The consumers love a good slice of panda, seared, fried, or raw, and I am no different. But, we cannot let this magnificent animal go extinct just because we love to eat them. And the good news is that we as consumers of panda can do something about it: stop ordering panda. It's that simple.
Of course, getting that message across and making everyone care is not really easy. Maybe images like these will help?
Click to see more images.
* And bluefin tuna.
Update: Here's the seafood AVOID list from Monterey Bay Aquarium for the Northeast US:
*sigh* My initial reaction to this post was, "What, panda's a delicacy too? And Bjørn got to try some? Man, I wonder what that tastes like... And you can eat it raw! How interesting! Oh, but they are so endangered, could I even justify trying it once if I had the opportunity?"
ReplyDeleteOy.
So are you opposed to eating yellowfin as well? I must admit, I don't feel great about it, but I can't imagine giving it up either. I dunno...
I've never had bluefin. I guess I wouldn't now... I guess...
Come on, of course you could give it up. There's nothing you can't give up if it's important enough, James. In fact, I propose you toughen up by taking your most priced possession and giving it away (not counting family members). Just for the exercise.
ReplyDeleteAs for yellowfin tuna, it's not as simple as with bluefin, which is to be avoided at all times. Yellowfin is okay if caught in the US Atlantic by troll and pole-and-line.
ReplyDeleteSee Monterey Bay Aquarium's recommendations for bluefin and yellowfin.
A wise man once suggested that it's only worth it to give these things up if everybody else decides to give it up too. :p
ReplyDeleteJames, that wise man also dealt with the Tragedy of the Commons, suggesting that top-down regulation can solve the problem.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think it's valuable to make personal ethical decisions, but ultimately any solution to any problem of this sort has to be regulation. I was just talking about this with a couple of friends at a party last week. The one guy is studying environmental engineering (I think? It's basically an engineering degree focusing on renewable and alternative energy) and another person at the party asked him what they could do. He listed a number of personal steps, but I said, "That's all fine and good, but that's ultimately not going to solve the problem unless most everybody does it, and that's only going to happen with government regulation." We talked about this problem for awhile, and then after a brief pause, he says:
ReplyDelete"The other thing you can do is just not vote Republican."
heh, "QFT", as the kids say these days.