Whole Foods decided to sell lobsters at its Portland, Maine store after finding a company that met its demands for how the lobsters should be treated.
The lobsters will be kept in private compartments instead of being piled on top of each other in a tank, and workers will use a kind of stun gun device that zaps them with a 110-volt electric shock to spare them the agony of being boiled alive in a pot of water.
Oh, the agony!
Whole Foods’ standards for lobsters are similar to those it uses in buying its meat, poultry and other animal products, said David Lannon, regional president for the North Atlantic region.
(Excerpt) Read more at johnib.wordpress.com ...
There is nothing inhumane about piling lobsters in a tank together. There is also nothing inhumane about dropping some brainless bugs in a pot of boiling water, slathering them in butter and then eating them.
It would however, be inHUMANe to drop HUMANs in a pot of boiling water.
I have cooked many lobster and crab in my life. I always steam my lobster and boil my crab. I was told by several people that the lobsters scream when they are put in the pot, but I have not heard any protest to this day. I think I will purchase a lobster soon and give in a warm steam bath and a butter massage. Now I’m drooling like Homer Simpson did when he ate Pinchy.
I spent 25 years in the Australian Lobster tail importing biz - down under, they often "screw" the tail off....pick up the lobstah, grab it's tail and give it a good twist.
The separate compartments are a good idea - not so much out of concern for these giant ocean bug's well-being, but to reduce stress on them and maintain the quality of the meat.
As far as boiling them alive goes - I've never seen anything to suggest that lobsters have enough brainpower to "suffer" in any meaningful way. Even if they do, it's surely over in a very short time.
I must admit, though, when I want a lobster now I'm more likely to buy it cooked, because it just isn't worthwhile to do it at home for one lobster.
Lobsters everywhere are shocked to hear this.
Sure, Maine boils lobster, but you haven't lived until you've had deep fried lobster. Porto Nuevo, Mexico, south of San Diego has restaurants that drop the lobsters in hot oil. Kind of like the deep fried turkey concept, it cooks the lobster super quick and yummy too!
So it's more humane to shove an electric prod into a lobster's anus than to drop it in a pot of boiling water?
I had the same thought. I'm sure the boiling water kills them almost instantly, vs. being eaten alive in nature.
They don't scream. It's actually the air in the shell escaping as steam. When I first heard that story, I was playing in a band and we put a microphone over the pot when we put one in.
Meanwhile Democrats/Libs are busy ramming steel shanks into the heads of fully formed unborn babies and then vacuuming their brains out. No outrage there. Hmm...it's a values thing, I guess.
My ancestors were among the founding citizens of Kittery. Every August is at Biddeford Pool.
Sounds good to me. I love all lobsters but but I prefer the Homarus americanus (pinchy kind) to the spiny. This is probably because I have never had the spiny lobster fresh out of the ocean, only frozen tails
How come? Doesn't he like the taste of lobster? That kind of sauce would go better with shrimp. Again, IMHO.
I'm a lobster purist, personally. I've eaten it lots of ways, but I always prefer melted butter, as do most people who eat hot lobster.
Mayonnaise works well with cold lobster, though.
Of course, I'm talkin' about REAL lobsters, not those wussy clawless things you get from warmer waters.
These bozos have apparently never watched a Great Blue Heron eating a crab.
"As far as boiling them alive goes - I've never seen anything to suggest that lobsters have enough brainpower to "suffer" in any meaningful way. Even if they do, it's surely over in a very short time."
I've heard that flipping the lobster over and placing it in the water "back first" kills the lobster instantly.
I grew up in New Hampshire and my Grandfather always threw a Labor Day clambake to celebrate the end of summer. After the clam chowder the corn, steamer clams, and the lobster came out from the steam pit. We always tried to sit next to certain cousins that did that did not savor lobster like most of us. If we were lucky we got what they did not eat. And if there were any leftovers we made lobster rolls the next day.
I always do it that way, but they actually do flap weakly for a minute or two before they're dead.
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