Comments on: Others Are What We Eat

By: Stefania

Stefania — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:40:46 +0000

what a funny coincidence. I’ve just handed in a paper on the sustainability of shrimp production. Perhaps David would be interested to read any of this reports

http://www.ejfoundation.org/page94.html

with regard to the ‘revenue’ generated by farmers in Asia, perhaps David should know that according to FAO, the shrimp trade is stagnating and that has not currently increased very much in recent times: as at 10 March 2008, the market price at the Kensai Commodity Exchange (Japan) was of 1764 Yen per contract, near its all-time low on 31 August 2004 with a decrease of almost 50% since October 2007. The price of 1764 Yen is per 5x 108kg blocks, which represents a secondary market price of approximately ¥200 per kilo – you guys can work out how much these farmers are REALLY making.

Furthermore, typically farmers use rice ponds for shrimp farming, but, once depleted (because of the extensive use of chemicals and antibiotics) these ponds CANNOT be reconverted into rice ponds.

By: caheidelberger

caheidelberger — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:24:00 +0000

So David, did you actually read the article above or the links included that support what the article says?

By: Dr. David Miller

Dr. David Miller — Sat, 10 May 2008 06:43:53 +0000

Coastal mangroves exert a protective effect? On what? Undeveloped land? You are in essence saying that the land has devised systems to mitigate and protect itself against radical events. It’s called evolution. As for the mangroves being ripped out for tourism and shrimp farming, yes I suppose it’s true. Let’s remember that those enterprises are providing needed revenue to people who might otherwise be poor and starving. Is there some algorythm which can predict the number of lives lost to the tsunami vs the number of lives saved by the removal of the mangroves? I don’t think so. Things are more complex than simple one step fixes. Everything affects everything. No such thing as and effect free life. Good luck with that one.

By: joe nelson

joe nelson — Fri, 09 May 2008 04:23:11 +0000

How do we combat individualism? Do you think that individualism is al all tied to the concept of private property? What type of socialization/upbringing should children receive, so that they do not have the individualistic tendancies that the average American has? I am doing my best with my kids. I try not to buy them toys often, it is usually cheifly reserved for birthdays and Christmas. But to what extent should we persuade them to think of themselves as stewards and not owners? Or should we not do that at all? The cry of “That’s mine!” persuades me to think that perhaps stewardship, and not ownership, should be stressed. Your thoughts?