You are what you eat

A mass stranding at the beach today. No, not whales – something far less media friendly: krill. Millions and millions of the little blighters. And they weren’t all dead yet. OK, some were a little the worse for wear, but there were still many thousands, beating their tiny legs, trying to swim away, and crying “Help me! Help me!” (Not certain about that last part actually) And where were the public? Were they in there with their buckets, trying to save lives? Would have been a far simpler task than trying to heft a five ton pilot whale back into the sea. But no, not a bit of it: they were wrinkling their noses in disgust at the smell. Ironically, krill are a major food source for some whales, which is hard to believe as they are pretty weenie, like undersized shrimps. I think the whales have to eat a stupendous number of the little critters to get enough nourishment. I wonder if there is a way to assign a value to different animals as food? I’m not thinking biomass or calories, but rather ethically, in terms of intelligence and potential suffering. How many krill equate to one cute little lambikins, for example? Or, how many sardines for one Australian surfer? I’m guessing a Buddhist might be the person to ask. Of course, the simplest way around this vexed question is to become a vegetarian. Caught up with my nephew this week. Having spent the last year bumming around Europe, he has returned a vegan. We were a bit nervous as to what to feed him for dinner – I well remember the debates about whether avocados are vegan in the media last year – but actually he was very chill about it. (FYI, we had roast veges with Moroccan spices in toasted pita bread, with hummus, cooked by my daughters fair hand, as hubby and I were both working late. Otherwise I would have cooked something. Honest.) He’s been in Berlin the last few months, and had some very amusing stories to tell of his time there – like being hissed at every few metres in the local park, asking if he wanted to buy weed or gay sex. I expect a woman’s experience of Germany might be quite different. Anyway: vegetarians and vegans. I’ve tended to see them as rather uptight, no fun people, ever since my first year at university when there was general panic and outrage when it was discovered that Moro bars weren’t vegetarian. And have you ever noticed that with any vegetarian couple, the male is usually as thin as a bean pole and the woman is invariably of a more cuddly build? But, it’s time to throw off these mental shackles as I expect it’s the way of the future (assuming eating insects doesn’t catch on in a big way).