Podcast #12: Japanese Market Soundseeing Tour Part 2
Episode #12Part 2 of my Japanese Market Soundseeing Tour, plus a rant about free food choices.
Featured Website: www.wineanswers.com
Quick Tip: Freezing chipotles
Music: "Can't Hold It Down", Andy Sullivan. www.andysullivan.com
Technorati Tags: podcast, personal chef, Japanese market, foie gras
posted by ReMARKable Palate @ 9/22/2005 02:44:00 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Good show (tour) through the market. I love my local Asian grocery store and find new things there every time I go. I especially loved the part about the Pocky sticks. I lived in Japan as a child from 1970-72. We were turned loose and got to wander around in the local fish markets and shops. My favorite find as a kid was the Pocky sticks. I have been eating them ever since. Of course they only came in plainly dipped chocolate but they were fabulous. So they have been around for a very long time. Good eats stand the test of time!
Thanks, Vickie! I debated about cutting the section about the pocky sticks for time, but decided to leave it in, since they are SOOO popular in Japan.
I really enjoy your podcasts, but I really think you should stay out of the politics of food. As humans we have the capabilities of eating meat and I have to say that I do indulge. However I think it is also important how we treat the animals before they meet their end and get on our plates. In the end it is everyone's choice of what they eat, but people should also be aware how their food got to be the way it is. I think that animals should not suffer.
Though this may be a gruesome comparison, think of a war. In war it is not unlawful to kill another soldier, but it is unlawful to torture the soldier before death.
Thanks for your comment. I like to hear various viewpoints, and I actually agree with you that it's important for people to understand the processes involved in the manufacture of their foods, so that they can make INFORMED choices.
I also agree that it's important that animals not suffer needlessly, but I cannot pretend that it is anything other than it is. We kill them and eat their flesh. Your analogy of war is perfect. While I wouldn't condone torture in the context of war, I can't pretend that killing someone in a "legal" way is anything other than killing.
The big point of debate specific to foie gras is whether gavage is cruel. Scientists have testified that this is something the birds do themselves and have evolved to do in order to have enough food for their long trips south for the winter. They have linings in their throats that allow this to happen. We imagine that the process is cruel, because it WOULD be cruel to do this to a human, but the birds are NOT human. This is anthropomorphism of the most extreme degree, to confuse the two.
I'm not sure why you say that I should stay out of the politics of food? Also, why do you choose to post anonymously?
There are also scientists who say the degree to which gavage is done naturally is not the same as is done by force. As with any issue you will always find scientists who will support either viewpoint.
Have you ever seen the process yourself? Is it something you could do and still feel okay using foie gras? If you can, well, more power to you. Although I had known that these animals are force fed, I never imagined how it was done. You assume that I am basing my thoughts on imagining what it would be like to do this to a human. However your assumption is incorrect.
Once I saw with my own eyes how the animal had a funnel stuffed down its throat, being held between the legs of the farmer while he shoved corn through the funnel into the throat and then pushed it down the throat as if he was squeezing toothpaste out of the tube, I was absolutely shocked.
Unfortunately people want to be blind to how food gets onto their plate. How many of us could kill our own food and then bring it to the plate like our forefathers before us? How many people truly connect the commercialized milk cow to the juicy stake that ends up on their plate? To me THIS is living like a hypocrite. If you can’t kill it you shouldn’t eat it. But if you can kill it, you should also eat guilt free. As with foie gras very few people connect the process to food because it would be difficult to face up to ourselves.
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