Weren’t lobsters like that? I remember reading somewhere that only poor people ate them sometime ago, beaches would sometimes get flooded with lobsters
Iirc that’s mostly because they spoiled so quickly. That’s part of why it was inhumane to feed them to prisoners (the other part was they just ground up the entire lobster).
In fact, many religious food restrictions are based on foods that could easily make you sick, like pork.
Someone told me they don’t eat pork because the pigs were at the bottom of the ark and and ate the shit of all the other animals and that is since then canon for me, because it’s one of the funniest reasons to not eat pork
I think it also had to do with the fact that they’re bottom feeders, as most fish spoil fairly quickly without proper care (though some are definitely worse than others - I think shark starts going bad literally as soon as the shark dies).
Like your second point, many bottom feeders are more likely to have parasites and, therefore, probably built up a reputation as being unfit for eating (though lobsters don’t have any parasites that I’m aware of).
My great grandmother grew up rough during the depression and lived near enough you could fish for lobster.
Her family would bury the lobster shells instead of putting them in the trash because they were ashamed the trash collectors might see they were eating sea bugs.
She still definitely enjoyed lobster. When it was in season it was tradition to have a family reunion for lobster dinner, and she boiled a mean sea bug. But she never could fathom even going to a restaurant to order a lobster - and that some people thought it was fancy would make her head explode
I chunk many of my shells in the tiny ponds around the house (not too many though, they only range from 15 to 70 gallons). Calcium dissolves back into the water and tiny animals get a free meal, bolstering the bottom of the food chain.
Also used to throw a shell or three in my fish tanks so the snails could pull dissolved calcium.
Iirc lobsters can become much much larger than the ones we eat which are lil babies (competitively speaking). The 2 or so lb lobsters we see are like 5yo but lobsters can live to be 100+ and 15lbs or sumsuch. Maybe the old crotchety ones folks ate back didn’t taste as good?
same with quinoa, price went up so much that people started cultivating it outside of its native south America and then the price plummeted so bad that it caused financial devastation among farmers
Weren’t lobsters like that? I remember reading somewhere that only poor people ate them sometime ago, beaches would sometimes get flooded with lobsters
Iirc that’s mostly because they spoiled so quickly. That’s part of why it was inhumane to feed them to prisoners (the other part was they just ground up the entire lobster).
In fact, many religious food restrictions are based on foods that could easily make you sick, like pork.
Someone told me they don’t eat pork because the pigs were at the bottom of the ark and and ate the shit of all the other animals and that is since then canon for me, because it’s one of the funniest reasons to not eat pork
I think it also had to do with the fact that they’re bottom feeders, as most fish spoil fairly quickly without proper care (though some are definitely worse than others - I think shark starts going bad literally as soon as the shark dies).
Like your second point, many bottom feeders are more likely to have parasites and, therefore, probably built up a reputation as being unfit for eating (though lobsters don’t have any parasites that I’m aware of).
My great grandmother grew up rough during the depression and lived near enough you could fish for lobster.
Her family would bury the lobster shells instead of putting them in the trash because they were ashamed the trash collectors might see they were eating sea bugs.
She still definitely enjoyed lobster. When it was in season it was tradition to have a family reunion for lobster dinner, and she boiled a mean sea bug. But she never could fathom even going to a restaurant to order a lobster - and that some people thought it was fancy would make her head explode
You joke with the sea bug jokes but apparently dishes that use bug meat actually are compared to crab and lobster in taste.
This makes me think of how shredded tuna has become very expensive during my lifetime. It’s still not super expensive but it’s not dirt cheap either.
I’m thinking that when I’m old, will I see fancy restaurants serving spaghetti with shredded tuna, accompanied with real parmesan.
As it used to cost like some cents or something. Like 60 cents € or something for a can, whereas now it’s more than 2€.
Hehe, sea bugs.
Lobster shells really should go back in the sea. Recycle that calcium (?).
Aren’t they great for composting too?
Yes, I imagine they’re mostly calcium, like eggshells, thus alkaline and great for maintaining the ph balance of compost and worm farms (when ground).
I chunk many of my shells in the tiny ponds around the house (not too many though, they only range from 15 to 70 gallons). Calcium dissolves back into the water and tiny animals get a free meal, bolstering the bottom of the food chain.
Also used to throw a shell or three in my fish tanks so the snails could pull dissolved calcium.
They were fed to prisoners
Iirc lobsters can become much much larger than the ones we eat which are lil babies (competitively speaking). The 2 or so lb lobsters we see are like 5yo but lobsters can live to be 100+ and 15lbs or sumsuch. Maybe the old crotchety ones folks ate back didn’t taste as good?
Lobster fishermans grandson here. This was the case in our area.
same with quinoa, price went up so much that people started cultivating it outside of its native south America and then the price plummeted so bad that it caused financial devastation among farmers