Won't somebody please think of the Sea Kittens!
Props to my mate Hugh over at Kamikaze Cookery for this one. PETA have decided in their infinite wisdom that it would be a really, really good idea if we renamed fish Sea Kittens. Because by giving our scaley little aquatic buddies a cutsey pie name then folk might not want to eat them.
Seriously.
No, seriously. Here, look at the website. No, it's not a pre-teen japanese TV series. This is an actual campaign.
Look, honestly, if Finding Nemo hasn't managed to stop folk scoffing fish and consider them "friends not food" or whatever, then creating total naming chaos (not to mention really fucking with a catfish's sense of identity) is not going to do any better. I'm attempting to ignore the fact that there are pictures of fish in kitten outfits on the website like strange ninjas with a furry fetish. I'm also doing my best to avoid the mind-bending assertation that I should rename "caviar" "sea kitten babies". Because, for a start, a kitten is a fucking baby cat. You can't have baby babies. That's grammatical nonsense. Also, caviar does not refer to all fish eggs. Just some. Put aside the fact that the blitheringly inaccurate "science" is enough to make anyone who has an I and a Q to rub together go run for the hills, what is actually the point of this?
Let's be clear - I do not agree with anthropomophising animals (or fish) except for the purposes of humorous cartoons and soft toys*. You can't bang on about the vitally important and well-researched facts whilst dancing around with a sock puppet and expect me to take you seriously. I don't want people warbling that killing animals for food is mean because they are "soooo cute!" or because they have "interesting personalities". The "Sea Kitten" stories where PETA appear to have vomitted onto a page some information about fish that they heard from a drunken man in the pub are particularly distressing. Apparently, Tony the Trout is going to major at Clamford University. Uh-huh. Right. Now where are those flaked almonds...
I especially do not want people to dress animals up as other animals to try and guilt-trip me into not eating them. Not least because it's just a bit weird.
This is different from talking about animal cruelty. I want proper, responsible farming in fish alongside my other tasty supper treats. I'm worried about heavy trawling, mercury levels and the de-population of natural resources. I'm probably more worried than PETA, because I want to continue to cook and eat fish in the future, rather than dressing them up as kittens, which is a fad and they'll get over it, whereas I take my fish eating seriously.
Vegan and veggie folks - by all means, challenge my fish eating. But please don't fuck with my nomenclature.
* The Sea Kitten plushies, for example, look rather sweet but I won't be able to buy one because that would involve giving PETA money and I don't want to do that.
Seriously.
No, seriously. Here, look at the website. No, it's not a pre-teen japanese TV series. This is an actual campaign.
Look, honestly, if Finding Nemo hasn't managed to stop folk scoffing fish and consider them "friends not food" or whatever, then creating total naming chaos (not to mention really fucking with a catfish's sense of identity) is not going to do any better. I'm attempting to ignore the fact that there are pictures of fish in kitten outfits on the website like strange ninjas with a furry fetish. I'm also doing my best to avoid the mind-bending assertation that I should rename "caviar" "sea kitten babies". Because, for a start, a kitten is a fucking baby cat. You can't have baby babies. That's grammatical nonsense. Also, caviar does not refer to all fish eggs. Just some. Put aside the fact that the blitheringly inaccurate "science" is enough to make anyone who has an I and a Q to rub together go run for the hills, what is actually the point of this?
Let's be clear - I do not agree with anthropomophising animals (or fish) except for the purposes of humorous cartoons and soft toys*. You can't bang on about the vitally important and well-researched facts whilst dancing around with a sock puppet and expect me to take you seriously. I don't want people warbling that killing animals for food is mean because they are "soooo cute!" or because they have "interesting personalities". The "Sea Kitten" stories where PETA appear to have vomitted onto a page some information about fish that they heard from a drunken man in the pub are particularly distressing. Apparently, Tony the Trout is going to major at Clamford University. Uh-huh. Right. Now where are those flaked almonds...
I especially do not want people to dress animals up as other animals to try and guilt-trip me into not eating them. Not least because it's just a bit weird.
This is different from talking about animal cruelty. I want proper, responsible farming in fish alongside my other tasty supper treats. I'm worried about heavy trawling, mercury levels and the de-population of natural resources. I'm probably more worried than PETA, because I want to continue to cook and eat fish in the future, rather than dressing them up as kittens, which is a fad and they'll get over it, whereas I take my fish eating seriously.
Vegan and veggie folks - by all means, challenge my fish eating. But please don't fuck with my nomenclature.
* The Sea Kitten plushies, for example, look rather sweet but I won't be able to buy one because that would involve giving PETA money and I don't want to do that.